“Greatness is NOWHERE” by Melkart Rouhana

Greatness is NOWHERE: Three Principles to Jazz up Your Culture, Pep up Your People, and Spice up Your Customer Experience

Melkart Rouhana
MRT Books (2021)
ISBN 9781737844327
Reviewed by Jill Rey for Reader Views (07/2022)

Author Melkart Rouhana’s years of experience in hospitality at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Emaar Hospitality Group, and Armani Hotels and Resorts certainly lend a hand in influencing many of the stories and perspectives within “Greatness is NOWHERE.” However, the principles and truths addressed within apply to a wide breadth of industry and workplaces.

Weaving his worldly travels and experiences into his work within this book, Rouhana seeks to create a definitive guide to be a great leader of people, culture, and the customer experience.

“Greatness is NOWHERE” uses the word play of no where and now here to offer truths and principles on creating a successful culture and customer experience using a diverse range of topics.

Uniquely, I’ve spent the last four years dedicated to the scholarly study and research surrounding organizational culture at the doctorate level and the author’s cites, research, influences, and definitions closely aligned with my own studies at a more simplified and wider ranging level, earning him a significant amount of excess credibility as I read through his truths and principles. If I’ve learned anything from my four years of studies, culture can be changed, but it is no easy feat. Rouhana doesn’t necessarily seek to take on an overhaul of culture change but gets right to the heart of the importance of the people employed and the customers served as he addresses culture and success from a leadership and teaching perspective. 

“Greatness is NOWHERE” is comprised of 3 principles, each housing 5 truths. Each truth closes with a guide to help unlock the reader’s potential. Some guides provided are self-explanatory, while others require you to dig deeper into yourself to complete, but each overarchingly ties to proactively addressing the learnings within each truth. He also provides a fun and captivating compilation of drawings at the conclusion of each, summarizing the points via visual form for added learning and absorption.

Finally, each principle is closed with a summary of all truths and points. This summary was one of my favorite pieces as the author really leaned into the “no-where” versus “now-here” points as this clarity and tie-back to the book’s name solidified my final understanding of Rouhana’s points as he tackled a wide range of topics and truths.