Fortune 500 Breakdown: If You're Not At The Table You're On The Menu

By Lukas Rice

Have you ever asked yourself why unscrupulous management and ethic-less Corporations can remain? Or if they do somehow receive reprimand; why so little? Have you ever heard employees rant about their evil super villain like bosses and think "wow", I'm glad that's not me? Well former Fortune 500 executive turned Author, Lukas Rice delved into the subject and discovered that the first Corporations were once ran like dictatorships in the 1600's, and instead of receiving a verbal or written warning you were more likely to get executed! Lukas found a link between big businesses of yesteryear and the 21st century that he coined the "menu theory", and it seeks to lay a realistic framework for how big businesses operate and have always operated based on factual data and evidence. This is indeed a story, a resource, or better yet a breakdown; "The Fortune 500 Breakdown". And this breakdown proceeds to explain why, "If you're not at the table you're on the menu". So, bring a fork!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lukas Rice
• Release date: Apr 30, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370784561

Book preview

Fortune 500 Breakdown

If You’re Not at the table You’re on the Menu

A no bullsh*t case study, story, and guideline to working in Corporate America while being a minority.

By: Lukas Rice

Copyright © 2017 by Lukas Rice

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Distributed by Smashwords

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

This work is dedicated to my wife, my kids, and to the initiated.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Defining Corporate America

The Position Statement

To Help or not to Help

Human Resources: Underground Style

HR Pain Points

Reaching out to the Upper Corporate Hierarchy to no avail

Just a Wednesday Afternoon of Cowboys and Indians

The Corruption Affair

Money Talks

A Smoking Gun Memo

A have-not who could survive but not thrive within a company

Human Resource Management and Manager Evaluation Initiatory

More HR Skullduggery

Interviews, Job refusals, and other Silver Tongue Shenanigans

Hopefully Evolving and Leading People

Conclusion

Preface

I have a revealing story to tell about a have-not in the workplace and this is probably not unusual from something that you may have heard before and therein lies the problem. The have-not narrative seems never-ending. Too many people not born of silver spoon status have labels thrusts upon them needlessly or are blocked from reaching their full potential and financial goals from gatekeepers who deem them unworthy. Without going down the rabbit hole of debate, I will instead focus on finally putting common sense, intellect, and fortitude to the test when being dealt harsh cards in the workplace and life. I will show this with a real live case study with emails and IM texts from several colleagues while being employed with a Fortune 500 Mega Company. Names have been changed of course, but the original documents are accessible but will only be shown once litigation worries are over and done with. Why? Because the only way to change a person's mind is to show them why they should. Logic and words must be used to combat ignorance on paper just as hands and feet must be used to protect oneself from a bully. One word can change an entire sentence’s meaning. We must respect words whether on paper or coming from another person's mouth. Pay attention to words, they can save your life or at the very least make it a lot easier.

A lot of people come from impoverished backgrounds whether they're from the big city or a country town that nobody's ever heard of; the struggle remains the same and its lethal borderline sinister even. Drug addicted parents, government assistance, on to crime are things that many people have faced and succumbed to, but that's the old narrative. And if we are being honest, this narrative belongs many times to youthful… Blacks and Latinos. This can't be denied! No one person can quell the problem although I will certainly try, no one classroom assignment can wipe away the have-not narrative. Algebra will not stop Tony from the other neighborhood from wanting to shoot you because he hates his life at home and hasn't eaten. However, Tony is a have-not like many, and nobody has told him yet that you and he should unite and start a business together, and become successes; because you both have it rough. You are in fact brothers in arms. You're on the same side! Have-nots are often treated differently by the populace because let’s face it, they don't count to many! These people don't belong to that special club and culture that says you will excel simply because, or that you will excel simply because you're the right person for the job; never mind that the have-not is qualified for the said job. Why? Qualifications are of no concern when you don't have a circle of enablers that will allow you to enter just because of your skin color and background. If you are a hungry have-not, fine, then starve! You don't deserve to have a healthy balanced meal with desert at a classy restaurant because you will de-class the place with your presence. Not being a team player will often be the excuse given for shutting the door in your face and/or shunning you. This is the thinking of many people sadly.

If I am being honest, most Ivy league schools and Fortune 500 company creators were not thinking of non-white races while bringing their visions to life and that is just a fact. And since that is a fact, common sense and logic need to prevail when making decisions to enter these blood sport arenas because that is what it will be if you are not privy on how to carry yourself; or you may decide not to even enter the fold at all; backup plan in place of course.

I am here to announce that this old narrative is finished! And the only way that my proclamation can come true is if people consider individuals other than themselves. Consider your children, or your nephew and nieces, or that cool little kid in your neighborhood that you know is a genius, but he has the wrong influences around. Come together for their sakes and push them to greater heights instead of letting the have-not narrative rip yours and their souls in half because it can. This is not about being the head of any organization but let every person be an organization; let every person be a singular unit of propensity for canceling the old narrative. Success and a great life my dear friends belong to you regardless of what one human or humans disagree.

Introduction

This whole literary excursion came about due to an experiment involving a power play. In an attempt to be simple and transparent, I will define the term power play. A power play is defined as tactics exhibiting or intended to increase a person’s power or influence. A second definition of power play would be the act of using knowledge and/or information against someone else to gain an advantage in an intense situation. Now, who was running the experiment/power play at first could be up for debate but discussing that would be a waste of time, instead my time would be better spent discussing some solutions to overcome the experiment and your time would be better spent reading about those solutions to see what best suits your life. But before we can get into that, I think it’s only right that I delve into the background of the have-not being experimented upon. And this is only to shed light on the social and psychological issues that certain backgrounds can create and how it affects a person’s understanding of their surroundings even in the workplace.

The have-not in discussion was born prematurely to low socioeconomic conditions and had to stay in an incubator for months. Now, in this day and time with the excellent neonatal care that exists that may not seem much of a problem, but in the late seventies and early eighties, this was a major concern. Why? Underdeveloped lungs, weak immune systems, and mental disabilities were something