Bedtime Reading - Rome Inc.

If the Baby Business helped you envision the future, "Rome Inc - The Rise and Fall of the First Multinational Corporation" is going to help you perceive the past within today's corporate culture -- and Stanley Bing makes good points on every stage of the empire.

Basically, the book emphasizes on the "first multinational corporation" Rome, selling the ultimate product of its time - citizenship. Moreover, it goes in-depth into the concept of moguls and anti-moguls, and how their tensions indeed create an enterpreneurial and corporate culture in 120 A.D.

Every industry has moguls and anti-moguls, the behind the curtain disruptors at a specific stage. What are some of the characteristics of a mogul?

- Commision their PR
- Exercise power when feeling endangered -- elephants against the mice warfare
- Indirectly control the media that's "winning points" for quotations, and "credible" content
- Generally, tend to believe in being the Sun, when the universe tends to have so many dwarfs, and dimensions altogether
- Hide behind C-level positions
- Talk more than actually listen
- When they sneeze the whole industry gets cold

Certain societies, if not all, get obsessed with superficially creating heroes, so profesionally that at a certain point, the "hero" cannot deny any of the praises, but starts living with them and the load that comes altogether. Get hold of this masterpiece, you're gonna love it!

25 ways to distinguish yourself -- and be happy?

Totally out of the security world, yet very relevant inspirational tips for all readers feeling down, or looking for more sources of self-esteem. I've always believed that among the most important key factors for leadership is the ability to know yourself, and to understand the time dimensions of failure -- it's just a temporary event whenever it happens to occur. I also often debate on the pros and cons of corporate citizenship with friends, and try to emphasize on the mobility of today's workforce -- at least the way I see it. Is there any use of such an approach these days, and how should an enterprise go when attracting and retaining it's most valuable HR assets? Does the individual really count at the bottom line?



I think assets with attitude are the most valuable ones, given they never stop self-developing themselves. Going back to this very positive "manifesto" "You don't have to motivate me, just stop demotivating me" type of attitude is what you can greatly enjoy in these tips. Extremely well written key points, especially that "being part of the commodity crowd erodes your value", so true. These get updated all the time, so add them to your own unique ways of distinguishing yourself -- and being happy? :)



01. Care as if it's your own
02. Do your daily work with passion
03. Build strong relationships
04. Dream big!
05. Set the right expectations
06. Ask for help
07. Celebrate small victories
08. Set higher standards
09. Know your values
10. Pursue right memberships
11. Help people help themselves
12. Be a reader
13. Plan by outcomes
14. Think long-term
15. Embrace uncertainty with ease
16. Ask the right questions
17. Engage with a coach
18. Re relevant
19. Get back on your feet fast!
20. Lead a volunteer effort
21. Balance innovation and continuous improvement
22. Learn to sell -- your skills, not your soul or at least not on parts
23. Learn systems thinking
24. Walk away from free
25. Influence the influencers