The leadership rookie

It was 7 am and Rei was still in bed. Her eyes were looking at the ceiling of her bedroom. Her mind was following each step of the 3.8km he had to run later that day in the Princess Ekiden (relay) Corporate Marathon of Fukuoka. She took her phone as she had just received a text message. It was Marie, her best friend and a relay runner in her team later that day. “hi Rei, are you up? I am so nervous. Will we make it to the national competition?”. “Of course! 😊 ”. She replied. “See you in an hour downstairs”. Both lived in Fukuoka’s university dorm, were 19-year-old and had met last year as they both started working some hours a week for Iwatani Sangyo corporation in an internship. Marie was the one that had seen the internal announcement looking for runners for the famous marathon. It was six months ago and they had trained very hard. Their goal to qualify for the national competition did not seem too far away according to the most experimented runners in the team who had partic...

We are in Italy, early XIX century and we are observing a musician about to enter on stage. Niccolò is staring at the mirror. Only an old curtain hanging between him and the crowd. He looks at his long fingers, the ones that have brought him so much glory. He observes his long hair, something that distinguishes him from any other musician. He smiles whilst setting the flaps of his long jacket straight. He then closes his eyes and remembers all the suffering he went through as a kid when people called him Son of the Devil. All the tears, the nightmares, the time spent on his own with the violin and the guitar as his only trusted companions. He was not over it and he knew his mother struggled a lot on her supposed deal with the devil. But he had made the most of it and used his peculiar image and skills to be successful in doing what he liked the most. Playing music. He stands up as the bell rings. Curtains open. Audience receives him with an standing ovation. The violin on his hand...

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 ...

Courtney sits on her bed. It is midnight but she is not able to sleep. An adventure is about to start for her, one of those dreams that rarely come true. Dreams that are even more difficult to achieve for somebody born in Hesleden, an English town whose Wikipedia description is as succinct as “It has a village shop, which includes post office, off licence and lottery terminal”. Courtney’s life is music and she is so persuasive in her pursuit that the whole family is on board to support her in this journey, a crazy one. She is just 13. The alarm clock is set for quite early. There is no school for Courtney tomorrow. She will travel just with her dad. Her siblings, mum and grandad (who sponsors the trip) stay behind. Just a couple of cars and three planes between her and the set of America Got Talent where she will have a 3 minutes audition. And then, two days after, this happens as she performs Hard to Handle – Otis Redding ( watch the first sixty seconds, pause the video, and then...

King Eric still sits on the couch wondering why he did not make it to the World Cup (good luck to your favorite teams in Russia) whilst we quickly fast forward 20 years and move to the majestic city of Madrid. We are inside the Royal Mint of Spain listening to a conversation of a group of robbers. It is the fourth day of police siege. The machines continue printing fifty-euro notes and the gang executes with relative discipline a plan to pull off the biggest heist in recorded history. The next step of the plan is to change the perception of the public opinion. They are not criminals but twenty first century Robbin Hoods. A journalist and a cameraman are about to enter the crime scene and broadcast live what is going on inside. The thieves want to tell the world that they are tired and are losing the war. This is Money Heist (“La casa de Papel”) one of the most trending Netflix series these days. I am not sure whether to recommend it or not. However, if you start watching it you w...

We leave Miss Pires playing Mozart in Vienna and we move South West towards France, to the city of Marseille, famous for many things among which its seaport (Fos-sur-Mer) and its football club, Olympic de Marseille. It is May 1998 and we are at the home of one of the most legendary French football players, Eric Cantona. “King Eric” – as nicknamed by Manchester United fans – has just turned on his TV to listen to Aimet Jacquet, French coach, to name the players that will represent France at the 1998 World Cup. It is a special one for Mr Cantona as it will be played in his home land. He is not in the list. He knew that as he had retired from football one year ago and he had not played with the national team since 1995. But only in that precise moment he realizes that he, one of the best players ever, would never play the biggest sport tournament in the world. King Eric had successfully restarted his career in England back in 1992 after several dis...

It was good to be in Birmingham and learning some leadership lesson from Tommy Shelby but we need to move on. Today we are going to Central Europe and fast forwarding to 1997. This is Vienna and we are at the famous Musikverein – where the New Year’s concert takes place -. It is lunch time and the audience is eager to listen to the Mozart K. 466 Piano Concerto. Maria João Pires , one of the most renowned Mozart pianists, is in front of her piano. The Concertgebouw Orkest Amsterdam, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, plays the first bars of the concert. At that precise moment Miss Pires puts her hand on her face and looks at the conductor. -       I have prepared a different Mozart concert – she confesses in panic -       I can try – she continues And Mr Chailly gives her three straight messages: You played that one last season. You can do it. You will do it well. And finishes with a smile full of confidence. And she starts, and sh...