Ross' Rules: Don't be the team. Lead the team.

Too often we feel the need to work with others. And far too often we mistakenly think such group collaboration will lead to group success. Well if you believe that crap I've got a mail room and a helmet with your name on it.

Insight: collaboration is how the weak and lazy get ahead.

I don't care what you learned in kindergarten or summer camp: cooperative and collaborative environments area the domains of the subservient and submissive. They are the pasture of a million corporate sheep. Unless your goal is to be an anonymous cog in the wheels of progress you must eschew the group and distinguish yourself through outstanding individual effort. Only then will you grow into the type of man your father would be proud of.

In fact, there is only one time when it is even remotely acceptable to be a member of a work team - when you are its leader. In that case you are a devilishly intelligent, hyper-efficient corporate warrior savvy to the ways of success. For your keen business brain knows that - while it may be the group who does the work - it is the leader who gets the credit.

Remember that my corporate warriors.

Ross' Rules: Work is Life

Lately much has been made of the need for a strong work-life balance. The theory goes that if one is able to spend time with their family or pursuing hobbies and activities outside of work, they will be a happier employee and thus they will be a better employee.

Rubbish.

A balanced life is like sensible democrat: they're both imaginary. The need for a balanced life is the excuse of those who hate their jobs, and such people belong in welfare lines; not walking the hallowed halls of Corporate America. It is an affront to the millions of dedicated men everywhere who sacrifice their happiness and that of their family's for the good of the company.

I want workaholics. I want relentless passion and single-minded focus. My employees must eat, breathe and bleed the mission statement. I don't care that little Billy has a t-ball game or the Paige has a dance recital. The nanny can tell you how it went when you see her. Nor do I care if you haven't seen your wife in weeks. She may hate you now, but trust me, she'll love the lifestyle your substantial compensation package affords her.

Workaholics are what make this country tick. They are the lubrication in the gears of the most potent economy on Earth. While one may lament the long hours and high stress, they can rest easy knowing they are providing their families with wonderful homes, luxurious cars, high priced nannies and the latest fashions. No the workaholic doesn't get to spend much time enjoying the benefits of such hard work, but they know that happiness will never satisfy them the way comraderie and a defined sense of purpose can. And they know that defeating their children in a high stakes game of Connect Four, while intially gratifying, will never earn them a promotion and corner office.

As I approach the twilight of my working years I cannot help but envy those just starting out. My work is what gives me life. It is what will give you life. Remember, you can always start a new family, but you only get one shot at your career. Enjoy it while you can.

Ross' Rules: Banish Humility

Of all the hateful criticism lobbed my way from jealous competitors and scorned lovers, perhaps the most amusing is that of my perceived arrogance. Arrogance? Are simple statements of fact arrogant? Is awareness of one's own excellence the mark of hubris?

For the failed and failing the answer is yes.

Humility has no place in a successful man's world. Sure, the experts will tell you that such a trait endears one to his co-workers and management team. But I ask you this, do the experts travel to their multiple vacation homes in their luxuriously appointed Gulfstreams or Citations? Unless Southwest has upgraded their fleet, I think we all know the answer to that.

Arrogance has every place in society because arrogance is the body projecting success. And to paraphrase the famous saying, "it is not arrogance if you can back it up." In the gladiatorial arena that is Corporate America, arrogance is the first defense and best offense one has against detraction. In fact, I like to think of it as advertising. And while some might say that humor and emotion are the hallmarks of successful advertising, it is the repetitive loudmouths who are remembered. The humble wallflower may not have enemies, but the only people who know they exist are their families and the secretarial pool.

Humility makes me sick. In my mind the word is synonymous with weakness and failure. Last week I interviewed a VP candidate and when asked what his greatest weakness was, he actually answered, "I tend to overextend myself." I was shocked. Surely he had to have known that the successful have no professional weaknesses. Needless to say, the interview ended shortly thereafter. I believe he now works for his father-in-law.

To accuse the arrogant of being self-absorbed blowhards is to sell its impact short. Arrogance is part of the deception. Success begets success and you must become its magnet. Espousing your success lets the world beneath you know that you are better than they, and alerts the few above you that you are nipping at their heels. And while you may not willingly embrace arrogance, once you become accustomed to its warm bosom, you will never let it go.