Field Manuals

Two field manuals for operating under pressure.

Silver or Lead explains how influence shapes outcomes. Shock & Awe explains what to do when influence fails.

Jack Trout on Shock & Awe

“At last, a marketing book that’s simple, easy to read, and amazingly accurate in its advice. You’ll enjoy it and be smarter for reading it.”

— Jack Trout, co-author of Positioning and Differentiate or Die

Silver or Lead

Influence or force. There is no third option.

Silver or Lead explains the two mechanisms through which power operates: influence and consequence. It helps leaders recognize which mode the environment requires—and when persuasion has stopped working.

Positioning. Persuasion. Leverage. Competition. Control.

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Silver or Lead book cover by Steve Brazell

Interior pages from Silver or Lead by Steve Brazell

Shock & Awe

Control the moment before it controls you.

Shock & Awe explains how to act when time compresses, momentum turns, and incremental moves no longer change the outcome.

Crisis response. Momentum. Timing. Intervention. Decisive action.

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Interior pages from Shock & Awe by Steve Brazell

Where to Start

Choose the manual the moment requires.

Start with Silver or Lead when:

You need to influence choice.
Your positioning is unclear.
You need greater leverage.
Competition is shaping the field.

Start with Shock & Awe when:

Momentum has turned against you.
Delay is increasing the risk.
Incremental action is failing.
The environment needs to be reset.

Different conditions. Different manuals. The strongest operators understand both.

Field Manuals

Read both. Be ready for either.

Buy Silver or Lead Buy Shock & Awe