Book Talk with Corneliu Bodea, CEO of Adrem: When I need it, I remember all the relevant messages and meanings exactly at the right moment.
The Romanian entrepreneur Corneliu Bodea is a shareholder of the international ABBC Group and CEO of Adrem. A brand with over 25 years of history on the Romanian market, Adrem consists of companies active in the energy industry. Corneliu extended his engineering education with management studies and an MBA from the Open University, UK.
Since 2014, Corneliu Bodea was elected President of the Romanian Energy Center (CRE), a non-governmental organization which activates in the energy industry, effective both in Romania and Brussels. CRE represents the interests of the main stakeholders on the Romanian energy market and facilitates communication with their corresponding European interlocutors, while also providing an European platform for dialogue for the energy industry.
With significant experience in the energy industry, in managing complex projects and over 1000 employees, Corneliu is very committed to supporting and contributing to all initiatives that foster the Romanian entrepreneurial environment. He believes that vision, alongside long-term strategic thinking and expertise determines business and social success.
Here are the most important books he read and the ones he would recommend to young people wanting to becoming entrepreneurs.
What books had the biggest impact on you?
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- The art of being by Erich Fromm
- Origin Story: A Big History of Everything by David Christian
Was there a moment, specifically, when something you read in a book helped you? Can you tell us about it?
In the “Origin story” book, the explanation about how complexity is related to entropy and the cost behind it gave me a “wow” moment of understanding.
In the “Origin story” book, the explanation about how complexity is related to entropy and the cost behind, gave me a “wow” moment of understanding. Click To TweetWhat five books would you recommend to young people interested in becoming entrepreneurs? Why?
- Origin story: A big story of everything – if we don’t understand the world we live in we will make no impact and progress.
- Start with why by Simon Sinek – you need to answer the right questions at the right time.
- The courage to be disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga – you really need to be prepared for being disliked.
- Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman – it is the key to understand the way societies reacts and why.
- Different time management books – time will be your biggest asset and problem.
How do you make time for reading? How often do you read? What format do you prefer? Do you take notes?
I use to read every evening before sleep and in weekend mornings during coffee ritual. I definitely read paper format and I enjoy feeling the texture and weight of the book and pages. Sometimes I have the feeling that I will forget the ideas and I take notes, which I never go back to. Nevertheless, I realized that the desperation that the information flies is not real. When I need it, I remember all the relevant messages and meanings exactly at the right moment.
How do you try to handle information overwhelm?
I try to stay away from Facebook and LinkedIn but I usually fail… I monitor my “screen time” and I try to reduce it, but when I find interesting articles, I hardly step aside.
What are some examples of incredible role models?
Our society is a fortunate one from this point of view. Humanity has had many bright minds so far that changed the world at the time, having a powerful impact on who we are today. Hence, nowadays each of us can have a hero to follow, to learn from its successes and failures.
I have three role models from who I learned about leadership. From Winston Churchill I learned the determination and the ability. From Nelson Mandela, I assimilated the power to forget and to change, while Bill Gates inspired me with his overall life approach and creativity.
Can you share with us a recent situation where you did not know if it is best to quit or just push forward with a project?
Yes I do! 🙂
Lately, the group that I manage had some difficulties mainly due to some big investments that didn’t pay back. I decided to come back into executive position (CEO) in 2016 and I found very demotivated people and financial difficulties. I didn’t know whether to recover the group from there or to start again. It might look a simple decision but believe me, it was not!
Now I know I took the right decision and the results are visible. We recovered from the difficult period, launched new projects, internal and external, regained the confidence of the employees and make them feel safe again and motivated within Adrem family.
Links where you can follow Corneliu Bodea or find out more about his projects:
- Adrem
- Romanian Energy Center
- Connect with Corneliu on LinkedIn
All books mentioned by Corneliu Bodea in our interview:
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- The art of being by Erich Fromm
- Origin Story: A Big History of Everything by David Christian
- Origin story: A big story of everything
- The Courage To Be Disliked: How to free yourself, change your life and achieve real happiness
- Start with why by Simon Sinek
- Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
