Weekly insights on how to perform when it matters | High-stakes decisions. Real situations. No BS. | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
You want people in a Rolls Royce
|
“Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce, to get advice from those who take the subway” - Warren Buffett If this sentence does not make you think for a while, read it twice. Or three, four, five times until your head blows up. This sentence contains the essential difference between an advisor and a mentor. The first talks to you from almost the academia. The second from life experience. At my MBA I thought that I’d see rich professors… but I didn’t. It was supposed that I would learn from people that made the journey I wanted to make. But they didn’t. That’s the main flaw of the education system these days. They teach you to be good employees, but not to thrive and grow personally. And worst… the system hides the fact that you must be learning… your whole life. I’m sure that you won’t see Elon Musk going to Harvard to join a course to get a pay raise or to find out how to sell more rockets, right? That’s the point. For mentoring options, I have a package for you, below.
PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day. PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below. |
Vicente Valencia
Weekly insights on how to perform when it matters | High-stakes decisions. Real situations. No BS. | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
Any project in the world has a meeting like this. The most senior person says: “I think this is an excellent opportunity.” Suddenly, everyone discovers they think so too. Extraordinary. Twenty minutes earlier, the project looked like a hostage note. Now it’s “a compelling investment proposition.” The spreadsheet hasn’t changed. The boss has spoken. 1961 During the planning of the Bay of Pigs invasion Presidential adviser Arthur Schlesinger had serious reservations. He put objections in...
The story about King Xerxes is fascinating, and you should know it. Look. Some clients send an angry email when infrastructure fails. Others call their lawyers. King Xerxes had even a more ambitious escalation procedure. He whipped the sea. Yes. Apparently, the King was very ambitious, in general. He had bridges built across the Hellespont so his Persian army could cross into Europe. Until here… All good. The issue is that a storm destroyed the bridges. At the time, they did not have ACONEX...
There is a beautiful moment in every project. The green dashboard. That’s where all bosses and politicians that never came to visit start to get excited. The speeches are ready. Everyone important has found a clean high-vis vest. Even new boots… yes, now that there is no mood. Then somebody makes the unreasonable decision to use the infrastructure. Welcome to Heathrow Terminal 5. 27 March 2008. £4.3 billion. On time. Within budget. The sort of numbers that make a Board presentation...