What’s Your Stack? …as a Conversation Starter?

When someone asks you about your stack, they aren’t talking about your pancakes…
(Photo courtesy of Jaqueline Pelzer on Unsplash)

So, I was recently at a holiday party, and as is often the case, I found myself inadvertently drifting to the techy side of the crowd. I typically avoid this drift because I’m a recovering IT survivor. I prefer to hang out with the artsy folks these days. But I was already there, making the best of the situation and trying to make some small talk.

This is when a spunky young man, obviously still in the honeymoon phase of an early IT career, came up and asked, I suppose as an ice breaker: “So, what’s your stack?” While I know what he meant, it’s one of those IT questions that you don’t hear anywhere else. It seemed odd at a holiday party with families and Xmas music in the background.

If you think about it, it’s an odd thing to ask. Try doing that in the gym locker room or standing around a BBQ at the local pool: “Hey, man, what’s your stack?” Some might take that the wrong way. I wouldn’t suggest asking that to someone standing before a Jackson Pollock painting at the Museum, either.

Now, for those who aren’t in IT, a stack is a term used mostly in the programming world. It means the list of favorite programming tools they use. I understood what he meant, so decided to answer. The problem is that I don’t have a stack of programming tools. My stack these days is more along the lines of productivity apps and marketing tools. I needed to find some examples of tools he would be familiar with.

So, what is my stack, you ask? Well, here it is. You can click on the heading to go straight to the home page of each app. Note that these are referral links, so if you sign up for any of their services, it helps me out as well.

Medium – The Blogging Platform for Writers

Medium is my preferred blogging platform. I’ve used many, but none is as easy, convenient, and rewarding. Medium immediately puts you in a community of fellow writers who prefer to write instead of producing video shorts and posting on social media.

I consider Medium a break from the pressure of other platforms. You publish in a simple interface and at your own pace. No, it won’t make you rich overnight, but if that’s why you join, then you’re missing the point. You should post on Medium if you like reading and writing and want to be surrounded by like-minded people.

ACDSee - The Best Photoshop alternative

Yes, it’s a silly name, but it’s an excellent full-featured alternative to the Adobe suite, Canva, and most other image management and editing apps. This is because they are bucking the subscription trend and still offer a single desktop license that is good indefinitely – you pay once, and you’re done.

As for features, it has 90% of what I ever used Adobe CS for, and I’ve used their products for decades. My issue with Adobe was that it was just becoming too expensive. So, I switched to ACDSee and I’ve been thoroughly impressed with all that it can do. If you’ve been looking for a great alternative to subscription-based graphics applications, you need to give ACDSee a look.

Namecheap – The Best Website Registration Service

To set up a website you will need a web address (your www.yourbusiness.com address), also known as a domain name. Many companies offer this service, and some offers are ridiculously expensive, too. Don’t fall for paying more to register your address than you need to. Fortunately, Namecheap (yes, it’s also a bit of a silly name, but bear with me) offers just that.

The cost is about $1.50 per month for a top-level .com web address name. They have a very simple interface, and their tech support is excellent. I’ve used them for many years without issue. I cannot recommend Namecheap enough. I’ve used others, but none compare for cost, service, or ease of use.

Carrd – The Best Value in Website Hosting, Period

I’ve used many different website hosting platforms, including bargain-basement options to ridiculously expensive ones. I have also managed websites for individuals and small businesses for years. If cost is important and you just need to put up a quick, simple site, then Carrd is the least expensive and easiest option you can use.

They even have a free version, but to be honest, the paid plan at just a couple of dollars per month is the way to go. No, you can’t build a shopping cart or a blog on Carrd, but if you need a simple site of just a few pages, and you need it fast, Carrd is what you want. I have started dozens of clients on Carrd.

SquareUp – The Only Real Option for a Free Shopping Cart

So, you want to set up an online store, but you don’t want to pay $40 and up to Shopify or Etsy. Is there still a free shopping cart option? There is, and it’s from the folks who make those white little square credit card swipers for cell phones. They’ve been doing credit card processing for years and they recently acquired Weebly, so now they offer free websites to sell your wares.

They also have paid options, but the free version is just fine if you just need to get started. Yes, it has limitations, but few of those will impact your ability to earn an income from your online store. I’ve now set up multiple businesses for clients who were just starting, and it has worked fine for them.

Once you start earning much more, you can always consider upgrading to a paid SquareUp plan, or even switch to another company. But if you’re just starting out, SquareUp is a great place to do just that.

Squarespace – The Best Full-Featured Website Hosting Service

I’ve been a Squarespace user for over a decade. I’ve set up many individuals and businesses on the platform. It’s not a free service and it’s not a specialized service like Shopify, for example. What it is, is a beautiful, full-featured, powerful, and easy-to-learn platform for hosting your website. The support is also excellent.

I typically move businesses over to Squarespace once they’ve outgrown Carrd and Square. It offers far more features and also includes powerful add-ons like mailing lists and social media integration. It has a very capable shopping cart and great payment handling. Once you are at a point where you need something beyond the budget & free options for a website, then Squarespace should be your next step.

Gusto – Simply the Easiest Way to Manage Payroll and Employees

A few years back we decided to hire our children for our business. It was the best decision we ever made, but managing the hiring, pay schedules, tax documents, and payments was a chore. After doing some research we found that this is a common headache for small businesses. Overwhelmingly, the highest-rated software that business owners turned to was Gusto.

Yes, I know, it’s another strange name, but don’t let that fool you. They are an excellent partner for hiring W2 and contract employees. Gusto is simpler, faster, and more modern than the competition. The step-by-step process of signing people up and managing each step of payroll has saved us countless hours of work. It’s not inexpensive, but I cannot recommend Gusto enough.

Conclusion

I have other apps that I use regularly as well, but these were the ones that immediately came to mind. I use them just about every day. I occasionally need to dip into the alternatives (like when someone sends me a Photoshop file), so I keep those apps on my computer, but honestly, I much prefer what’s in my stack.

How did the conversation at the party go? Funny you should ask. His stack was very different from mine, mostly programming tools, but we did compare notes. For example, he had always registered domains with Go Dady, not so much because it was good, but just because it was the most popular. He hadn’t heard about Namecheap, but he said he would give it a try.

We also agreed that software subscriptions suck. He doesn’t use graphics or photo editing that much, but he said if he does in the future, he will give ACDSee a try too. We both agree that it’s a silly name, though.

For my part, I’m going to pay more attention to Slack, an application he uses daily. I have several clients who use it regularly as well, so it’s in my wheelhouse. It’s just an interface I never cared for, but then again, I’m a graphics and visual person, so maybe that’s why Slack just never appealed to me very much; but I can adapt.

So, if someone asks you about your stack, they probably aren’t talking about pancakes.

The Audi Brand Name

A story about picking a brand name that is catchy, marketable, and short.

The iconic Audi circles - no need for a name; everyone knows what brand that is (photo courtesy of Marcel Strauß at Unsplash)

The first car I purchased with my own hard-earned money was an Audi A4. As a matter of fact, after hours of haggling and much to the dismay of the slick sales rep, I even purchased it with a credit card, just to make the point to myself that I had finally made it. It was rare model, dark blue with tinted windows, 6-cylinder stick-shift, all-wheel-drive. It was an amazingly well-built car: German engineering and solidity. When I asked a mechanic friend to check it before my purchased and I described it to him, he said not to worry, that car is built like a tank. It was also a fun high-performing car to drive.

Most people love their first car, and so did I. However, in all the years I owned that car, I never wondered about the name. As a matter of fact, I made that purchase decision almost entirely on the specs, very recent reviews, and to be frank, a supposed prestige factor. Had I done a bit more homework; I probably should have known that the company had quite a checkered history.

The Origin of Audi

The original company was founded by August Horch in 1899 in Germany. This was well before the world wars. Germany was still ascending as a world power and its scientific research, and consequently its manufacturing, was quickly rising in the eyes of the world.

After the turn of the century, the company name changed several times from A. Horch & Cie., to August Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG, and then to August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH. Those were typical company names at the time, but as you can imagine they did not roll off the tongue, even in their native German language. They just were not memorable or marketable names.

After some in-fighting and a lawsuit at the company, the German Supreme Court concluded that the “Horch” brand name belonged to his business partners and not August Horch, even if he was the original founder. The automobile phenom formerly known as Horch could no longer use his own name for what remained of his company.

From this point forward the company would continue to be a conglomerate of several subdivisions that combined to make cars under different names. In the 1920s the company had several commercial successes with cars named the “Type A” and the “Type B.” While this was a popular thing to do for car manufacturers at the time, it hardly made Horch or his company stand out from the pack. While the iconic Ford Model T comes to mind as a car named after the company owner, Henry Ford, way back in 1908.

In the 1920s Horch left his company for a government position in the Ministry of Transportation. He remained close to the company, but different divisions of the company were sold off to another manufacturer called Dampf-Kraft-Wagen (DKW). Later in the 1930s, the company merged with another manufacturer, Wanderer, that was part of Auto Union AG and the company even used engines from French manufacturer Peugeot. Sacrebleu!

As the 1930s neared the start of WWII, the company began manufacturing equipment and vehicles for the German military. As such, during the war, the manufacturing plants became targets for Allied bombing raids. WWII devastated the German automobile industry. At the end of the war, Horch’s company plants were captured by the Soviets who promptly converted them to producing such commercial successes (not) as the “IFA F8” and “IFA F9” car models, and the commercial firebrand, the “Trabant.”

As a result, the company that Horch founded and that was now known in West Germany as Auto Union, was divested from the plants behind the Iron Curtain. They did however hold onto one important piece of intellectual property: the name Audi, which had been adopted long before the war.

Photo of the 1923 Audi Type E; note the use of the Audi brand name above the grill (This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license / Wikipedia)

So where did the name come from?

Back in 1910, having been barred by the courts from using his own family name for the company, and consequently not being very good at picking catchy commercial names, Horch called an emergency meeting in a crowded apartment of one of his partners in Zwickau, Germany. The partner was Franz Fikentscher, another one of those names that do not roll off the tongue, even in German - consequently, that name was also as an option for the car company as well.

While they were deliberating the future of the company and the name of it, Franz’s son was studying Latin in a corner of the room. It must have been a long and loud meeting because having been quite fed up with it, the son finally blurted out: “audiatur et altera pars: wouldn’t it be a good idea to call it Audi instead of Horch!”

Having heard these men go on about why the name Horch, which is German for “hark,” was no longer possible, why not use the Latin translation of it: audi? He literally meant to say: “Hark, translate the damn word into Latin, already” …and let me finally study in peace!

The partners looked at each other in bewilderment and then agreed that this was an excellent company name. On April 25th, 1910 the Audi name was officially adopted, albeit with the exquisitely conforming -Automobilwerke GmbH Zwickau attached to the end of it. They did take a bold leap in 1915 when they shortened the official name to Audiwerke AG Zwickau.

Post WWII Audi automobile, when the name was Auto Union (photo courtesy of Yves Moret via Unsplash)

As was mentioned above, Audiwerke AG Zwickau continued to rely on multiple partnerships and cross-manufacturing agreements with other manufacturers and continued to be overshadowed by names like Wanderer and Auto Union. The company was also co-owned by more household named companies like Daimler-Benz and Volkswagen. The unique Audi name was not officially used to actively market the brand until well after the war, starting in the 1970s, when the name finally became the marketing name for new models.

Steps to Take for Finding a Good Name

Arriving at the Audi name was essentially a congruence of accidental events that just so happened to occur at the same time: the disastrous lawsuit, unfortunate German names, the emergency meeting, the crowded apartment, and the son studying Latin in the same room. Such a lining-up of factors is often credited as the right ingredients for great historical discoveries, from Isaac Newton’s Apple to Wilhelm Roentgen’s X-ray. As such, it can also be the source of great company names.

I often hear people say that there are no great names available anymore for their start-up companies. I also often hear people say that they cannot find a name that isn’t registered as a web address. Those issues also confounded Steve Jobs of Apple and Jack Dorsey of Twitter, but that did not stop them from coming up with names that are now so common they have become verbs.

The fact is that for every product name or company name there are hundreds of word combinations that still exist to come up with a clever name. The key is to create situations that increase your chances of finding one. This could involve multiple people, including people that may not work in your industry. This is a perfect example of diversity being a key factor.

Another important step is to make room for the idea to evolve. Great names are evolutionary. Asics is an acronym of a Latin saying meaning “a healthy soul in a healthy body,” and the software company Adobe was named after a creek behind the founder’s house. I am certain those ideas did not simply appear to them overnight.

Sometimes just a small tweak is necessary. Contrary to popular belief, Google does not mean a large number with 100 zeros. It is not even a word at all. The correct word is actually Googol, but that does not sound or look as good. The name needed to evolve to become the iconic name it is now.

Many company names are also made up from foreign phrases or from ancient languages. This is why those boring college Latin and Greek classes matter. If you did not study a foreign language, it might help to enlist the help of someone with a humanities background to figure out what a name could translate to… or if your name is Fikentscher, ask a short-tempered child who just happens to study Latin.

On that last point, children are the future, literally. They have a simple and direct way of looking at the world. They also tend to keep up with the latest trends, like the latest Lizzo scandal or what fragrance is Kourtney Kardashian’s favorite. Those may seem irrelevant details to us Facebook Boomers, but if you are looking to sell your products in the future, those are details that could make or break a company name.

Photo of the best-selling Audi RS5 at a recent auto show (this image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license / Wikipedia).

The Best Pen for Small Business Owners

If you hand-write your notes, then use a pen that makes a statement.

I always know what pen to grab when I run out of my office, do you?
Photo by the author - no license.

As many people know, I’m a fan of handwriting. I wrote an article about the many benefits of handwriting titled: Use the Warren Buffett Method and Take Written Notes, and if it worked for Warren Buffett… well you get the idea. I followed that up with Recommended Pocket Notebooks for Business Owners, where I listed many of the notebooks that I had tried over the years.

Then I received a note from someone asking me what I write with. I hadn’t thought about mentioning it before, but picking the right pen is important. Not just because it ought to be efficient and convenient, but like the notebooks you choose to use, it has to make the right statement. When you pull out that pen, you don’t want to send the wrong message.

That said, I’m also practical. I know there are pens that cost in the thousands of dollars. For me, that’s just extravagant and sends the wrong message. Just as I don’t wear an extravagant watch, I also don’t want to intimidate people with a pointlessly expensive pen. So, what do I write with?

It Should be Something Basic

There are thousands of options when it comes to pens, and I’ve tried many. Not all have been good experiences. To make things simple, I’ve narrowed this list down to ones I still use regularly and that are readily available on Amazon. YMMV.

I’ve always used a good quality pen. It doesn’t have to be a Mont Blanc, but it has to be slick and clean looking. Since I worked in IT so many years, I tended to gravitate towards techy-looking pens. That is how I stumbled on the Zebra F-301 pen:

They are compact, write well, have a fine point, and look techy-modern. Since I often go back and edit my notes, I also use colored pens to do that, and Zebra F-301s come in a 4-color pack as well:

What About Pencils?

One thing that often comes up is whether you should use a pencil instead so that you can erase things. Yes, I know some pens are erasable, but pencils also have the advantage that they don’t need to be held downwards to work (a common issue with pens). This comes in handy when you are writing standing up or in a tight space – something IT people deal with often enough.

So for that, I always used mechanical pencils. Like with pens, there are many options out there. However, you don’t want to show up to a meeting with a cheap plastic pencil with a Hello Kitty image on it (no offense to Hello Kitty). Even though you’re using a pencil, you still want to look professional.

I’ve tried others, but Zebra also makes great mechanical pencils and so I stuck with the brand over the years. They have an excellent mechanical pencil as well: the Zebra M-701:

It’s a well-made, inexpensive, and good-looking mechanical pencil. If you’re going to use a pencil (as I still do), then it’s a great option.

There is one thing with the message that you send when using a pencil that should be pointed out. If you are writing down important notes in a meeting with a client, then why would you use a pencil? It suggests uncertainty. I know it may seem trivial, but when you are working on a large or expensive project, you should use a pen to demonstrate certainty and purpose.

If you do need to undo something, then just cross it out. This also looks more assertive than reaching for an eraser, and interrupting the flow of the conversation by feverishly erasing what you wrote. That doesn’t lend itself well to most situations, so let’s turn back to pens.

So, what do I use now?

I still use the F-301s and when needed, M-701s. However, if I need to make an impression – sometimes even a talking point – I always have my trusty Fisher Space Pen:

At just three and a half inches long with the cap on, it’s always in my pocket next to my notebook. I have two: a well-worn silver one and the matte black 400B one above. This pen is great because it writes sideways and upside down. Heck, it even writes in the rain and is completely waterproof. It is also very compact with a cap on, which comes in handy when it is next to my notepad.

Yes, I’ve been told it’s a bit gimmicky, but that is outweighed by the positive features, IMO. I actually think it looks professional and sophisticated, especially in the mat black color. It has a flair of patriotism, with the whole astronauts-use-it story, but not in an overt way.

Yes, the Fishers are a bit pricey. If you are used to plastic pens and the free ones you pick up at conferences, then $30 for a pen is a bit steep. On the other hand, they last. I’ve used the silver one for years and I just buy refills when I run out of ink. They are very well-built, so this may be the last pen you ever buy.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my favorite pens. Period.

Yes, I also have a bin full of other pens at home. They just seem to accumulate in our house. There’s even a box with orphan caps in that bin. They are right by the front door for folks that need one to go. If a sales rep needs a pen and happens to walk off with one of those, I certainly won’t mind.

For my own pens, I guard them better. If I don’t have my Fisher handy, then I reach for a Zebra. I have had many of those over the years. I even have a small box with Zebra parts in my drawer, you know, for repairs. I guess that sums it up pretty much: I would rather repair a Zebra than slum it with a cheap plastic pen.

Consequently, I don’t have a box of Fisher parts because, well, they don’t need to be repaired. I have some refills, but that’s it. This sums up why Fisher is so good. If I need to grab a pen that I know will always work and won’t let me down, a pen that also looks sharp and sends the right message, then I use my Fisher. It’s just a great pen all around.

Recommended Pocket Notebooks for Business Owners

Even if it’s just for a casual meeting over coffee, you want to make sure your notebook sends the right message. Photo courtesy of Thom Holmes via Unsplash.com

In a related article titled: Use the Warren Buffett Method and Take Written Notes, I explained the advantages of taking written notes to save your important ideas for later. If you don’t believe me that handwriting your thoughts is the best way to remember them, then you should go back and read that. There is psychological evidence to support it.

Of course, this brings up the question: where should you jot down your notes? Sure, you could grab whatever pad you have laying around, but that’s not very classy, and also not very practical for your needs. And yes, there are better options.

Below, I have listed notebooks that I have bought and used. While these aren’t super-expensive, they are better quality than a simple notebook, from the stitching to the cover, to the paper. This is because if you’re going to whip this out during an important meeting, you want to look professional and organized. Just as what you wear and how you look, your accessories need to show that you mean business.

On to the Notebooks

I have used dozens of different notebooks over the years. I also have to be honest and say that I didn’t always spend money on these because I’m frugal. I used everything from those real-estate pads that agents leave hanging on your front door to stacks of salvaged paper stapled together. I also had a period where I just used index cards help together with a binder clip.

The problem with all of those is that they have no longevity. If you need to review them later, edit them, and keep them on the shelf for reference, then you need something that as similar to a paperback as possible. Consequently, it also has to be compact enough to fit into a pocket so that you can take it with you.

You also don’t want a wire coil binding. While they are handy for laying the notebook flat, they can get crushed, they can unwind, and they can get caught on favorite sweater. They are also typically magnetic which can also be a hassle, although the biggest issue to me is that they add too much bulk.

While I was in college, I used composition notebooks, the kind with the multicolored camo patter and the black tape over the binding, for all my class notes. They were handy in that they looked neat on the shelf, were all the same size, were super cheap, and available anywhere.

Naturally, after college, I started using the mini-version of the 4x6” Composition Notebooks

They were small, familiar, and very convenient. I could just slip one in my back pocket and be on my way. After a while the camo pattern felt a bit college-y, so I switched to Plain 4x6” Composition Books

And I even tied the plastic cover ones for a while. They were a great place to start. I especially liked the fact that they were flexible, so that if you sat down with one of these in your back pocket, you weren’t breaking the binding.

The problem with these wasn’t obvious to me at first, but after I had a whole collection on the shelf, I realized that it wasn’t easy to tell them apart. You can’t use a sharpie on the black binding, so it required a label that I had to stick on there with tape. The second problem is that over time, the black binding started to peel off. I corrected this with additional tape, but the whole idea of these looking professional and well put together was gone.

The luxury models

If you really want to make a statement, you have the option of showing up to your meetings with a brand-name model. Some of the ones I think deserve honorable mention here are the Dingbats (I know, silly name) eco-friendly models, the Japanese Apica CD mini-notebook, or the more expensive but very highly regarded Mercedes of notebooks, the German-made Leuchtturm1917.

That said, I’m a frugal buyer, and after years of buying composition notebooks in bulk, I wasn’t ready to pay 12 dollars and up for a single notebook, even if it had a reputable brand name. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve used them all and they are fantastic. At these price-points you also get higher paper quality that dries the ink quickly. You also get warrantees against defects and generally very good craftmanship. So they have their place.

But I go through notebooks like I go through snacks next to my desk, so I needed something a bit more affordable that still met my needs. One inexpensive brand that I used for some time was Paperage. I think it’s made in China, but it’s available in larger quantities, lays flat and is reasonably well made with higher quality paper. I used the Paperage Pocket Journal, below, and stuck to the darker colors, although they come in vibrant ones too.

They are very good. I also like the pocket in the back that allows you to store business cards and receipts, and it has convenient tear-out pages. There are other inexpensive imported options out there as well, but Paperage is a notch above.

One other notebook I tried for a while is the Rite In The Rain Mini-Notebook:

It is uniquely weather-proof and just for that reason I wanted to use it everywhere. I didn’t really believe it when I read about it, but these notebooks can actually be submerged in water and the paper will still be useable. With the Fisher Space Pen, this makes a unique combination if you live and work somewhere wet and you need this capability. The notebooks aren’t exactly inexpensive, but they are sure to raise some eyebrows and help you score some points if that’s what you need.

What I use now

Quality is important to me. I really needed something that was available in larger quantities at a reasonable price but still offered excellent durability, good quality paper, and while writing in the rain is cool, I live in SoCal, so that wasn’t needed. I don’t like to tout brand names and expensive options, but I can’t say anything negative about Moleskine Softcover Pocket Notebooks

Now these aren’t fancy and leatherbound (although you can buy fancy covers for them). They really aren’t super expensive looking, but they do look classy enough for my needs. They are also extremely light, small, and flexible. Did I mention they are reasonably inexpensive, available both online and in stores, and the paper quality is excellent.

Yes, I know I still need to attach labels to them when I put them in my bookcase because of the narrow-stitched binding… notice, I said “stiched” not stapled or glued which is also a sign of quality. The bottom line is that they are perfect for my needs, and I will use them over any of the others I have bought over the years.

They also have tear-out sheets, and a convenient pocket in the back. Honestly, it ticks all the important boxes for me but what I like best is that they are so light and flexible. I always hated having that rigid binding in my back pocket that I had with the more expensive leather-bound models, and actually also with the cheaper Composition Books too…

Conclusion

There are tons of options when it comes to pocket notebooks, but if you are looking to make a good impression while also keeping things convenient, then the options narrow quite fast. While there are certainly more expensive options as well, I just can’t bring myself to spend that kind of money on notebooks. It’s not that I’m cheap, but I have other things in my business I should be spending my money on.

That said, I will pay for quality. For a while I was willing to pay quite a bit more and I tried very expensive options, including some I didn’t mention above as they weren’t as impressive. I do see the value in those fancy notebooks, but as with all luxury items, it’s really a diminishing return on investment.

I also appreciate unique options for specific cases, like the all-weather Rite In The Rain notebooks. Apparently they come from Washington where it rains a lot, so I can totally see the need. It’s pretty cool. I was even able to take notes in a pool, but for my needs that’s not really necessary.

The most important thing, however, is that your choice of notebook doesn’t impede your ability to quickly take it out of your pocket and start writing. Not everyone needs the same features, so maybe one of the other notebooks is better for you. Just don’t let anything hold you back from taking notes!

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3 Military Leaders of Antiquity Today’s Business Leaders Can Learn From

Yup, I read & collect history books, especially biographies. I know, it’s not a very common thing to do anymore… all that room they take up and the dust! But, it’s a fascinating and rewarding hobby.

TLDR:

• There are three leaders of antiquity who achieved tremendous success, often against incredible odds

• As a student of history, I wanted to highlight these three historical figures as examples to follow for those in leadership today.

• They weren’t saints, but as ancient leaders go, they were fair, effective, and worldly.

• I’m an avid reader, so I’ve listed books for reference, but if you aren’t into books, there are digital versions and also audiobooks available that I’ve also included.

• If like me, you are a busy business owner and need a quick but also entertaining story, then I recommend these books:

• Cyrus the Great, by Stephen Dando-Collins

• Hannibal: The Novel, by Ross Leckie

• Julius Caesar, A Biography, by Michael Grant

Below, I include links to more in-depth books on these three great men. Many of them also have Kindle versions and audiobooks, so I link to those as well when they are available.

I have always been fascinated by men of the past who conquered kingdoms, built great monuments, and ruled over great empires. Yes, I said men. For too many reasons to go into here, these are not women, so allow me to sidestep that can of worms, here.

I have been a history buff my entire life. When my friends collected baseball cards, I collected stamps, when they watched superhero movies, I watched documentaries, when they crammed for their math finals, I was reading dusty books on Viking life, when they majored in business in college, I was writing essays on siege tactics. …Then I graduated.

I quickly discovered that there were few jobs for history majors. It took me some time to come to terms with that, but I did manage to find work in another nerdy field: computer support. I made a career out of it and worked in that field for the better part of my life, but I never forgot my real passion. I still read history books throughout those years, especially historical biographies.

Reading those biographies has taught me invaluable lessons that shepherded me through office politics, strategic business decisions, layoffs/downsizing, and changes in leadership. Granted those were all pressures above my pay grade and out of my control, but I can also say that history books proved useful in managing personal finances, building up my side hustle into a business, managing people around me, and navigating the complexities of growing my nest egg.

From these books, there are three historical leaders that stand out as having been particularly interesting to me over the years. I admit that they weren’t names that will typically come to mind first. You’re probably thinking of Alexander and Napoleon. Sure, they were successful and are often quoted in business/leadership books. However, they had many leadership flaws, not to mention that they were self-serving, cruel, and vain. Hence they do not make good examples to follow, so while I have read many books about them, they are not on my list of biographies to recommend.

Instead, I offer these:

Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great, by Stephen Dando-Collins

(Kindle)

Long before Alexander, there was another “great” and that was Cyrus. He was a Persian king who founded the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC. While he isn’t as well known, he was actually one of the most successful military leaders and conquerors of all time. He began his reign by conquering the Median Empire and then went on to conquer the Lydians, the Babylonians, and many other city-states in the Middle East, uniting them under one empire.

It is difficult to put the many achievements of Cyrus into a single paragraph. To be honest, I had read about many Western leaders before going to college, but I had never heard of Cyrus until I picked up a book on a whim. It was a book about Cyrus that one of my teachers was tossing out. Reading about his military campaigns and the administrative policies that he implemented in his vast empire was eye-opening.

There were other great military figures before him, but Cyrus was particularly successful on the battlefield. This led to the formation of the Persian Empire, the first to span multiple continents, making him the most influential figure of antiquity before the Romans. Because the empire was so large, larger than any contemporary empire, it required a new, modern way to administer such vast territories and differing cultures.

This is why his tolerance towards different cultures and religions and his policy of allowing conquered peoples to keep their own customs and religions were so important. This was a break from what previous conquerors had tried before. He also built great monuments and cities, including the city of Pasargadae and the famed palace at Persepolis. He also built roads throughout the empire and the world’s first postal system, not unlike the US Pony Express service.

He is also credited with the abolition of slavery, which was a revolutionary concept. Prior to Cyrus, conquered men, women, and children were always sold into slavery, it was one of the many rewards for warfare at the time. As the discussion of our legacy with slavery still haunts us today, Cyrus’s policy on slavery is a particularly pertinent topic to understand.

As a study of good leadership and administrative capabilities, Cyrus is about as good as you can find. Unfortunately, I only own two books about Cyrus, although I have read a few others. The one mentioned at the top of this article by Stephen Dando-Collins, is not one that I own, but it was published recently, and I have been told it is well-researched. If you’re looking for a more contemporary-leadership-focused read on Cyrus, then Xenophon's Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War (Kindle) (Audio CD), is a great resource that highlights the important things that business leaders would typically focus on. Honestly, this isn’t the type of book I reach for, but it is very well-written and an excellent resource. One of the books that I do own and that I like to recommend is Cyrus the Great: An Ancient Iranian King. At just over 100 pages it offers a super quick read and is written with greater reverence than many other books, in my opinion. Another well-known biographical author is Jacob Abbott. The one I have on my shelf is History of Cyrus the Great: Makers of History Series (Kindle), but there is a more recent edition called History of Cyrus the Great (Kindle), that I can heartily recommend. They are also a quick read at just over 100 pages each.

Hannibal Barca

Hannibal: The Novel, by Ross Leckie (Kindle) (Audio CD)

No, I’m not referring to Hannibal Lecter, the cannibal from the Silence of the Lamb movies. That Hannibal was actually named after the historical Hannibal Barca, a Carthaginian general, and statesman who fought the Second Punic War with Rome at the end of the third century BCE. He is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history for his audacious tactics and leadership. He is most famous for leading his army, including war elephants, across the Alps to attack Rome from the North in 218 BC. More notably, he is the architect of the spectacular victory over superior Roman forces at the Battle of Cannae, a calamitous event that is still studied in military schools today.

Hannibal was such a terrible scourge on Rome that they spent three wars to defeat them completely. Carthage was eventually decimated with such hate that the Romans did their best to wipe the entire people off the map and out of history books. This is why we actually know surprisingly little of Hannibal much of it is likely not very accurate. As historians, though, we must ask why there was such enmity towards Carthage, and especially Hannibal. The relative dearth of information is still hinders us today – people might know about the elephants and perhaps about Cannae, but little else.

The fact is that well before Cannae, Hannibal’s lightning-fast expedition across the Iberian peninsula, evading Celtic and Roman enemies, was such an effective strategy that the Germans studied it as a basis for their Blitzkrieg strategy. Likewise, the treacherous Winter trek with elephants over the Alps and then surprising the Romans on their own lands before campaign seasons began was a terrifying shock. He then followed that up with stinging defeat after defeat, not unlike the early successes of Alexander against the Persian empire. Hannibal had actually studied Alexander in his youth.

It should also be pointed out that Hannibal spoke fluent Latin, Greek, Celtic, and several other languages enabling him to unite vastly heterogeneous enemies against Rome. Despite always being outnumbered, Hannibal won every battle, or at the least drew them to a draw. He was never defeated in battle during an entire decade of campaigning on enemy territory. It was only when he returned to Africa after 30 years, fighting for a city with soldiers and a city-state he hardly knew anymore, that was he finally defeated in battle. Even then, he still managed to negotiate a workable armistice for them.

Hannibal eventually left Carthage to fight with other enemies of Rome but was ultimately betrayed by them. Despite that, he was never captured and died by suicide. As a model of perseverance against unbelievable odds, as a model of leadership in the most difficult negotiations, and as a model of strategic intelligence, I do not believe any leader of antiquity can compare. While that is strictly my own opinion, I urge you to read his story and decide for yourself.

I have a half dozen books on Hannibal, but the book I typically recommend is the one I mentioned at the top. Yes, it is a fictional novel that takes broad liberties with known history.

Why do I recommend it? Well primarily because the story of Hannibal has been erased from history, so some liberties are acceptable, IMHO. This is because reading history can be a hard pill to swallow. So, if reading history isn’t easy for you or you just don’t have much free time, then this is a great read that will keep you turning pages late into the night. By the way, Ross Leckie also wrote two sequels: Scipio (Kindle) and Carthage (Kindle), that are just as entertaining. I have recommended Leckie’s books to coaches, entrepreneurs, and CEOs - it is a great source of inspiration.

However, for a more in-depth and historically factual book, I recommend Leonard Cottrell’s Hannibal: Enemy of Rome. It is still a quick read from a historian’s perspective but doesn’t stray too far from established history. If you are a history fan and would like an in-depth look into the actual battles, I find Theodore A. Dodge’s Hannibal (Kindle) (Audio CD) (Audible) a fantastic reference. It contains an a closer look at the wars with Rome, the politics of the time, and battle strategies. For those who want to understand tactics on the battlefield, this is the book.

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar, A Biography, by Michael Grant

There are hundreds of books written about Julius Caesar, and for good reason. I own many and I have read or heard about Caesar since childhood (Asterix and Obelix were a regular staple). Julius Caesar was a remarkable general and politician. It is my opinion that every entrepreneur and leader today should know who this man was.

Born into Roman nobility, Caesar was first a public servant, who became a brilliant military leader, and a capable orator and chronicler of his own campaigns. He played a critical role in the events that led to the end of the Roman Republic which led to the eventual rise of the Empire. In 60 BC, Caesar formed a political alliance with two other statesmen to share power under what is known as the First Triumvirate. Caesar's subsequent victories in the wars just North of the Roman peninsula, primarily in Gaul (modern-day France), extended Rome's territory up to the English Channel and the Rhine River.

Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both when he conducted the first invasion of Britain and built a demonstrative bridge across the Rhine. His conquest of Gaul greatly extended the Roman world, and also its wealth. The story for which Caesar is probably best known (thank you Shakespeare) is that on the 15th of March, 44 BC, he was assassinated by a group of senators who feared his growing dictatorial power. That said, what he accomplished before that and how he did it is worth learning about.

Unlike Cyrus, Caesar was neither magnanimous nor fair. He was absolute, violent and pursued his enemies until their complete destruction - something he likely learned from Alexander. It is therefore with reservations that I place him on my list of great historical figures. That said, the verdict, especially from many contemporary authors, is that he was an extremely effective leader and so I am keeping him on the list.

What should be of significant interest to contemporary readers, especially business leaders, is his genius for manipulation. Against typically significant forces rallied against him, he still managed to eke out a victory in politics, in growing his wealth and as a general on the battlefield. The way he managed debtors and politicians throughout his life is remarkable. Politically, he had a knack for being in the right place at the right time and made the best possible use out of his appointments and service. Likewise, his military victories at Alesia and Zela were masterful in their tactical approach.

As I mentioned there are many books written about Caesar, so picking the right ones can be difficult. The book by Michael Grant that I mentioned at the top is a quick read and the one I usually recommend for anyone needing to get a good overview of Caesar. For a more in-depth read on this fascinating man, I also own Caesar, a Biography (Kindle) by Christian Meier. Although it is a bit older, it is still an excellent biography and one I can heartedly recommend.

Another biographical author I heartily recommend is Theodore A. Dodge’s Caesar (Kindle) which goes more in-depth into the man and his times. I have several books written by Dodge, and I am always impressed by the care he takes in laying out strategies and what is known to be historically accurate.

Conclusion

There are many books on leadership that you can choose to read. I have shelves full of them, and to be honest, most of them are only half-read, if that. After you read enough of them you start to see that they are just rehashing the same advice. More importantly, when someone just tells you exactly what to do, it doesn’t make for an interesting story to read anymore.

Cyrus, Hannibal and Caesar came long before these self-help books cam along. They forged their own path in history and the fact that we can still learn from them thousands of years later is an indication that their stories mattered. What is also significant is that Hannibal studied leaders that came before him, like Cyrus. Likewise, Caesar studied the Punic wars that Hannibal was the central figure of. They took from those who came before them and used that information to create their own success.

The most successful leaders in history have studied these three men as well. Those that learned from their stories used it for their own success, those that didn’t didn’t… and it is why we don’t know their names. Today, we have libraries of information available at our fingertips, or at the tap of a screen. Yet despite that, we often neglect to learn from the success of leaders before us.

This begs the question, will people two thousand years from now read about you with the same interest? If so, then it is likely because you learned something from these great men of our past. Instead of binge-watching reruns of Two and a Half Men, maybe sitting down with one of the books linked above may be a better use of your time.

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