WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.859 Welcome to the Innovation Conversation, a podcast 00:00:02.859 --> 00:00:05.360 about innovators, both in business and real life. 00:00:05.860 --> 00:00:08.419 Hosted by myself, Ricardo Rescual and Harry McCona. 00:00:08.619 --> 00:00:11.660 This podcast is sponsored by OpenExperts .com. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:14.140 OpenExperts is a place to go if you're looking 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:16.300 to talk with top experts from around the world. 00:00:16.539 --> 00:00:20.879 That is Open -Experts .com. This podcast is also 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.539 sponsored by StartupNetworks .co .uk. Startup 00:00:24.539 --> 00:00:26.820 Networks, it's an online forum where you can 00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:28.739 find all the resources you need to learn your 00:00:28.739 --> 00:00:31.449 startup. from grants to investors to tips and 00:00:31.449 --> 00:00:33.270 tricks and how to be successful when you start. 00:00:40.649 --> 00:00:43.250 Hi, and welcome to another episode of the Innovation 00:00:43.250 --> 00:00:45.369 Conversation. Today we are joined by Stefano 00:00:45.369 --> 00:00:48.890 Calveti, a leadership coach and an overall great 00:00:48.890 --> 00:00:50.609 guy. Stefano, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. 00:00:50.609 --> 00:00:52.710 Thank you, Ricardo. I'm so happy to be here with 00:00:52.710 --> 00:00:56.429 you. Stefano, would you like to introduce yourself 00:00:56.429 --> 00:00:59.469 for the audience? Okay. Yes, it's going to be 00:00:59.469 --> 00:01:02.450 long. No, just kidding. I'll cut it short. As 00:01:02.450 --> 00:01:06.329 you say, I'm a leadership coach and I have built 00:01:06.329 --> 00:01:09.069 my experience in leadership, not just with coaching 00:01:09.069 --> 00:01:12.310 and training, but also with kind of 30 years 00:01:12.310 --> 00:01:14.549 in the Navy, in the Italian Navy as an officer. 00:01:15.069 --> 00:01:18.430 So I have had many different experiences in my 00:01:18.430 --> 00:01:22.150 life, in war areas, in more peaceful areas, in 00:01:22.150 --> 00:01:25.959 international stuff. political level stuff. I 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:28.560 was the deputy military assistant to the prime 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:33.620 minister and then so on and so forth. So I must 00:01:33.620 --> 00:01:37.459 say that I'm lucky enough to have seen leadership 00:01:37.459 --> 00:01:41.140 and experienced leadership in many, many situations. 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:46.159 Also, I am the co -founder of a stuffed up too. 00:01:46.299 --> 00:01:51.140 So just to add something to my curriculum. Interesting. 00:01:51.859 --> 00:01:55.140 Now, we actually got the opportunity to talk 00:01:55.140 --> 00:01:58.299 a lot before this podcast. You have a very interesting 00:01:58.299 --> 00:02:00.459 career and a very interesting life. So you started 00:02:00.459 --> 00:02:03.200 off in the Italian Navy, right? And then you 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:05.180 transition over to the civilian life where you 00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:07.739 became a coach and a leadership coach. How was 00:02:07.739 --> 00:02:10.060 that process? I mean, how do you go from being 00:02:10.060 --> 00:02:15.439 in charge of a ship to helping people to actually 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:18.659 lead the way? How does that go? Well, that's, 00:02:18.659 --> 00:02:20.840 it was an interesting passage, you know, because 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:24.139 I want to say, I don't want to brag, but you 00:02:24.139 --> 00:02:28.219 know, I had a salary that was, you know, every 00:02:28.219 --> 00:02:32.939 month was coming, no doubt. I had a career, I 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:38.580 was pretty much on path to be Admiral and so 00:02:38.580 --> 00:02:44.370 on and so forth. And yet, what I felt was kind 00:02:44.370 --> 00:02:47.569 of this alignment between what I wanted in life 00:02:47.569 --> 00:02:52.090 and what the Navy was going to give me. So I 00:02:52.090 --> 00:02:55.030 felt I was not in synteny anymore with the environment, 00:02:55.189 --> 00:02:58.310 with the people. And that's something that I 00:02:58.310 --> 00:03:00.189 really didn't like. So I understood that I needed 00:03:00.189 --> 00:03:04.909 a change. And talking to my wife, she pointed 00:03:04.909 --> 00:03:09.110 out the fact that I like talking to people and 00:03:09.110 --> 00:03:12.759 engaging with them. I like seeing people grow, 00:03:13.180 --> 00:03:16.919 I like contributing to their growth. And so she 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:19.639 said, well, why don't you become a coach? And 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:22.939 I explored the possibility. I've learned what 00:03:22.939 --> 00:03:25.860 being a coach means. And I said, yes, I want 00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:29.199 to do that. And that's how I started. You know, 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:32.360 I have, as I mentioned, I have, I will say a 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:37.000 pretty wide experience on leadership. And I'm 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.520 bringing all of these with the coaching tools 00:03:40.110 --> 00:03:44.770 The CTI is the co -active training institute 00:03:44.770 --> 00:03:47.909 providing me. And I think it's a great match, 00:03:47.990 --> 00:03:50.530 it's a perfect match. So that's why I started 00:03:50.530 --> 00:03:56.030 this new activity. It's really helping others. 00:03:56.250 --> 00:04:01.509 It's really, I love talking to especially entrepreneurs, 00:04:01.810 --> 00:04:04.490 young entrepreneurs, people who are curious about 00:04:04.490 --> 00:04:07.939 leadership. who are willing to prove themselves 00:04:07.939 --> 00:04:11.080 and to become a better leader than they are, 00:04:11.379 --> 00:04:13.280 even if they are seasoned leaders, of course, 00:04:13.340 --> 00:04:19.899 not necessarily. Do you find a lot of similarities 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:23.160 between the skill set you need as a military 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:25.439 leader and the skill set you need as a business 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:28.300 leader? There are similarities. Of course, there 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:32.360 are similarities. The context can be completely 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:37.490 different, of course, in the military. It's a 00:04:37.490 --> 00:04:40.889 very structured organization. Hierarchy is a 00:04:40.889 --> 00:04:45.310 must. Discipline is enforced in any possible 00:04:45.310 --> 00:04:52.310 way. Sometimes it's not a pleasant way. But there 00:04:52.310 --> 00:04:57.110 is a law that you can bring to the business world. 00:04:57.329 --> 00:05:01.269 And actually, for example, working under pressure, 00:05:01.550 --> 00:05:05.230 we are used to work... under a lot of pressure. 00:05:05.449 --> 00:05:08.250 And sometimes it's not just the deadline, the 00:05:08.250 --> 00:05:10.769 looming deadline for an important paper. Sometimes 00:05:10.769 --> 00:05:16.310 it's really working and having to make decisions 00:05:16.310 --> 00:05:20.230 in a situation where, you know, whatever you 00:05:20.230 --> 00:05:24.850 decide can be a matter of life or death. So you 00:05:24.850 --> 00:05:27.589 are on the front line. So I would say working 00:05:27.589 --> 00:05:31.689 under pressure in every condition, working Um, 00:05:31.930 --> 00:05:34.930 for long times when you are deployed, you are 00:05:34.930 --> 00:05:39.569 away from home and, uh, you work 24 seven. There 00:05:39.569 --> 00:05:42.009 is literally, I mean, of course you sleep, but 00:05:42.009 --> 00:05:45.389 it's just what you need to get rest. And there, 00:05:45.449 --> 00:05:48.129 there are no holidays for sure. There are no 00:05:48.129 --> 00:05:50.889 Sundays, there are no Christmas. You might take 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:54.310 an easier day if the battle rhythm allows you 00:05:54.310 --> 00:05:56.649 that, but it's not more than that. You see working 00:05:56.649 --> 00:06:01.790 every day. Um, it's also. kind of dealing with 00:06:01.790 --> 00:06:05.730 people, being a team member, other than a team 00:06:05.730 --> 00:06:09.149 leader. So the one thing that I have appreciated 00:06:09.149 --> 00:06:13.149 of the Navy is that since day one, you are fully 00:06:13.149 --> 00:06:16.910 merged with a lot of people, your peers, people 00:06:16.910 --> 00:06:20.550 that work with you, you have one boss and then 00:06:20.550 --> 00:06:24.230 there is the boss of the boss. And so you learn 00:06:24.230 --> 00:06:28.990 how to establish relationship, create relationship. 00:06:29.490 --> 00:06:33.990 with every each of them and if you want to have 00:06:33.990 --> 00:06:37.750 a successful team you also learn how to build 00:06:37.750 --> 00:06:40.569 trustful meaningful relationship with these people 00:06:40.569 --> 00:06:45.949 i was just wondering you know what was the most 00:06:45.949 --> 00:06:48.069 stressful situation you had in the navy i always 00:06:48.069 --> 00:06:49.910 like to ask this story because i okay you told 00:06:49.910 --> 00:06:52.689 me already and i'm really i'm very happy to be 00:06:52.689 --> 00:06:54.389 able to put it again on the podcast so what was 00:06:54.389 --> 00:06:56.350 the most stressful situation we had because a 00:06:56.350 --> 00:06:58.779 lot of startup founders They find themselves 00:06:58.779 --> 00:07:01.240 in quite stressful situations, but learning from 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:03.899 yourself how to deal with that, that'll be amazing. 00:07:05.180 --> 00:07:07.699 I think there are a couple of defining moments 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:10.439 in my life. One was when I was a commanding officer 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:13.819 of a ship and we were deployed in the Horn of 00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:19.120 Africa between Yemen, Somalia. It was a European 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:22.300 led mission to counter piracy in those waters 00:07:22.300 --> 00:07:29.410 a few years ago. Well, we had a lot of technical 00:07:29.410 --> 00:07:32.029 problems, engine problems, and something that, 00:07:32.110 --> 00:07:34.069 despite the maintenance and all the good work, 00:07:34.350 --> 00:07:38.110 was happening and it was making everything hard. 00:07:38.569 --> 00:07:42.069 There was a lot of pressure from Rome, from the 00:07:42.069 --> 00:07:47.589 Navy HQ, because they wanted us to be as efficient 00:07:47.589 --> 00:07:51.089 as we could. And we were really struggling with, 00:07:51.170 --> 00:07:56.120 I would say... I will define it as really bad 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:59.279 luck. A lot of things happening. It's not just 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.420 they were happening, it's the sequence of things 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:05.579 happening at the same time. And we also had pressure 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:08.819 from the European command that wanted us to be 00:08:08.819 --> 00:08:11.620 at sea and patrolling and dealing with pirates. 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:15.459 We had to intervene on scenes and do things. 00:08:16.139 --> 00:08:19.199 So there was I think was a very stressful moment 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.579 for me for the whole crew because of course is 00:08:21.579 --> 00:08:26.480 not it was not just me and What helped me a lot? 00:08:27.100 --> 00:08:30.279 Was to be transparent with everyone. I showed 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:34.279 up with all my insecurities with all my doubts 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:38.279 with all my oh I'm tired to them. I'm tired. 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:43.830 I I cannot I Showed up as a human And the reaction 00:08:43.830 --> 00:08:46.330 that I had from, especially from, of course, 00:08:47.970 --> 00:08:51.850 the staff that was mostly working with me, it 00:08:51.850 --> 00:08:57.350 was the senior staff this year, was a total understanding 00:08:57.350 --> 00:09:02.289 and support. And I remember it was actually one 00:09:02.289 --> 00:09:04.049 day one of the officer came to me and said, I 00:09:04.049 --> 00:09:06.789 don't know, I don't know how you can handle all 00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:09.970 of this, all this pressure and still smile and 00:09:09.970 --> 00:09:12.250 still keep going. And that's the thing that I 00:09:12.250 --> 00:09:14.950 told him was like, well, because I have you, 00:09:15.429 --> 00:09:18.730 because first of all, it's my responsibility. 00:09:18.970 --> 00:09:21.610 I cannot just lock myself in my cabin and cry. 00:09:23.389 --> 00:09:26.009 bang the head on the wall, I cannot do that. 00:09:26.070 --> 00:09:28.610 I need to react. I need to react. And I have 00:09:28.610 --> 00:09:31.389 you, you are helping me a lot. So that's, it 00:09:31.389 --> 00:09:36.029 was, this is the team that I really look at in 00:09:36.029 --> 00:09:42.269 my experience as the best team I ever had. Not 00:09:42.269 --> 00:09:44.629 because they were better than anyone else, but 00:09:44.629 --> 00:09:47.830 because of the boat we created that is unique. 00:09:48.730 --> 00:09:52.730 And I've been on many ships. I was just wondering, 00:09:52.789 --> 00:09:54.350 you mentioned something quite interesting which 00:09:54.350 --> 00:09:56.830 is being transparent but also being vulnerable. 00:09:57.690 --> 00:10:01.610 Isn't that scary as a military leader and also 00:10:01.610 --> 00:10:04.269 as a business leader? Because we try to hide 00:10:04.269 --> 00:10:06.330 our vulnerabilities, not show them to the world. 00:10:07.289 --> 00:10:10.690 How does that even work? Yeah, being vulnerable 00:10:10.690 --> 00:10:16.070 is demonized nowadays. And there is this idea 00:10:16.070 --> 00:10:22.509 of the strong leader that is... always has the 00:10:22.509 --> 00:10:27.230 right answer to any problem and can always make 00:10:27.230 --> 00:10:30.990 the right decision. And we know very well, right? 00:10:31.009 --> 00:10:35.549 I mean, you don't need to be like old. You know 00:10:35.549 --> 00:10:39.490 that, that is not true. We are humans and we 00:10:39.490 --> 00:10:43.429 observe humans being leaders. So living with 00:10:43.429 --> 00:10:49.470 vulnerability can be scary. It's true that We 00:10:49.470 --> 00:10:52.049 do not like to have a leader that doesn't have 00:10:52.049 --> 00:10:56.350 competence and doesn't have the behavioral characteristics 00:10:56.350 --> 00:11:00.629 that are needed to lead a team, small or big. 00:11:01.049 --> 00:11:04.169 Of course, if you go to a person and ask for 00:11:04.169 --> 00:11:06.190 directions, this person is like, I don't know. 00:11:06.529 --> 00:11:08.470 And the next day, I don't know. And the third 00:11:08.470 --> 00:11:10.889 day is, I don't know. Of course, you start losing 00:11:10.889 --> 00:11:17.190 trust. However, if the same person say, I don't 00:11:17.190 --> 00:11:21.799 know, but... I'm working on it and he or she 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:25.820 will use the tools that they have at their disposal 00:11:25.820 --> 00:11:29.860 to bring this decision to them to make the decision 00:11:29.860 --> 00:11:33.220 then then you will gain trust and you will see 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:35.639 people around you and that's what I've seen right 00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:39.460 on the ship I've seen people around me taking 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:45.779 ownership and feeling and power and and they 00:11:45.779 --> 00:11:48.789 understood that we I could not function without 00:11:48.789 --> 00:11:53.269 them and we were a team. No one was essential, 00:11:53.590 --> 00:11:55.350 everyone was important, not even me that was 00:11:55.350 --> 00:11:58.370 the commanding officer. I was not essential in 00:11:58.370 --> 00:12:04.429 the team, we were equally important. I was wondering 00:12:04.429 --> 00:12:06.490 on that note because I know you obviously have 00:12:06.490 --> 00:12:09.250 your coaching business and you interview also 00:12:09.250 --> 00:12:12.070 a lot of people. What are the traits of a good 00:12:12.070 --> 00:12:13.850 leader that you can just say, you know what, 00:12:13.990 --> 00:12:16.029 I've always found that people who are very good 00:12:16.029 --> 00:12:17.490 leaders, they always have these things and they're 00:12:17.490 --> 00:12:19.429 always the same thing. Or maybe they change a 00:12:19.429 --> 00:12:22.330 lot. I don't know. We're the ones who just point 00:12:22.330 --> 00:12:24.070 out straight away. That's a good question because 00:12:24.070 --> 00:12:27.370 the first... You know very well because you've 00:12:27.370 --> 00:12:29.889 been a kind guest in my podcast. The first question 00:12:29.889 --> 00:12:32.830 I always ask is, what is a good leader for you? 00:12:33.970 --> 00:12:36.629 And the funny thing is in the almost 50 episodes 00:12:36.629 --> 00:12:43.039 now, I have heard 50 definitions. I think that's 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:45.299 great. That's what I love. I think there are 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:48.820 three main characteristics in a leader. The first 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:52.960 one is self -awareness. You need to know who 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:56.639 you are. You need to know what are your strengths, 00:12:57.379 --> 00:13:00.580 your weaknesses, what are your blind spots. You 00:13:00.580 --> 00:13:06.320 need to know what is guiding you, what is fueling 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:12.399 your actions. your life purpose. You need to 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:16.080 know what really matters to you and what are 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:20.639 your values. The second thing is having a vision. 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:26.500 A vision means understanding where you're going 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:32.519 as a person, as a leader, with your team. Of 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:34.840 course, you need to be able also to communicate 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:40.399 your vision. The third characteristics is your 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:45.000 reference system. It's like, it's like you are 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:46.759 a ship at sea. You know, you know where you're 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:50.080 going, but if you don't have your North Star, 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:53.179 your GPS, you don't know how to get there. And 00:13:53.179 --> 00:13:56.460 those are your values. And those are the things 00:13:56.460 --> 00:13:59.480 that are important to you. And you will never 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:02.580 betray those values. You don't need, actually, 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:05.429 I will say that you don't need... It's better 00:14:05.429 --> 00:14:11.629 not to have 100 values in your list because you're 00:14:11.629 --> 00:14:14.750 not going to respect all of them. There is not 00:14:14.750 --> 00:14:17.590 a magic number and I don't want to put numbers, 00:14:18.710 --> 00:14:22.610 but you don't need 100 for sure. But those are 00:14:22.610 --> 00:14:25.830 the things you will always look at when things 00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:31.009 get tough. And integrity for me, for example, 00:14:31.210 --> 00:14:39.179 is respect. And the two, the top two is respect 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:43.039 and creativity. That's the two things that really 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.559 I keep as reference. And there are many more, 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.320 of course. So those are the three components. 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:52.559 And of course, those are the three things that 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:55.039 will allow you to create a strategy to go from 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:59.659 A to B. And then the other thing you need is 00:14:59.659 --> 00:15:02.460 the action. You need to move the first step. 00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:05.539 With your team or alone depending how you working 00:15:05.539 --> 00:15:07.919 but you need to move the first step Because you 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:10.860 can have the best strategy in front of you. Of 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:13.399 course, if they don't do anything, you know going 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:18.539 anywhere I Was I was running on something now 00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:20.759 you mentioned that on the ship you you don't 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:22.600 have any breaks, right? Or do you have some breaks? 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:25.559 We don't you can't take a day off And a lot of 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:27.320 the entrepreneurs I talk to, they always tell 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:29.419 me they're burning out. It's a very common thing 00:15:29.419 --> 00:15:32.299 to burn out. So what advice would you give to 00:15:32.299 --> 00:15:34.320 people not to burn out? Because you actually 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:36.379 have real life experience of being in a very 00:15:36.379 --> 00:15:38.679 stressful situation for a very long time. So 00:15:38.679 --> 00:15:40.940 what do you tell someone don't burn out because 00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:44.519 just managing this way? Well, that's a mistake 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:47.179 we all make at some point in life. You know, 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:51.320 you think that you have all the energy and resources 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:53.960 to keep going, and you keep going, and keep going, 00:15:54.019 --> 00:15:57.120 and that's not true. So you need to create what 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:00.220 Stephen Colvin called, let's say, the sharpening 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:06.159 the soul, a system that will help you rest, not 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:09.200 to waste time, but to work better after. It's 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:12.299 a matter of being efficient. So you cannot work 00:16:12.299 --> 00:16:16.179 24 -7, that's not true. You can do it maybe under... 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:19.820 particular circumstances, you can work one day, 00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:22.840 two days in a row, like 48 hours, like crazy. 00:16:24.039 --> 00:16:27.080 But what you will observe in any case that your, 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:30.620 the production level or whatever you're doing 00:16:30.620 --> 00:16:33.980 will decrease incredibly. And to do a small thing, 00:16:34.940 --> 00:16:38.039 you will need a lot of energy, much more than 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:40.559 you normally use at the beginning of this endeavor. 00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:46.519 So sharpening the soul, taking a rest. is fundamental 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:49.100 for every each of us. Doesn't matter if you are 00:16:49.100 --> 00:16:53.019 deployed in Afghanistan on a ship or you are 00:16:53.019 --> 00:16:55.700 a startup founder. You need to take time for 00:16:55.700 --> 00:17:00.399 you. And there are a few things you can do to 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:03.299 sharpen the soul. The first one is self -care. 00:17:04.140 --> 00:17:09.539 So you need to literally sleep. There is Arianna 00:17:09.539 --> 00:17:13.450 Huffington, she's... obsessed with that she was 00:17:13.450 --> 00:17:16.809 because she actually there's a beautiful that 00:17:16.809 --> 00:17:19.430 thought she held where she say we you need to 00:17:19.430 --> 00:17:23.890 sleep through success you know you need to really 00:17:23.890 --> 00:17:27.490 taking the time to bring your brain and body 00:17:27.490 --> 00:17:30.130 to rest otherwise you're not gonna get there 00:17:30.130 --> 00:17:36.309 um so sleep but also mindful being mindful meditation 00:17:36.309 --> 00:17:40.619 can help doing some activity that will give you 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:44.099 pleasure beyond being a startup founder. I play 00:17:44.099 --> 00:17:48.140 guitar, and I was playing guitar before starting 00:17:48.140 --> 00:17:50.180 this conversation because I wanted to be in the 00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:55.200 moment. Yay. There is a song now that I'm intrigued 00:17:55.200 --> 00:18:00.839 by. Also, the other thing that you need to cultivate 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:05.819 is your social network, is your support network. 00:18:06.619 --> 00:18:13.480 people that will help you. Being in a relationship, 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:16.180 I'm not talking about sentimental relationship, 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:20.960 but having friends, family, having peers, having 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:26.640 people you can confide in, those really contribute 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:30.539 to sharpening the soul. And they are as important 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:34.200 as meditation, as resting. And the other thing 00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:37.170 is, of course, physical activity. You need to 00:18:37.170 --> 00:18:40.549 move. I don't know how many hours you spend on 00:18:40.549 --> 00:18:46.670 a chair. Actually, we are more creative if we 00:18:46.670 --> 00:18:50.849 exercise and we create endorphins. There are 00:18:50.849 --> 00:18:55.950 a few chemicals that will help us. It can be 00:18:55.950 --> 00:19:01.190 as easy, as simple as a walk. Now there are standing 00:19:01.190 --> 00:19:06.450 desks with those treadmills. And I was listening 00:19:06.450 --> 00:19:11.650 to a podcast recently with Andrew Huberman, and 00:19:11.650 --> 00:19:13.109 actually they were talking about the benefit 00:19:13.109 --> 00:19:15.990 of those. Even if you're still there in front 00:19:15.990 --> 00:19:19.950 of the screen, but you move. That's so... It's 00:19:19.950 --> 00:19:23.269 a kind of win -win situation, if you want. Don't 00:19:23.269 --> 00:19:26.089 exaggerate. You need to take your brain off the 00:19:26.089 --> 00:19:30.990 screen and everything else, but he helps. Interesting. 00:19:31.490 --> 00:19:35.490 I was just wondering, you know... We have all 00:19:35.490 --> 00:19:42.589 these stories about your time in the Navy and 00:19:42.589 --> 00:19:45.890 the transition to business. Do people ever stop 00:19:45.890 --> 00:19:48.980 to tell you you're doing a crazy thing? Do you 00:19:48.980 --> 00:19:51.299 ever have any naysayers? Because you're on the 00:19:51.299 --> 00:19:53.519 path to become an admiral. Did you listen to 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:54.640 the naysayers? Obviously you didn't listen to 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:56.740 the naysayers, but how was it fighting against 00:19:56.740 --> 00:19:59.000 those naysayers? Because I'm sure it wasn't easy, 00:19:59.099 --> 00:20:00.380 right? Because you probably had a lot of friends 00:20:00.380 --> 00:20:01.700 in the Navy and they probably told you, what 00:20:01.700 --> 00:20:03.579 are you doing? Just stay in the Navy, you know, 00:20:03.579 --> 00:20:07.759 set it for life. I would bring you my example 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:10.720 in this because it's, I would say it's peculiar. 00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:17.759 I made the decision before telling anyone. The 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:25.980 only person I confided in was my wife and a couple 00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:32.319 of friends. No one else knew that I was going 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:36.319 to leave the Navy. And the moment I actually 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:40.380 went to my boss and say, hey, sir, this is my 00:20:40.380 --> 00:20:43.079 resignation, literally, I came in in the office 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:47.069 with the resignation letter. He looked at me 00:20:47.069 --> 00:20:49.650 like I was telling him that, you know, that the 00:20:49.650 --> 00:20:53.130 prime minister just died. Not so desperate, but 00:20:53.130 --> 00:20:57.150 it was taken by surprise. And he didn't like 00:20:57.150 --> 00:21:00.210 it at all. He made my life quite difficult for 00:21:00.210 --> 00:21:03.049 the next three months that we worked together. 00:21:03.390 --> 00:21:10.019 Not even more than three months. There were people 00:21:10.019 --> 00:21:12.099 telling me, oh, what are you doing? You know, 00:21:12.099 --> 00:21:14.019 as you mentioned, you have a career, you have 00:21:14.019 --> 00:21:18.079 a salary, but I already made up my mind. And 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:23.539 I was clear on what I wanted. And that's, I think, 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:25.740 the suggestion that I would give really to anyone. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:27.799 You need to clear really what you want from your 00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:30.799 life. If you're thinking about changing your 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:32.880 career, it doesn't matter if you're from the 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:34.420 military, you're already in the business, you 00:21:34.420 --> 00:21:38.910 want to change. start something new, if maybe 00:21:38.910 --> 00:21:43.289 your own startup or joining another company. 00:21:43.829 --> 00:21:46.690 It's what you want from your life. What is important 00:21:46.690 --> 00:21:49.170 for you? What is the thing that you value the 00:21:49.170 --> 00:21:53.190 most that the current occupation is not allowing 00:21:53.190 --> 00:21:56.789 you to achieve, of course? And if it's, for example, 00:21:56.890 --> 00:21:59.650 for me was, as I said, I felt, first of all, 00:21:59.809 --> 00:22:03.930 I felt misaligned, disaligned from what the Navy 00:22:03.930 --> 00:22:06.630 was giving me. And I thought at some point that 00:22:06.630 --> 00:22:08.890 actually the Navy was holding me back. That's 00:22:08.890 --> 00:22:12.990 the point. So for me, the freedom that I have 00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:17.769 now and the way I can help people now is completely 00:22:17.769 --> 00:22:19.769 different from what I was able to do earlier. 00:22:19.990 --> 00:22:24.769 And that's why I feel fulfilled much more than 00:22:24.769 --> 00:22:34.400 I was able to fulfill myself before. How do you 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:38.420 how do you know you haven't made How do you know 00:22:38.420 --> 00:22:40.059 you're not going crazy and you're making the 00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:42.079 right decision because there's a lot of uncertainty 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:44.420 when you're moving from some You know some from 00:22:44.420 --> 00:22:46.880 some certainty in your life to a complete uncertainty 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:48.799 now, how do you know, you know, I'm actually 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:51.200 I'm not crazy I know what I'm doing and this 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:52.720 should be the path forward because I think that's 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:54.740 a lot of things that actually happen with entrepreneurs 00:22:54.740 --> 00:22:57.019 Which is I'm gonna create my own business. Okay, 00:22:57.019 --> 00:23:00.000 I'm gonna do this and you deal with all the naysayers 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.799 But you have this burning desire in your mind 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:03.420 to go and create it. How do you deal with that? 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:05.279 Because it's not that easy. No, it's not very 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.619 easy, Ricardo. I know you know it because you 00:23:07.619 --> 00:23:10.220 went through transition in your life too, right? 00:23:10.259 --> 00:23:14.779 So it's, I think it's a matter of accepting the 00:23:14.779 --> 00:23:21.400 risks. There is no way you can foresee the future, 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:24.799 what's going to happen to you. What can help 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:30.140 is to create a kind of soft lending, as soft 00:23:30.140 --> 00:23:34.440 as you can, a support net. You can create it 00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:37.980 with, you know, of course, kind of putting extra 00:23:37.980 --> 00:23:43.480 funds away in case things go wrong and give yourself 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:48.559 time to rebuild something else if your endeavors 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:52.579 don't go well. You cannot eliminate the risk, 00:23:53.019 --> 00:23:58.099 but what you need to balance is, or you risk 00:23:58.099 --> 00:24:02.359 in losing if you don't change, compare what you 00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:07.319 risk doing when you change. I think that's where 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:10.099 you really understand what you want to do in 00:24:10.099 --> 00:24:14.440 your life. And we are different, right? If some 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:20.640 people are risk adverse, and that's OK, and probably 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:23.740 they feel OK doing whatever they're doing, even 00:24:23.740 --> 00:24:26.920 if it's not 100 % what they would like to do. 00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:30.130 And that's OK. especially if you have family, 00:24:30.289 --> 00:24:33.569 people you're responsible for, especially if 00:24:33.569 --> 00:24:37.890 there are circumstances around you that make 00:24:37.890 --> 00:24:41.210 the decision even more difficult or complex. 00:24:41.690 --> 00:24:44.130 It's fine. It's completely fine. You don't have 00:24:44.130 --> 00:24:47.589 to jump the fence absolutely 100 % and just take 00:24:47.589 --> 00:24:50.869 the risk. It's a tolerance level. It's like pain. 00:24:50.970 --> 00:24:53.269 Some people are more tolerant to pain, other 00:24:53.269 --> 00:24:56.750 people are less tolerant. And if you think you 00:24:56.750 --> 00:24:59.819 can sustain the pain, And also the pain of failing 00:24:59.819 --> 00:25:03.519 because it's not like it's behind the corner 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:09.299 every day. That's fine. I was curious on something 00:25:09.299 --> 00:25:12.440 from your wealth of experience. You just mentioned 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:15.200 failure and I was about to ask you because failure 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:18.880 in your previous position had consequences and 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:20.900 sometimes the consequences with someone's life. 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:22.859 So how do you deal with that? How do you deal 00:25:22.859 --> 00:25:25.599 with failure and managing that? not only the 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:27.640 theory of failure, but actual failure when it 00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:31.839 does happen. Failure is the best way you can 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:39.339 learn. You know, as simple as it is. The thing 00:25:39.339 --> 00:25:42.599 that you have to do is, first of all, you have 00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:47.500 to disconnect from the past. Whatever happened, 00:25:48.180 --> 00:25:53.039 happened. There is no way in this world, in this 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:56.740 universe... for you to go back in time and change 00:25:56.740 --> 00:26:02.619 things, right? So living with regrets is not 00:26:02.619 --> 00:26:07.279 helpful, is not health, doesn't bring you health, 00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:11.720 actually is quite harmful for your mind. So the 00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:15.059 first thing you need to understand is that, okay, 00:26:15.339 --> 00:26:20.160 I've done a mistake. So... And trying to change 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:22.559 perspective. You know, trying to, first of all, 00:26:22.619 --> 00:26:26.799 understand what was wrong. There are lessons 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:31.660 that you can learn. And those lessons are invaluable. 00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:37.059 Unless you're persistent, you will not repeat 00:26:37.059 --> 00:26:42.359 the same mistakes. And then you need to forgive 00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:50.069 yourself for the mistakes you've done. the consequences 00:26:50.069 --> 00:26:54.750 that You are paying and maybe Also, someone else 00:26:54.750 --> 00:26:58.329 unfortunately might be involved Um, it's and 00:26:58.329 --> 00:27:01.349 this is the hard part really forgive yourself 00:27:01.349 --> 00:27:05.269 And for to forgive yourself there are many things 00:27:05.269 --> 00:27:08.329 you can do once again is try to meditate, you 00:27:08.329 --> 00:27:10.829 know be in the present disconnect from the past 00:27:10.829 --> 00:27:14.269 but also Have a support net once again, you know 00:27:14.269 --> 00:27:18.059 people that can help you people that love you 00:27:18.059 --> 00:27:22.920 and they want you to be healthy and will do and 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:28.000 tell you things to support. You need to surround, 00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:30.579 you need to be surrounded by these people and 00:27:30.579 --> 00:27:33.380 talk to these people to give you energy. Sometimes 00:27:33.380 --> 00:27:37.680 you need the energy from someone else. And then 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:40.299 as soon as you can, you need to move on and move 00:27:40.299 --> 00:27:42.519 the first step away from what you've done. And 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:44.779 there is, if I have time, and I want to tell 00:27:44.779 --> 00:27:48.240 you one story, one small story. I never failed 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:52.299 like crashing a ship or failing a startup, not 00:27:52.299 --> 00:27:56.799 yet. And I hope I would never do. But there was 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:03.460 one thing that really is kind of signed the person 00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:05.640 I am today. And it happened not many years ago. 00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:08.799 I was commanding a ship. And during a meeting, 00:28:09.059 --> 00:28:11.579 a staff meeting, normal, we were deployed. It 00:28:11.579 --> 00:28:15.660 was a tense period. And there was one of my collaborators 00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:19.359 who raised his voice and it was contesting what 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:21.799 I just said. And it was fine. I mean, it was 00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:24.859 not the first time that I received a negative 00:28:24.859 --> 00:28:27.119 feedback on what I said, even if it was the commanding 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:30.640 officer. I never had the idea of being perfect 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:34.400 as we, and always right. So, but the problem 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:39.109 was that he was very... vocal, very loud. And 00:28:39.109 --> 00:28:42.049 that was so, first of all, I say, everyone go 00:28:42.049 --> 00:28:45.849 please, excuse us, we need to, and we, and this 00:28:45.849 --> 00:28:47.710 person and I, we kept the conversation going. 00:28:48.509 --> 00:28:50.490 The problem is that at some point something snapped 00:28:50.490 --> 00:28:54.750 in me and I started screaming with all the voice 00:28:54.750 --> 00:29:00.190 I had in my lungs. I think, I don't think there 00:29:00.190 --> 00:29:02.910 was any place on the ship they could not hear 00:29:02.910 --> 00:29:06.960 me at some point. Oh man, and then the moment 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:12.519 I felt I failed completely, I have disrespected 00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:19.059 the number one value that is respect. I lacked 00:29:19.059 --> 00:29:23.599 respect. I was not respecting him, despite he 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:27.480 was already harsh and surely was not respecting 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:31.559 me, but that's not an excuse. I completely lost 00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:37.779 my cool. I let emotions go and take control. 00:29:38.299 --> 00:29:40.940 And I said, that's not going to happen anymore. 00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:44.599 But it took time for me to recover from that. 00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:49.960 I had to forgive myself. I had to really, once 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:52.680 again, admit that I'm human. I made mistakes. 00:29:52.779 --> 00:29:56.240 This was a big mistake. But you know, there's 00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:58.940 nothing else I can do. I excused myself with 00:29:58.940 --> 00:30:05.599 this person and we moved on. I was curious, you 00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:09.119 mentioned an interesting story, and I was just 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:12.000 wondering, because you have been in war scenarios, 00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:14.940 do you think there's ever room for someone to 00:30:14.940 --> 00:30:18.319 act full on, you know, when you watch war movies, 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:19.660 there's a lot of people always screaming and 00:30:19.660 --> 00:30:21.559 shouting and stuff like that, but they're not 00:30:21.559 --> 00:30:23.420 screaming and shouting out of loss of control, 00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:26.059 they're screaming and shouting of this is the 00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:28.119 action that needs to be taken right now, right? 00:30:28.539 --> 00:30:30.460 Do you think there's ever room for that to happen, 00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:33.029 both in business and... in the military from 00:30:33.029 --> 00:30:35.029 your experience? I don't think there is ever 00:30:35.029 --> 00:30:39.049 room to scream, honestly. And I know as human, 00:30:39.210 --> 00:30:42.769 whenever we feel like we need to affirm ourselves, 00:30:43.670 --> 00:30:48.490 we might find a kind of companion in the volume 00:30:48.490 --> 00:30:50.869 of our voice, but it doesn't work like that. 00:30:51.950 --> 00:30:55.150 But yes, there are probably moments in which 00:30:55.150 --> 00:31:00.049 you cannot be, you don't have time to listen 00:31:00.049 --> 00:31:04.269 to um, collect more information and you need 00:31:04.269 --> 00:31:08.130 to make a decision. Uh, and that's when urgency 00:31:08.130 --> 00:31:11.329 emerges in those, in those situation. Uh, also 00:31:11.329 --> 00:31:14.109 when the, the, all the team actually probably 00:31:14.109 --> 00:31:17.269 is looking at you and they expect the one voice 00:31:17.269 --> 00:31:22.089 from you and no one else. So I think in a very 00:31:22.089 --> 00:31:25.549 well established team, you don't need to excuse 00:31:25.549 --> 00:31:28.170 yourself. to do that. And naturally everyone, 00:31:28.190 --> 00:31:31.089 as I say, is expecting you to do that. So it's 00:31:31.089 --> 00:31:34.789 part of mutual understanding. And that's fine. 00:31:34.849 --> 00:31:36.670 But once again, you don't need to raise your 00:31:36.670 --> 00:31:39.950 voice. You don't need to scream. You never need 00:31:39.950 --> 00:31:44.630 to scream to do that. It's really the wrong way 00:31:44.630 --> 00:31:49.690 to kind of make people understand you are the 00:31:49.690 --> 00:31:53.069 leader. Sure, you're the leader. You are the 00:31:53.069 --> 00:31:56.150 CEO. You are the platoon commander, you're the 00:31:56.150 --> 00:31:59.049 ship commander, whatever you are, you don't need 00:31:59.049 --> 00:32:04.950 to scream. It doesn't make your order or your 00:32:04.950 --> 00:32:11.329 decision stronger or better. How important is 00:32:11.329 --> 00:32:16.710 leadership coaching for a startup company? I 00:32:16.710 --> 00:32:22.329 think it's fundamental. And I know that maybe 00:32:22.329 --> 00:32:24.049 start -up founder listening to this podcast, 00:32:24.269 --> 00:32:28.049 they will probably not see that. So one thing 00:32:28.049 --> 00:32:32.730 that we found when we created this, our start 00:32:32.730 --> 00:32:36.890 -up was actually that many start -up failed because 00:32:36.890 --> 00:32:40.869 of lack of leadership skills from the founders. 00:32:41.210 --> 00:32:45.089 And leadership as a very broad term, this will 00:32:45.089 --> 00:32:49.480 include managing the team, hiring talent. retaining 00:32:49.480 --> 00:32:52.759 talent, having good communication skills, having 00:32:52.759 --> 00:32:55.460 good self -awareness, having a good relationship 00:32:55.460 --> 00:32:58.960 with the other co -founder, if there are other 00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:04.579 co -founders. And those are reasons for Serta 00:33:04.579 --> 00:33:08.259 to fail. It's not just the fact that you don't 00:33:08.259 --> 00:33:11.819 have the right product for the market. It's not 00:33:11.819 --> 00:33:15.359 just the fact that you don't have investors. 00:33:15.859 --> 00:33:22.069 Actually, If you want to go in depth, some investors 00:33:22.069 --> 00:33:25.650 might not give you money because they don't see 00:33:25.650 --> 00:33:28.430 a strong leader. If you are the CEO, and the 00:33:28.430 --> 00:33:31.430 CEO is the one talking to investors, right? If 00:33:31.430 --> 00:33:34.809 you're the CEO and you don't show that you have 00:33:34.809 --> 00:33:38.250 the leadership skills that are required, why 00:33:38.250 --> 00:33:41.430 should they invest in you? You are doomed to 00:33:41.430 --> 00:33:46.480 fail. For the same reasons, many VC even if they 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:51.960 invest in startups, they might decide to change 00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:54.720 CEO at some point, especially when the startup 00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:59.460 is growing because they feel that the CEO is 00:33:59.460 --> 00:34:03.880 not good enough for whatever they invested in. 00:34:04.220 --> 00:34:09.199 So I think it's fundamental, but I know because 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:11.360 I've been talking to a lot of startup founders, 00:34:12.039 --> 00:34:16.659 it is not seen as a priority. You've seen like 00:34:16.659 --> 00:34:19.880 the priorities, product market fit, the priorities, 00:34:20.599 --> 00:34:24.800 investors, funds, and that's where they put all 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:28.539 their time, effort, energy, and not in themselves, 00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:33.519 not in them as leaders. And it's hard to keep 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:37.000 a mirror in front of someone if they don't wanna 00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:44.010 look at the mirror. What about when you get past 00:34:44.010 --> 00:34:47.469 that stage? What about when you build your MVP, 00:34:47.670 --> 00:34:49.949 you got product market fit, and then you're leading 00:34:49.949 --> 00:34:53.170 a team? How relevant is it then? Because then 00:34:53.170 --> 00:34:54.929 you have a team of five, 10 people, maybe. I 00:34:54.929 --> 00:34:58.369 mean, it is as fundamental as it was earlier. 00:34:58.530 --> 00:35:01.110 And now it's even more urgent. Now your team 00:35:01.110 --> 00:35:04.650 is growing. Now you have a company that is gaining 00:35:04.650 --> 00:35:08.000 traction and is scaling up, hopefully. and more 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:10.039 people, you want to attract talents, right? So 00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:12.480 you need to create the right environment where 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:18.659 a person with the right skills feels encouraged 00:35:18.659 --> 00:35:24.400 to join. You need that. You need to really understand 00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:28.159 that now it's not just you working on your computer 00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:31.179 all the time and someone else, another couple 00:35:31.179 --> 00:35:34.420 of people working with you. Now you have five, 00:35:34.420 --> 00:35:37.949 ten... 50 people working with you, working for 00:35:37.949 --> 00:35:41.469 you, looking at you. What is more important than 00:35:41.469 --> 00:35:44.389 being the right leader? Also, because you need 00:35:44.389 --> 00:35:45.909 to understand one of the things that we struggle 00:35:45.909 --> 00:35:49.670 with, but a lot of people struggle with is delegating. 00:35:49.969 --> 00:35:53.449 That's another lesson learned for leaders. You 00:35:53.449 --> 00:35:59.170 need to delegate. Now you have a technical team 00:35:59.170 --> 00:36:01.469 and you have a financial team and you have a 00:36:01.469 --> 00:36:04.000 marketing team, maybe. And you need to delegate 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:06.800 those functions, but probably you were all keeping 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:10.219 on your head, on your shoulders. Now you can 00:36:10.219 --> 00:36:16.539 let it go. And that's not easy at all. I think 00:36:16.539 --> 00:36:18.099 that's always the hardest thing is letting go 00:36:18.099 --> 00:36:20.300 of your baby and putting it in someone else's 00:36:20.300 --> 00:36:21.820 hands and saying, hey, now you take care of it. 00:36:21.980 --> 00:36:24.539 And it's like, it's never going to be perfect, 00:36:24.679 --> 00:36:27.139 is it? So what advice would you give to business 00:36:27.139 --> 00:36:29.039 leaders, which is starting out and also what 00:36:29.039 --> 00:36:32.559 we know in a later stage? The first advice is 00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:36.239 really to get ready for whatever they do. And 00:36:36.239 --> 00:36:40.519 get ready means start analyzing, analyzing is 00:36:40.519 --> 00:36:42.300 probably the wrong word, but start exploring 00:36:42.300 --> 00:36:46.739 who you are. And we already mentioned the importance 00:36:46.739 --> 00:36:50.139 of self -awareness. You need to know who you 00:36:50.139 --> 00:36:52.340 are. You need to know what you want. You need 00:36:52.340 --> 00:36:55.519 to know how you want. things, how you want to 00:36:55.519 --> 00:36:58.460 reach your goal. You need to know what your weaknesses 00:36:58.460 --> 00:37:03.019 are. You need to know what is important for you 00:37:03.019 --> 00:37:07.420 and much, much more. The second thing is, the 00:37:07.420 --> 00:37:12.320 second strong advice is don't get your ego getting 00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:17.630 in the way. I'm sorry. That's always the hardest 00:37:17.630 --> 00:37:19.469 thing, isn't it? Because a lot of people that 00:37:19.469 --> 00:37:22.469 build a business have a big strong That's fine. 00:37:22.469 --> 00:37:25.329 It can work to a certain to some point, you know, 00:37:25.489 --> 00:37:29.110 maybe it can it can be though the one of those 00:37:29.110 --> 00:37:34.550 those source of energy that you have but It's 00:37:34.550 --> 00:37:37.250 good as a proportion is not good as an obstacle 00:37:37.250 --> 00:37:41.070 and it's hard to see when It's becoming from 00:37:41.070 --> 00:37:45.409 an ally is becoming a supporter. So it's it's 00:37:45.409 --> 00:37:48.440 it's a subtle shift that you need to observe. 00:37:49.280 --> 00:37:51.079 And for example, you know, we were talking about 00:37:51.079 --> 00:37:54.539 the product market fee. One of the problems is 00:37:54.539 --> 00:37:57.900 that people fall in love with a product where 00:37:57.900 --> 00:38:00.519 they're bringing, oh, look how beautiful is this. 00:38:01.800 --> 00:38:05.199 And since they are so in love with their creation, 00:38:05.320 --> 00:38:07.679 and that's their ego talking, right? Oh, look, 00:38:08.500 --> 00:38:13.380 this app is perfect. They forget about the problem. 00:38:14.989 --> 00:38:18.809 And what they fail to see is that whatever they 00:38:18.809 --> 00:38:23.489 have created is not solving any problem, meaning 00:38:23.489 --> 00:38:28.070 it's not going to sell. And that's because their 00:38:28.070 --> 00:38:31.150 ego is holding the mirror, and that's the worst 00:38:31.150 --> 00:38:34.690 person that you can have to hold the famous mirror. 00:38:38.990 --> 00:38:42.269 Stefano, I'm sure you read a lot. What books 00:38:42.269 --> 00:38:44.730 would you recommend to people? Which ones are 00:38:44.730 --> 00:38:51.789 your favorite? A hundred books. No, I think there 00:38:51.789 --> 00:38:57.789 is one that is really the cornerstone of how 00:38:57.789 --> 00:39:02.469 I see leadership and is the seven habits for 00:39:02.469 --> 00:39:04.849 highly successful people. I already mentioned 00:39:04.849 --> 00:39:08.920 him. The author is Stephen Covey. It's a book 00:39:08.920 --> 00:39:13.920 that was written 30 plus years ago, so it's not 00:39:13.920 --> 00:39:17.599 new. But man, it's... everything that is there 00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:22.059 is so... I would say it's not... True is a big 00:39:22.059 --> 00:39:25.260 word still. But it's, first of all, it's doable. 00:39:26.460 --> 00:39:29.119 It's very well explained, a lot of examples. 00:39:30.559 --> 00:39:34.460 And I think it's the perfect manual for leaders. 00:39:35.380 --> 00:39:39.980 in general. Another book that I highly recommend 00:39:39.980 --> 00:39:45.639 is Start With Why by Simon Sinek. That's probably 00:39:45.639 --> 00:39:51.500 one of those books that really help you. This 00:39:51.500 --> 00:39:53.400 is very helpful, especially if you are a Certa 00:39:53.400 --> 00:39:56.940 founder, you want to convey a message, right? 00:39:56.940 --> 00:40:01.199 It's a great way. And I don't know how many other 00:40:01.199 --> 00:40:04.829 books you want me to say. Talking about vulnerabilities, 00:40:05.090 --> 00:40:08.130 I just actually finished there to lead by Brené 00:40:08.130 --> 00:40:12.150 Brown is the perfect example of how vulnerability 00:40:12.150 --> 00:40:16.670 is not something you want to hide from others 00:40:16.670 --> 00:40:20.610 and actually is something you can in a way use 00:40:20.610 --> 00:40:27.909 to create a strong team. I always enjoy asking 00:40:27.909 --> 00:40:30.150 people what books they read. And I'll tell you 00:40:30.150 --> 00:40:34.460 why, because everything up until that point can 00:40:34.460 --> 00:40:38.579 be faked. But when I ask about the book, everyone 00:40:38.579 --> 00:40:40.719 always gives a very honest opinion about the 00:40:40.719 --> 00:40:42.340 book because they actually read the book. So 00:40:42.340 --> 00:40:44.699 it comes from the heart normally. And getting 00:40:44.699 --> 00:40:47.480 these three books, Starhood Wide, There to Lead, 00:40:47.599 --> 00:40:49.719 and Seven Habits of Highly Successful People 00:40:49.719 --> 00:40:52.980 is brilliant because it tells me a lot and it 00:40:52.980 --> 00:40:54.500 also tells the audience a lot about yourself, 00:40:54.639 --> 00:40:57.639 right? Because it's absolutely brilliant. So 00:40:57.639 --> 00:40:59.780 if people want to reach out to you as we're nearing 00:40:59.780 --> 00:41:01.699 the end of the podcast, how can you do so? There 00:41:01.699 --> 00:41:04.559 are many ways. I mean, no, I think the fastest 00:41:04.559 --> 00:41:08.719 easiest is a simple email. Stefano at master 00:41:08.719 --> 00:41:13.619 your C dot com. Master in the sea is I took the 00:41:13.619 --> 00:41:18.039 name from Imagine Dragons song Believer. At some 00:41:18.039 --> 00:41:21.619 point they were they said you are the master 00:41:21.619 --> 00:41:24.860 of your sea and that resonate a lot with me because 00:41:24.860 --> 00:41:27.150 of the name blah blah blah. That's why. there's 00:41:27.150 --> 00:41:30.510 a helm on my shoulders yeah my shoulders uh and 00:41:30.510 --> 00:41:33.269 and that's that's probably the the best way or 00:41:33.269 --> 00:41:36.110 you can you can go on the website uh mastererc 00:41:36.110 --> 00:41:39.570 .com or you know i think that's that's probably 00:41:39.570 --> 00:41:44.150 on linkedin of course stefano calvetti um i'm 00:41:44.150 --> 00:41:46.650 not sure if i'm the only one but you know that's 00:41:46.650 --> 00:41:50.630 that's i'm sure i'm the only coach if you look 00:41:50.630 --> 00:41:54.510 for leadership coach stefano calvetti then i 00:41:54.510 --> 00:41:59.559 should be many many many options. Wonderful. 00:41:59.920 --> 00:42:01.320 Stefan, thank you so much for your time. I really 00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:03.159 appreciate it. My pleasure, Ricardo. It's always 00:42:03.159 --> 00:42:06.159 a pleasure talking to you. 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