What is your Gioconda?


We are back in France. We are in the XVI century, in 1519, and in this Chateau, we are privileged guests of the last hours of one of the biggest known genius in history. Leonardo knows the end is close. The French king Francis I, will come to visit him the next day to say goodbye. He has been his last patron, the one that has best understood him and treasured his freedom like nobody has. Leonardo gets out of his bed with difficulty. He wants to see, maybe for the last time, the paintings he has carried with him for so many years across his different homes in Firenze, Milano, Rome and now Amboise, in the Val de Loire. These paintings were never good enough, there was always something to improve, a new technique to apply, a stroke of a different colour, a new insight into human anatomy that would better reflect a human sentiment. They look fantastic. He exhales with relief.
He then takes the portrait of Lisa di Gioconda and remembers how Francesco, her husband, asked for a painting of his wife. He never got money for it but has been painting it for over 16 years. He now finally considers it done. He smiles. He remembers all the works he did not finish to focus his efforts on this painting and what he enjoyed doing. The Florence signori went really mad when he abandoned the lucrative work at Palazzo de la Signoria. He recollects memories from all the unanswered letters from the wealthy Isabella d’Este pleading him for a portrait. Now, after all these years, next to the Gioconda portrait and close to a premature death, he is satisfied with his decisions.

I believe that Leonardo da Vinci is in most of our imaginaries, one of the most significant masterminds of all times. He was a pioneer and a giant in many arts and sciences. Isaac Walterson, in his Leonardo da Vinci biography – which I highly recommend - confirms all this. However, what amazed me the most when reading the book was how many times Leonardo said no, procrastinated or simply walked away before completing a piece of art. He could deselect what did not matter to him to be able to prioritize what fulfilled his fruition for curiosity and perfectionism. His ability to focus (having two of the top ten most famous paintings in history hint so) whilst at the same time be spread through such an array of initiatives is revolutionary and inspiring.

Do you, as a leader, are able to clearly define and articulate to your team what is a must have, what a nice to have and what a must not do?
When was the last time that when you added a task to a team member, you asked her to deselect a task as a trade-off instead of trying to squeeze it all?
Looking at your desk right now, would you be able to tell each of your team members what their Gioconda is? And which is yours?

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