Lessons Learned

In this Chapter, I share a summary of the lessons learned through my entrepreneurial journey, as well as insights from some of my clients in Business and Sports.

CHAPTER INDEX:

• Lessons from my Journey

• Lessons Learned PDF Summary

• Corporate Clients

• Entrepreneurial Clients

• Professional Sports Clients

Lessons from my Journey

Throughout my entrepreneurial journey, my values, insights and experiences guided me. I’ve categorized them according to the 4is of seeing the Glass Full and a Half. These Lessons Learned illustrate my Breakthrough Manifesto.

You can download a PDF summary below.

IMAGINE

Crave the view from the mountaintop

My Lebanese grandfather (Jose/Yousef Salum) was born in Ghosta, Lebanon, a Catholic Maronite town that sits atop the Bay of Jounieh in the Mediterranean Sea. He had a basic education and immigrated to Argentina at 15, without any money or Spanish language skills. It was around 1910. He became a retail entrepreneur through sheer tenacity, empowering my father to become a PhD and his sisters to become professionals. When I was having trouble deciding on which career to study, he told me to strive for the highest echelon, whatever I chose. He said that having the view from the mountaintop was much more enjoyable than any other perspective, but you have to crave it. He never returned to Lebanon and lost track of his large family (12 brothers and sisters), but he kept the view from the mountaintop seared in his mind. Craving the highest, broadest and deepest perspective is how I do not quit. Seeking to understand more has allowed me to explore options and alternatives even if it seemed there were none. It has made every day an adventure.

Life is not a straight line

I used to play tennis as a teenager with a prominent industrialist who was a poet and a philosopher as well. One day he asked me about my life’s aspirations. He listened attentively and then he kindly said, “Remember, life is not a straight line.” It turned out to be that way, intentionally and otherwise - and now by design. I stopped looking at life as a straightforward staircase to success when I formed my company in 1993 and had full control of my destiny. There have been many instances in which I had to pivot, regroup and find a new tangent or design a faithful leap. I do not expect things to go well at all times; I expect to have to find alternatives to maintain momentum until fulfilling the objectives.

You can design your life

When I look at the group of mentors towards whom I’ve gravitated in life, I realize that they have in common one thing: they’ve all focused on designing the life they wanted and enjoyed extraordinary results. Every one of them has been fiercely independent. They’ve created a new path based on thinking different to obtain better outcomes. They’ve encountered opposition in many forms, yet they persisted and carried on with their personal projects. They all have a firm sense of self: they know who they are and they have a clear sense of who they will be, for they engaged in the design of their future. I’ve soaked in their visionary mindset, as it represents the Full and a Half Glass.

Richard Saul Wurman, architect and founder of the TED Conferences says, “Designing your life is the most difficult design of all, but the one worth focusing on.” He also reminds me that at Piazza San Marco in Venice, where we first met in 2004, what matters most is the experience of the visitor, created by the empty space framed by the surrounding buildings. We can be the ones creating the theatre for new ideas, meetings and collaborations that could only happen because we designed the space for them. That’s why I design “Theaters of Purpose.”

Make every day an exciting experience

When I grew tired of studying Medicine, I gravitated towards teaching tennis as a profession. Dennis van der Meer was the self-made man who (in my view) could teach the best and understood economies of scale. After I was certified in his teaching method in 1981 at this TennisUniversity in Hilton Head Island, SC, I joined him at his summer tennis clinics in Club del Lago in Punta del Este, Uruguay. It was a new, beautiful place yet managed incompetently. They hosted us in two chalets in the forest, infested with scorpions and the biggest spiders I’ve ever seen. Going to sleep was a challenge, as scorpions and spiders would fight in the straw ceilings and fall on our beds. We were offered no transportation so we had to walk back and forth several miles every day, exhausted after teaching 8 to 10 hours. One cloudy morning, as we were walking towards the courts, we saw rain coming over the nearby lagoon. This meant that the clay courts would be wet and that we would have to teach in whichever dry space we could find. We could certainly expect a rift with management. Without missing a beat, Dennis told me: “We have the best profession in the world, Carlos. Every day is different, it’s impossible to get bored.” Dennis always challenged himself in and out of the court, and he challenged others with humor, games and tasks that would stretch their skills. He made every day an exciting experience, loved to play after teaching and took most obstacles as a puzzle or a game to solve. I absorbed that attitude and outlook on life and reminded myself to stick to it.

The net does not divide the court; it bonds both sides

Enrique Pisani is one of the best volleyball coaches in the world. Now retired, he’s a movement specialist who coaches executives, athletes and children in developmental ages. One of the key concepts he shared with me during our long-time friendship is “the net does not divide the court, it bonds both sides.” If we concentrate solely on the concept of “sides” and “opponents,” we miss the big picture in competitive sports, in business and in the whole of life. It’s an invitation to raise our perspective and look at the cause-and-effect of all plays and tactics in a three dimensional way. The net is a prompt, a provocation to engage in a holistic view of any event, in sports and in life.

This perspective helps look at situations from my side, the other side and from above. It also enables me to exercise my persuasion skills to unite rather than divide, finding common ground and answering the ever-present question on the other side’s mind: “What’s in it for me?” In negotiations, it fits the approach of balancing Pure Bargaining with Joint Problem Solving. The best result of a negotiation might arrive by focusing on “How can I win you over?” rather than how I can win over you. My main objective is to improve as a thinker/player, to learn and obtain results that lead to evolving relationships and enduring success.

Perfection is the enemy of the possible (and of creativity)

When Dr. Jim Loehr and our team moved to Saddlebrook Resort, north of Tampa, FL to form LGE Saddlebrook Sport Science, I befriended Trish Gullett, a long-time resident. After we started going to playwriting class together and she knew me, she started sharing interesting observations about my temperament. I had a strict personal discipline, which I frequently imposed others, the result of my ambition to show results. One day, she came to my apartment with a shiny silver box and told me: “I want you to look at it once a day. Don’t polish it, don’t do anything to it, let it tarnish. Enjoy the uncomfortable feeling of something not being perfect or to your satisfaction.”

Her suggestion was extremely useful, as in my roles I had to deal with incomplete information, lack of resources, poor communication, pivots and inefficient counterparts. Reality would rarely match my expectations in the start-up mode of our company. Embracing imperfection is a tough lesson, but seeing the Glass Full and a Half implies having to make it so, recognizing when it’s empty and adapting to fluctuating levels as we evolve and grow.

Become a Zulu expert

At my favorite (and magical) bookstore in Covent Garden in London, I found Dr. Edward de Bono's book "Tactics" in 1988. One of the tactics Edward mentioned was "The Zulu Strategy," in which you find specialized content (Zulus) and become the world's foremost expert. It might take time, but few will compete with you and whoever needs you will be ready to pay top price for your expertise. At the time, I was promoting Dr. Jim Loehr’s European Tour based in Dusseldorf, and this perspective helped me frame what I wanted to do in the future. Differentiation is essential, is being able to explain why what you do is better and how it adds new value. It separates you from the competition by highlighting how you contribute, as well as your potential to create. More importantly, those benefiting from your niche experience will differentiate themselves through their results.

Go South to get North

Another strategy that helped me design how I would get my Green Card and be noticed in the sports marketing industry was another of Dr. de Bono’s tactics: “If you want to get North, go South.” This means: be ready to do the unusual, to learn the machine that no one understands, to take the long way home, to go to another market and succeed or to be called “inappropriate” because your idea challenges the existing ones.

Mark McCormack, the founder of IMG, the largest sports marketing company in the world - for whom I worked later - wrote in his book “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School” that he used to tell some of his talented American executives to go to Europe, the Middle East or Asia where they could succeed in projects and show extraordinary results. He would bring them back to the USA and put them in positions higher than their competing colleagues, to show everyone the behavior expected at his global company. Take risks, forecast the rewards and reap the benefits of experience. This strategy allowed me be of the world (work internationally), be in the world (contribute new value where it would make a difference) and position myself better to work for the world (leverage my network to do better things).

I enjoyed meeting Mark McCormack and his wife Betsy Nagelsen (a WTA tennis player) along with Jim Loehr at Roland Garros in Paris. He exuded entrepreneurial confidence and embodied the advice I had been given when I arrived to the United States: “Work for someone who built their company from scratch, perhaps an immigrant who lost everything and got it back (like Dennis van der Meer). Such an entrepreneur will have a broader definition of ambition and success. They use a different kind of math.” McCormack reimagined the sports marketing industry at a global scale and took on categories never attempted before (such as representing Pavarotti or the Pope).

He had traveled South to get North, the longer and unusual route, to build a global company on imagination and new value rather than just the solidity of the contracts. My favorite anecdote is how he persuaded Rolex to become the only Wimbledon brand on Center Court, represented by a clock with the trademark crown: he visited the empty stadium with Rolex’s CEO; they sat on a bench and absorbed the atmosphere in total silence. After a while, Mark said, “This is Rolex.” Done deal.

IMPROVE

You are much better than you think

If it were not for the kind interest of my coaches through my development, I would never have become a good tennis player or a tennis coach. The first one to notice my fruitless efforts and invest his time and knowledge in me was my physical trainer, Felix Ereniu when I was 16. He told me, “You are much better than you think” and set to prove it to me. Within a year, my tennis coach Carlos Pena was giving me longer lessons and including me in additional practices with better players. I blossomed. The best player in my club, Alex Aron, made me his doubles partner and we won epic matches. The most prestigious coach in the country, Gerry Wortelboer, joined my club and invited me to play - a confirmation that everyone before him was right in their assessment of my capabilities. Gradually, I discovered that my dedication and effort were the path to Breakthrough and Peak Performance. Looking back over the years, I saw both the path and the plan that had unfolded. I realized that those who teach go beyond the outcomes and the accolades. They become beacons for other people’s journey. When I coach a young athlete, I convey the same message and support them through their evolution, so they can prove it to themselves.

Be Mr. Tenacity

I made this poster when living in Dusseldorf, Germany with my friend Klaus Regnault as I was promoting sport psychologist Dr. Jim Loehr's first European Tour in 1989. I had shaken hands with Jim and taken off, convinced that it would work out. I had arrived in spring, not having a clue about the drastic slow-down of business activity during the European long holidays. By mid-summer, I was desperate: no one was picking up the phone or responding to my letters (there was no Internet). I was sleeping in Klaus' home office and spending $25 a week for groceries with no health insurance. Jim was supposed to arrive in November. If I failed, I had nowhere to go back and no work permit in the USA.

I decided that I was going to succeed by practicing what I preached and I pasted Jim's words along with the title of his article on Jimmy Connors: "Mr. Tenacity." I hung the poster on top of Klaus' Siemens computer and looked at it all day while I typed away in the summer heat. A lot has been written about the power of positive self-talk, imagery and visualization for mental toughness and peak performance. I was living it: tenacity was my only power as I kept calling those who would ultimately organize the presentations in each city. I only had Klaus and Michael Strepp (with whom I played tennis, introduced by Klaus) to exorcise my frustrations and restore my hope.

After September 15, people returned to work and there was a remarkable acceleration in decision-making. The Loehr European Tour succeeded and it changed my life, as I was able to join Jim and work together with most of the top tennis players in the world in Florida under IMG. Looking back and through the past 30 years, I recognize that Vision, Purpose, Tenacity and Collaboration have been the drivers that led to Breakthrough. Tenacity is a key predictor of success when desire pulls us forward to make life better than it is today. If you win, you grow; if you lose, you learn.

Use the Trojan horse strategy

Mark McCormack started IMG by persuading Arnold Palmer and Gary Player to become clients. He showed them the benefits of having an agent by putting their affairs in order for free, showing them how they were losing money on international deals and only later drawing the agreements that made them multi-millionaires. McCormack also used the Trojan horse approach with corporate clients, not in the negative sense of the legend (as in providing a gift as a gimmick to play a trick), but as a relationship-building exercise to demonstrate value delivery. When he wanted to persuade a high-profile organization and close the door to the competition, he would perform a portion of the project for free and to the client’s complete satisfaction. Afterwards, he would ask for the entire project and in favorable terms. I’ve used this approach to ensure that I would get business when going against much better funded competitors and when I truly wanted to build a relationship that I knew would yield many more benefits than just money.

Dennis van der Meer taught me to teach the tennis serve first, a status symbol for a club player. I can do it in ten minutes and provide immediate results to the student, who’s now convinced that she/he can learn the other strokes and become socially acceptable. If you can serve, they invite you to play doubles, the most common club format. When I want to show an executive how coaching might help she/he achieve Breakthrough, I ask three well-crafted questions. The answers are inevitably illuminating and uncover key issues they can work on, and I can be their partner in developing a Breakthrough Results for extraordinary results. Value first, relationships always.

Play three-dimensional tennis

In tennis, you can win most matches if you learn to combine the direction of your shots in three dimensions: right/left, high/low and near/far from the net. If you can control the direction of your shots and are both patient and precise, eventually you will win most points. To do so, you need to plan three strokes ahead (not an easy task at first). That’s why good coaches will train you to recognize patterns, memorize them and apply them under pressure. You train systematically but you always explore options, so you can act but also react. In creativity, you recognize patterns but also explore alternatives and question assumptions to find new ways of doing things.

In tennis and in life, Breakthrough happens when you plan three strokes ahead. When I’m reactive, I’m only focusing on one shot, just reacting to what’s in front of me without any chance to forecast. When I’m responsive, I can focus on this shot and the next - and yet, it might not be enough to solve the larger problem or win the match. But when I can plan three shots ahead and envision what might happen, or design alternative solutions, I most likely will be ahead in the game. Training is rehearsal. Anticipation is possibilities. Precision is confidence. The best players in tennis and life are making things happen, not letting things happen to them. They rehearse possibilities in their head.

Love the Challenge, Be a Solutions Designer

During one of our European Tours in the 90's, sport psychologist Dr. Jim Loehr and I had a chance to interview a famous retired bullfighter in Madrid, Spain. He was legendary for his courage and style. He had survived many injuries and narrow escapes during hundreds of performances. Our Spanish hosts, the Mediero family, told us that this bullfighter had "casta" (breed), the lineage of top of his profession. He had become an icon and a respected leader for his adherence to the rituals. The mental toughness training required to succeed in such dangerous profession intrigued us. He had trained since he was thirteen, tirelessly adopting the postures and the walk that would shield him from fear, similar to a martial arts student practicing katas. "You work with the outside so you don't feel fear on the inside. I made fear the enemy and the bull my friend, as both of us participated in a sacrifice in which my role was to limit his suffering. A job well done meant that I sacrificed the bull quickly." (My only experience with a bullfight was in Barcelona in 1987 and it was horrific: on the first run, a blundering bullfighter was extending the agony of the bull while the knowing crowd insulted him. I left immediately).

In listening to the master’s story, I saw a compassionate warrior who understood his anachronistic role and hoped the meaning of the ritual would transcend the spectacle. I learned from that meeting that you could train to love the challenge and face risk as an opportunity to learn, managing your fear and limitations to grow as a solutions designer, especially when the situation is unknown, unavoidable and shifting. Catalonia banned bullfighting in 2010, opening the door to future bans elsewhere.

Be a Phoenix

Since early on in my schooling, I hated math. I particularly hated the insistence on exactitude, correctness and intolerant attitude of most of my math teachers. They elevated math as the supreme skill, while I lived in the world of fantasy, metaphor and poetry. Besides, not all of them were good at explaining things for the majority of the class: if the ace kid got it, they moved on. As a result, my math grades were never as good as the rest in my report card. In my first year of high school, I failed math and had to study over the summer with a tutor to take a remedial exam prior to the new school year. Since I was considered a good student overall, the situation was weighing heavy on me.

One night, while walking with my mother and discussing my fears about the exam, she told me: “You are going to be reborn out of your ashes, like a Phoenix.” She then told me about the mythological bird, and how sometimes in life we need to take two steps back to jump higher. Since I’m a descendant of Phoenicians from Lebanon, her metaphor stuck with me forever. On the French side of my family, stories of success, loss and rebirth abound, so I found consistency and several examples that rebirth was possible. Thanks to my tutor’s patience, clarity and teaching skills, I passed the exam and survived math ever since, although never with great grades. Nowadays, I understand math through percentages and proportions, whatever leads to clarity and useful action. Seeing the Glass as Full and a Half requires imagination first, and only then, if necessary, calculation. What matters is rebirth.

For my 60th birthday, my wife Karen surprised me with a wonderful gift: the oil painting above, by artist Phil Sugden, a long-time friend of the family from Findlay, Ohio, married to Carol Elchert, a university professor. When we visited Phil’s studio long ago, I noticed the painting and instantly fell in love with it. It resonated deeply with me. Instead of a Phoenix, it’s a cicada shedding its old skin, crawling out of its useless shell to sense its uniqueness, to discover its voice and its distinct singing, to explore an immense universe of possibilities guided by intuition and aware of its signs (like the shooting star). Karen purchased it in secret and gave it to me with an intriguing message: “Don’t let things bug you. It’s time to transform. Come out of your shell. Be as you were born.” Perhaps that’s what focusing on my writing has been all along… a rebirth.

INSPIRE

Sell your ignorance. Sell your optimism

When Richard Saul Wurman shared with me his motto “I sell my ignorance,” a light bulb went on in my head. He considers himself an empty vessel, so he can learn and enjoy it. When we say, “I know,” we are closing the door to learning a few degrees. I learned to say, “Tell me more” and “What are you working on?” after that. Over time, I realized that I sell my optimism. When clients engage me, they expect a positive outcome and a thinking partner to get it done. I express optimism as Breakthrough and translate it into a Blueprint. Selling my optimism is also a way of seeing myself as an empty vessel. Seeing the glass as Full and a Half is an act of design, and my client and I will explore the process that will make it tangible and real.

Develop the confidence to be consistently creative

In the summer of 1993, I spent a week in Venice, Italy studying Creative Thinking with Dr. Edward de Bono’s Tessera Island, which he owned at the time. It was a life-changing experience, shared with a small group of high achieving executives from around the world. I was the rarity, as a tennis coach acting as general manager of a tennis club in Southampton, England. At the end of the course, I asked Dr. de Bono his opinion on my future. He answered: “You are creative. What’s most important is to have the confidence to be creative.” That was a great final lesson. Creativity is a learned ability requiring practice like a language, tennis or a golf swing. Confidence builds from trying, failing forward and recording the factors of success. From that day onward, I confidently put my skills to use, declaring upfront in corporate meetings: “I’m the creative fly on the wall; I might say something provocative to explore alternatives.” As Dr. de Bono’s symbol for lateral thinking illustrates (photo, above), you can hold diverging perspectives about a topic and seek to understand how they can be useful to further your project or solution. Creative confidence translates into thinking “maybe there’s another way” and looking for alternatives as a habit, as a reflex, just in case, to ensure the best result possible.

Leverage and Access are the Essence of the Game

Working with Dennis van der Meer taught me the power of Leverage. He showed how it was better to get 20% out of 10 people working for him rather than 100% out of himself. The Van der Meer Tennis organization was based on teaching efficient and effective group lessons by certified pros under his direction, with a solid methodology and drills. The Professional Tennis Registry, a non-profit organization he created, certifies pros from all over the world on his teaching method. He would pick the ones that could do the best job at his side and send some of them to top facilities around the world.

When we traveled to Germany in 1988, he gave me a book by Dr. Philip Kotler on marketing non-profit organizations. He trusted I could extract value he could use out of it. The content was a revelation to me and I decided I would learn from Dr. Kotler someday, which I did in 1993 in London. When I gave the book back to Dennis, I told him: “The PTR is organized to maximize leverage like a Church.” Dennis was the son of Protestant missionary parents in South Africa. His answer was, “Don’t tell anybody.” As an immigrant, he had arrived to the U.S. with a racquet and a smile. He knew he could teach better than anybody else, and that he had to prove it with facts, results and money. He worked his way up as a tennis pro and became outstanding at networking, differentiation, visibility and results, when he coached both Margaret Court and Billie Jean King in their “Battle of the Sexes” matches with Bobby Riggs before record TV audiences. While you figure out how to Leverage your skills, you must get Access.

I got a similar lesson from Richard Saul Wurman, the founder of the TED Conferences. When he was building the first TED event, he had an ambitious list of guests he wanted on stage. He figured out how to tell one person who would tell another and this one to the intended target. The message would be “When this guy Wurman calls, you need to say yes. You need to be at TED, it’s the next big thing.” It worked and the rest is history. Richard told me: “Access is the only game there is. You can have the best idea or product in the world, but without access it will never succeed.” I’m always working at improving my Leverage and I’m quite good at getting Access, yet I have an unbreakable rule: I will not work with unsavory people. My privilege is to work with friends and individuals whose values align with mine. Some consider this a fault. I consider it the only way to go for me.

Point to the knife on the table

Enrique Pisani and Dudley Lynch taught me that when dealing with “sharks” who can’t help themselves from stabbing you in the back “because they can,” it’s important to let them know at some point that you can see the knife on the table. In subtle or direct ways, it’s crucial to send them the message that you know there’s a knife and that under no circumstances it will end up on your back. This is the “trust but verify” approach complemented by “tit-for-tat.” If you are a carp and swim with sharks, you will lose.

If you are a dolphin who can understand games, timelines, worldviews and breakthrough, you need to let the sharks know that you know who and how they are, early on. A dolphin has the purpose and the mission to inspire and enlighten others. A dolphin doesn’t need to swim with sharks, it has to mark and defend its territory to keep the sharks at bay. Boundaries preserve the dolphin’s energy and capacity for inspiration.

Sharks are persistent and perverse: they only respect a hard hit over their nose or their gills. I have learned that they will take advantage of one’s well-meaning attempts to introduce positive change. They will try to own what you develop by any means. They will not play fair when everyone does. Therefore, sometimes you might need to deliver it with precision, if the knife is to remain on the table and not on anyone’s back. I train to be a wise dolphin.

Friendship is the immune system of society

I’ve always placed a high value on Friendship. I appreciate my friends immensely. I have few close friends, but they have contributed to my life in extraordinary and valuable ways, beyond the transactional level. One of my close friends is Philipp Johner from Zurich, Switzerland. In 2009, he decided to write his first book and instead of basing it on his experience as an advisor for CEOs, he decided to focus on Friendship. He asked me to collaborate with him in the development, which yielded a beautifully illustrated coffee-table book in German. During a visit to Charlotte to work on the text, I asked Philipp to summarize his views, which I’ve adopted as my own:

"What is friendship? The essence of friendship is to recall one's attention to your destiny. If I lose connection to my higher calling, to my destiny, call it 'identity,' then my friend will remind me of it, because he doesn't lose faith. He looks ahead, he looks into the future. He looks at 'what I'm here for.' That's his perspective. That's what brings us together. Antoine de Saint Exupery says: 'To love each other is not to look at each other; it's to look together in the same direction.’ That's the essence of friendship. I am the storyteller of your destiny. I am the one who links you to your higher calling by looking ahead."

"Human beings are always between past and future. So, the question is: 'Am I pushed by a painful past or am I pulled by a compelling future?' To be pulled by a compelling future, I have to see it vividly; I have to sense it, even physiologically. If that happens, the mechanics of friendship can operate. If I see the higher calling and it's so vivid that it pulls me, I will be much less inclined to be pushed down by the fear of other people, by the claims of society, by those who want me to be like them. The antidote to this is to say: 'I don't want to finish like them; I don't want to finish their destiny.' Because I'm looking forward towards where I'm going, I will be strong enough to resist all the temptations. St. Augustine defines sin as 'preferring the lesser good to the greater good.' I will not forsake my destiny inasmuch as my higher calling is vividly my reality. I will not settle for anything less."

"My friend takes me to another state in which I focus on a better future. So, how does friendship become the immune system of society? Because I'm not solving my friend's problem, I'm changing his state so believes in a better future and acts accordingly which, of course, increases the chances of having a better future. Without hope, we forsake a better future, but hope needs faith, and the essence that hope and faith serve is love. The immune system of society means we become much less prone to negative, destructive habits or ideas."

IGNITE

Lead: recruit others towards an inspiring Vision

Dudley Lynch and Paul Kordis, authors of "The Strategy of The Dolphin," emphasize the importance of leading by developing a strong vision of the future to "pull" you and your followers towards it. These paragraphs below have helped me understand how people respond to a leader’s call and how you inspire individuals to become Peak Performers and work together as High Performance Teams.

"The power of visionary leadership comes from knowing that you already are what you want. The task you are now involved in is to develop your strategy for dealing with your arrival and to help others understand and act on your new reality. Without a strong vision, the danger is that most people will continue to perform at a set level, one they feel unconsciously is correct for them. If they exceed that level of performance, they will usually sabotage themselves later on to maintain their "average" (for example, a 10% percent improvement). If they visualize themselves performing at a much higher level (100% above of what they consider is as high as they can go), they will subconsciously interpret that as the new level of expected performance and will cause them to correct positively toward the vision without harmful repercussions.” These principles encapsulate the stages of seeing The Glass is Full and a Half: Imagine, Improve, Inspire and Ignite. They represent Breakthrough that leads to Peak Performance as we design meaningful achievements.

A leader who embraces these concepts can lead through an inspiring Vision and a “from above” perspective, recruiting followers by inviting them to the journey, fully engaged, to create a better situation for all. Such leader manages energy and the conversations that fuel and sustain high positive engagement. He or she is a great storyteller, keeping the Vision alive so it pulls everyone forward, living in it while building the stepping-stones to realize it.

Bring Meaning to Life

“Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.” — Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation

Since a friend introduced me to Joseph Campbell’s writings in 1992, my perspective on many aspects of my life has shifted. His teachings on mythology and religions allowed me to understand the myths we live by and led me to write a theatre play and a screenplay. Over the years, I’ve purchased a vast number of books and tapes on his lectures. His interview with Bill Moyers remains a favorite. The following quotes have become thinking and spiritual beacons to align my life and bring meaning to it:

“The adventure is its own reward — but it’s necessarily dangerous, having both negative and positive possibilities, all of them beyond control. We are following our own way, not our daddy’s or our mother’s way… Life can dry up because you’re not off on your own adventure. […] There’s something inside you that knows when you’re in the center, that knows when you’re on the beam or off the beam. And if you get off the beam to earn money, you’ve lost your life. And if you stay in the center and don’t get any money, you still have your bliss.”

In his last lecture, someone asked him how we should live our lives. He brought forward his version of an ancient Indian tale:

"We're all really tigers living here as goats. The function of sociology and most of our religious education is to teach us to be goats. But the function of the proper interpretation of mythological symbols and meditation discipline is to introduce you to your tiger face. Then comes the problem. You've found your tiger face but you're still living here with these goats. How are you going to do that? (...) You wear the outer garment of the law; you behave like everyone else. And you wear the inner garment of the mystic way. Now that's the great secret of life. (...) I commit you all to be tigers in the world. But don't let anybody know it."

The conundrum of our lives is to stand up for what we believe while society tells you how to be and what to do. I honor the five martyrs I met and their sacrifice at St. Patrick’s church by standing up for freedom of thought, choice, speech and equality. I commit to be a tiger in the world while joyfully face the sorrows of my life and inspire others.

Be on stage and embody Idealism

I became an American in 1999, which in my rampant idealism I consider one of my greatest achievements. Like many people, I see America as a breakthrough idea, a living organism, an evolving beacon of diversity that inspires individuals to go "beyond personal best" and seek choice over tyranny. I agree with Bill Moyers that, despite formidable odds, we must defend Democracy because "our moral, political and religious duty is to make sure that this nation, which was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that we are all created equal, is in good hands on our watch."

Democracy is an invitation to see the glass as full and a half. It’s the antidote to totalitarianism, fascism and feudalism. These systems rely on zero-sum, win/lose, half full/half empty, right/wrong propositions and enforce them by imposition. My invitation represents a break-up with the scarcity mindset and incites you to grow as a citizen: if you believe you can design your future, you can generate new ideas that create new value and grow revenue.

Democracy is about how we can be better together, not just some of us or those who feel entitled to all because of race, religion, birthplace, money and power. I’ve experienced discrimination (I was disqualified from a position because I had an accent), outright racism (“What’s up with the spic? Why do you hang around with this guy?” - a question from a former U.S. Davis Cup Captain to Jim Loehr, in my presence, while we were in Paris) and prejudice (the combination of an Argentine passport, the name Carlos - a famous Venezuelan terrorist - and a Lebanese surname made me a suspect to Customs officers). For many years, I traveled in high-end suits and Ferragamo ties to be treated fairly by airline staff, after I learned how they categorize passengers by appearance and attitude.

I’ve also been told by enforcers of the status quo that I was not trustworthy because I would use alternative methods (all of them legal) to find easier, faster solutions to pressing problems (the “Not Invented Here” mindset is pervasive). However, I ultimately delivered results, so I was in demand, I could be of use, I made a difference and I opened doors closed to those who claimed they knew it all. It’s difficult to discriminate against higher earnings and savings in a corporation.

My provocation to see the glass as full-and-a-half is a conduit to define the right layout for your life and living with others. I believe in Democracy because such “grand idea” deserves analysis, protection and defending. Discrimination, racism and prejudice can be contained, constrained and one day eliminated by education that civilizes, not just qualifies you to get a job - especially in the United States.

My quixotic quest is also a search for meaning and wholeness. I want to absorb myself in visionary, innovative work that leaves a mark as well. Instead of bricks, my units of hope are concepts; instead of walls, my units of meaning are stories. My cathedral, my sacred space is a stage: a theatre, a tennis court, a racetrack, a boardroom, an online course, a blog and even a virtual reality game.

My stage is a space of revelations and new ideas, where awareness can lead to positive transformations. It's a powerful energy field for promoting inspiration instead of dogma, for rewarding imagination instead of certainty, for celebrating humor instead of shame and for praising positive action instead of righteousness.

I want to share my creations with the rest of the world so there can be more versatile, flexible and creative thinkers. I can't help it: I'm a Thinker and an Idealist.

Download the Lessons Learned Summary (PDF)

Corporate Clients

I’ve selected five corporate engagements over a 20-year period with teams that yielded Breakthrough and valuable insights.

ABN AMRO Private Banking Switzerland

The Development of a Peak Performance Culture (2000 to 2007)

When Gustavo Raitzin became Head of Private Banking Switzerland in 2000, he decided to organize the first company-wide meeting reuniting all regions (such an event had never been done before). Based on his understanding of my work in Peak Performance Training, he hired me to collaborate in the organization of the meeting at the Victoria Jungfrau Hotel in Interlaken. The theme would focus on Peak Performance for individuals and teams, expressed as unity of vision and purpose.

I worked with a small team of internal contributors to design the “theatrical” approach, which was based on short presentations, interactive conversations and team games (for the first time, we invited teams to create their own TV commercials based on the corporate values, which were shown at the end as a “premiere”). In the weeks prior, I coached the speakers at the event and coordinated the audiovisual requirements. Gustavo and I shaped the Agenda and carefully selected the images, videos and music to set the emotional tone. We designed a specific logo for the event, which was embroidered on elegant shirts distributed to all 300 participants, which included everyone - from the receptionists to the top executives.

The November 10-11, 2000 event became a milestone for the organization and the start of a series of engagements that lasted till 2007 and involved the Young Bankers Association meetings as well. Under Gustavo’s leadership, it led to subsequent off-site meetings as the company shifted strategies, in coordination with Amsterdam HQs directives. It also contributed to the integration of Peak Performance concepts in the culture, promoted through Leadership Workshops offered in Zurich and Geneva, where concepts such as “manage energy, not time” struck a chord and helped leaders transform their lives and motivate their teams. When I participated in events for other private banks, the difference in energy was palpable. At ABN AMRO, there was a frankness and openess and a jovial vibe that was difficult to find in other environments were formality and rigidity were the norm.

After Interlaken 2000, the highlight of my collaboration at ABN AMRO Private Banking Switzerland was the organization of the IPC Conference 2003 in Amsterdam. It including meetings at Duin & Kruidjberg, a castle owned by the bank in the outskirts of the city and a majestic dinner at the Rijkmuseum facing “Night Watch” by Rembrandt. The event was carefully choreographed with a team of young private bankers, all highly efficient and with a fantastic creative spirit.

The purpose of the IPC Conference was to create unity, as the division reorganized into three pillars, which would shift its communication and operation practices at the global level. The integration of such pillars depended on everyone understanding that pillars didn’t mean “silos” and that trust in the new approach to taking care of clients, the brand and revenues was paramount.

The teambuilding aspect included an event that I designed from scratch called “Building the Tower of Trust,” for which we got the support of a mountaineering team from Switzerland I had met in England before. They made sure we had the resources to divide the participants in teams (they came from all over the world) and provide them with partial instructions to build portions of a tower that had to be put together at the end by representatives from each group. The materials were simple. The instructions were scarce but precise. Timing was essential.

At the start of the construction of The Tower of Trust, some of the teams decided to hoard resources and trade materials with other teams. Somehow they thought it was going to be a competition, despite I had clearly emphasized Collaboration in the written instructions and at my opening remarks. One of my teammates alerted me that the activity was out of control. I immediately decided to stop everything, summon all the private bankers and restate the purpose, explaining the process as if they were five year olds. “It’s not a competition, it’s about working together. We are a global team, so we need to be dolphins with each other rather than sharks.” That decision reset the timing (it was starting to rain and we were in a muddy patch) and ensured a positive outcome (we finished The Tower of Trust with enough daylight to take pictures and get everyone ready for the bus ride to the Rijksmuseum dinner). The allegory of working together for a common purpose through the Team = Co3Re3 (Communication x Cooperation x Commitment) x (Reciprocity x Results x Rewards) was illustrated in a tangible and heartfelt way.

Other remarkable meetings that increased the organization’s efficiency took place in Brunnen, Monaco, Luxembourg and Venice. In these events, I was allowed to continue promoting team integration through a variety of game-based approaches, enhancing the interactivity among all participants to generate creative dialogue. In every event, there was room for the participants to reveal their innovative skills and explore new interpersonal levels. The productivity of the entire organization was evident in their financial results, boosting their recovery from the September 11, 2001 crisis.

The Venice Event in 2004

ABN AMRO Private Banking Switzerland created a special division in 2004 focused on assisting High Net Worth Individuals below the billion dollar mark attain billionaire status by investing differently. The bank had made inroads in alternative and sustainable investments and wanted to share their perspective with a select group. Based on my track record, they gave me carte blanche to design an intimate, content-based networking workshop. I chose Tessera Island in Venice, owned by Dr. Edward de Bono at the time and invited Edward, Richard Saul Wurman and Dudley Lynch as speakers. The three would present different facets of “new thinking” and give permission to the participants to engage in creative dialogue. With a small team based in Geneva, we planned it for November and branded it “Beyond Wealth.” All three speakers agreed to participate and I counted on Promostudio International Consultants and CEO Giovanni Vescovo to cover all hospitality details. The Bauer Hotel overlooking the Grand Canal was the preferred lodging selection and we booked a variety of top-level restaurants for dinner. Business owners who excelled in a variety of industries attended the event. ABN AMRO executives Walter Fonseca and Nicholas Huttman trusted me with a concept that was easier on paper than in reality. It was a fascinating opportunity to convene leaders to explore alternatives rather than recipes, surrounded by Venice, its history, beauty and emotional impact. It was a complex, ambitious and costly proposition that facilitated business deals and provided a competitive advantage for the new division.

Bank Julius Baer

A Focus on Transformation and Growth (2005 to 2017)

Gustavo Raitzin transitioned to Bank Julius Baer in Zurich in 2005, later becoming a member of the Executive Board, managing mostly Latin America. From the start, Gustavo identified the possibility of infusing his division with the spirit and core concepts of Peak Performance Training. As we had done in 2000, we designed an off-site meeting at the Victoria Jungfrau Hotel in Interlaken for approximately 40 executives. The objective was to design a forward-thinking strategy aligned with the growth mandate of the new CEO. The tilt was towards strategy but we had to get to the planning part by exploring interpersonal and team relations first.

From February 3-5, 2006, we met in Interlaken, Switzerland. I proposed we divide the meeting in four segments, relating each one to aspects of Appreciative Inquiry to focus the conversations in teams. We called the process “Beyond Personal Best.” I developed all materials with a highly efficient team of one (Gustavo Raitzin’s executive assistant). Each stage of the meeting included excellent food and the opportunity to spend time outside in nature. As the third largest bank in Switzerland and the only one focused on “pure play” private banking, Julius Baer wanted to grow and refine its approach to client relationships. The effect of the Interlaken off-site was a spurt of impressive revenue growth until the global crisis of 2008. Gustavo and his direct reports maximized the opportunity to prune their organization and demonstrate their Peak Performance skills.

After the Great Depression, Gustavo focused on boosting the entrepreneurial qualities of his teams. The bank embarked in an Advisory Reanimation Project in which I participated as project manager. My role was to interview all key stakeholders within the bank. It was an exciting round of interviews with top producers, product specialists and advisors. When I interviewed Chairman Raymond Baer, his intense focus on providing the most sophisticated investment advice to their clients struck me. He wanted clients to appreciate the Julius Baer wisdom that would ultimately yield better results and differentiate them from their competitors.

In 2012, Julius Baer purchased the international wealth management business of Merrill Lynch from Bank of America for 1.47 billion Swiss francs. I was collaborated with their Leadership Academy in a series of off-sites that took place in Punta del Este, Uruguay and Vitznau, Switzerland. I enjoyed working with Beat Blaesi a world-class leadership development expert, constructing the curricula of the meetings and analyzing the interaction among the executives. We implemented complex and productive processes such as Open Space, which yielded new ideas and approaches to bridge mindsets and operating differences. It was interesting to observe the different perspectives and approaches to business development (like a meeting between rugbiers with tennis players), trying to figure out how are they going to play the same game together. Shark and dolphins, having to collaborate and contribute to a common goal. Not an easy proposition for any leader.

The cultural assimilation was a laborious process that took over two years. The proof of its effectiveness was that both the region and the bank’s assets under management continued to grow, despite having to adapt to drastic changes in operating policies. The teams improved their performance skills by working together more efficiently, while refining their asset acquisition strategies and advisory skills.

AT Kearney DACH Division (with Manres AG)

Philipp Johner, Founder and CEO of Manres AG, invited me to collaborate in the design of a unique event for the DACH division of the international consulting firm ATKearney (operating in Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Unlike many off-site meetings, this one was a celebration. They had achieved a significant revenue milestone and wanted to get together to rejoice and envision the next milestone. Based on previous collaborations, Philipp proposed the Regional CEO to consider doing something different, an event focused on interactive conversations. I would be the architect of the experience, which Philipp and his capable staff of consulting psychologists would help manage on-site.

I met in Zurich with the CEO and set up the initial parameters. He seemed intrigued by the shift in style, since until then “a meeting” meant he would talk for three hours straight from the podium. Next came a conference call with their German-based team, in which I assuaged their doubts and sealed the deal by saying “I’m the guy who makes Swiss bankers cry.” Emotions would run the show.

They selected a unique venue for the event: the newly built nHow Hotel in Berlin, overlooking the Spree River, designed by Karim Rashid, focused on music and lifestyle and including two major sound studios at the top. The planning took over six months and we targeted January 28-29, 2011 for the event. We were hosting 300-plus consultants with six Manres facilitators attending the needs of 50 people each. The parameters set were as follows:

• The spirit of the event ought to be one of lightness, “Verbindlichkeit” (which is a German word for a combination of togetherness and accountability, “bindingness”), and driving positive emotions through the whole organization.

• Everybody should go home with a sensational positive experience, invigorated, yet with no heavy assignments. We want the Powerhouse-Concept placed in all the minds and hearts, and root it deeply into their emotional fabric.

• Core Question: “How are we going to be… to be better together?”

The architecture I designed was nothing but ambitious. The meeting started with two lines of 150 people shaking hands with each other and moving in opposite directions. The first day included three critical group conversations (Connection, Appreciation and Possibility) and two creative games: the design of the Magazine Cover touting their success and a TV Commercial filmed by professional crews. After dinner, there was dancing with great DJs, considering it was a brand new music-focused hotel. The second day included two conversations (Ownership and Commitment), followed by the creation of a massive collage representing how they were a Powerhouse and the Premiere of their TV Commercials. The event ended with a second handshake line-up with all participants, as a bookend to a high energy, high interaction meeting.

A few months later, I met with one of the principals in Zurich and he mentioned that the Berlin Powerhouse had been the best meeting they ever had. The management team had been able to utilize the output to generate productive client engagements and sustain the upbeat mood. The division’s CEO was later promoted to a higher post to supervise the whole of Europe (his predecessor had attended the Berlin event). For my friends and associates at Manres, it marked a breakthrough opportunity to prove they could handle a large and complex event - it became a template from which to extrapolate modules as needed in the future. It also showed how much they cared for each other and how collaborative they could be (it was a professional women’s team). As a result, ATKearney DACH booked them for the following year to organize another large event at a sports stadium, for which I consulted briefly regarding the architecture of the agenda and timeline.

The New York Knicks’ Community Relations Team

In 2002, my friend Karin Buchholz, whom I knew as a tennis teaching pro and as a USTA executive, became Vice President of Community Relations and Field Marketing for The New York Knicks, Rangers and Liberty teams playing at Madison Square Garden in NYC.

In 2007, Karin invited me to conduct a workshop for her team of 30 employees. They needed to understand how to manage their energy better, as they are engaged in promotions throughout New York 365 days a year. They love their work, but it involves long hours and sometimes 7-day weeks. Without exception, every member of Karin’s team told me “they had the best job in the world.” According to them, New Yorkers are schizophrenic fans: first, they say “the Knicks suck” followed by “but we love you guys.” No matter treatment on the streets and playgrounds, they keep going out every day to be with the people and share the power of their brand (the most valuable in the NBA at $4.6 billion, despite the Knicks not winning its Championship since 1973).

We gathered at the Green Room at Madison Square Garden, graced by celebrities from Frank Sinatra to the Rolling Stones, quite an inspiring setting when talking about Peak Performance. Through the workshop, we identified their current energy output, their priorities, their personal aspirations and the needs of the team. The critical aspect for them was to find pockets of recovery time, opportunities to regenerate and engage fully every day. If there could be chances to redesign schedules, to persuade supervisors and to envision new ways of doing things, this was the best time to do it. I introduced elements of micro-tasking, gamification, creativity and strategic planning so they could see a path to delivering tangible results. It was not an easy time for the Knicks, as there were on the media due to internal problems at the executive suite level. Going back out to the streets with optimism was essential.

Thanks to Karin’s wise leadership, they achieved results. During her tenure, which extended till 2011, Karin raised $1.7M and realized 27,126 dreams for youth in crisis by providing program leadership and strategic support to MSG’s philanthropic arm—the Garden of Dreams Foundation. She also secured over $1.3M in annual revenues by transforming field marketing department from cost center to profit center by leveraging key assets, revitalizing brands, and designing exclusive events/experiences to inspire fans. In addition, she created and implemented Knicks Poetry Slam literacy program as well as grew event from 20 participants with no prizes and zero exposure to annual Broadway show with thousands of participants and $850K annual revenue in college scholarships, major gifts and corporate sponsorships.

The British Consulate in Barcelona

The British Embassy in Madrid needed a facilitator for a teambuilding meeting at their Consulate in Barcelona. The Consul found my information online and mentioned he was attracted to the Peak Performance Training concepts. He later approved my proposal and we agreed on The British Embassy would be my first client in International Diplomacy. The date was set for November 2011 at their Barcelona offices and it would involve 12 senior diplomats.

After an introduction to the Peak Performance Training approach, we focused on their key strategic issues and the design of breakthrough ideas and solutions. The Consulate focuses on trade between Barcelona and the U.K., which had been gradually intensifying and could have a much better outlook if they adopted creative strategies. They were also interested in exploring better ways to function as a distributed team.

I enjoyed the diplomats’ openness and eagerness to work through the stages of the workshop. They were frank and insightful, and although they thought they knew each other well, there were some interesting discoveries about their lives. There were also enjoyable doses of dry British humor and storytelling (it helped that I grew up in a British neighborhood with a British club and that my uncle George Brieux was an OBE). At one point, they were stuck on building a laundry list of “what doesn’t work” and the mood was becoming unproductive. I interrupted them to shift their attention to “What has to happen for this to be solved?” and saw the spark in their eyes. From that moment, the meeting went into high gear, driving them to work on designing solutions rather than problem solving.

The one-day experience had to yield a Breakthrough. The expectations were high and the implications were deep, and as a group distributed around Spain, they might not meet again for some time. It was a particularly satisfying experience for me, because the Breakthrough happened in a climate of high positive emotion, collaboration, creativity and optimism, different from their usual work meetings, where the internal and external politics made them tense. By shifting to a “possibility mindset,” they reach the parameters and conclusions they needed. The outcome was a list of commitments displayed as a Gantt chart for implementation. They covered policy changes and different ways of engaging their talent to fulfill their diplomatic mission and international trade.

My Key Lessons Learned with Corporate Clients

1. Change management starts with the Leader’s vision. Without the CEO’s or division leader’s buy-in, the effectiveness of the change will dissipate. Every success I had in corporations was possible because it was an essential element within the leader’s strategy. A consulting solution must answer these questions: How does it benefit the leader’s role? How does the team and the organization benefit? How does the approach benefit growth?

2. Successful change requires champions. Once the vision and the strategy were in place, the leaders led from the front. They also designated internal champions of the vision, to recruit, remind and rally their teams. When they didn’t do it, their teams found a way to return to the status quo or even sabotaged initiatives for change. Change does not happen by exhortation.

3. Leaders infuse and manage energy in everything they do. I’ve participated in many launches of new strategic directions, in which the leaders presented dense and lengthy arguments. Those who made them stick became “daily emotional managers” of the process, they nurtured it. They offered open doors, coaching and mentoring, staying accessible as they infused high positive energy to remind everyone that success was within reach. Logic and information are not enough: leaders need to embody the vision.

4. Group meetings are essential to develop and consolidate trust. Gathering and convening on a regular basis cements trust, especially when there’s an underlying philosophy, an invitation, such as “let’s all become Peak Performers.” A meeting designed for creative dialogue generates cooperation and leads to commitment. First, the participants need to feel appreciated: they need to feel that their contribution is valued, individually and as a group. Instead of being told what to do, they explore a series of questions that lead to insights, new ideas, co-creation and commitment to act as a “We.” Commitment creates a common language, it motivates the individual to discover how the team can generate peak performance to attain and surpass objectives. Trust endures when leaders and team members understand how they operate in their Ideal Performance State and how it differentiates them as an organization.

5. Communication is the lifeblood of successful change. One of the most important places in the successful organizations I worked with is the coffee room. When one of the top executives insinuated he would cut it from the bugdet, there was a revolt. He finally understood that the coffee room was the place where all departments could meet in a relaxed atmosphere to support each other and even make deals. There, communication and cooperation were at their best, in true “open doors” fashion. Through many complex projects, I understood that leaders seeking organizational change needed to make better use of their communication and networking tools. The daily flow of information, which supports the progress of the project, can also identify Breakthrough opportunities. One of the top leaders at a Swiss bank acknowledged that when he wanted feedback from his international direct reports, he would ask a simple question through their messaging system. Immediately, his team would jump in with solutions, resources, suggestions or new ideas to solve the issue. Clear, direct and collaborative communication is best.

Final Thoughts: My privilege is to work with friends in some of the most sophisticated, exclusive and high-pressure environments, where successful change leads to billions of dollars in revenues. In my role as a catalyst, I’ve discovered that understanding is power. Trust is a carefully crafted process. The best leaders lead through emotion as much as logic. Breakthrough thinking is a competitive advantage: it promotes foresight. Seeing the glass full and a half is essential because it leads to Wisdom: not having to compete on price or features, but rather having the clients’ long-term loyalty, because being with your organization makes them wiser.

Entrepreneurial Clients

Fabi Preslar

Fabi is CEO and founder of SPARK Publications - an Independent book publishing and custom magazine design firm in Charlotte, NC. Her company specializes in non-fiction books, association and trade magazines and catalogs. She’s also launched a second division, SPARK Digital Design which creates interactive microsites, author websites, and marketing materials.

I met Fabi as an attendee of one of my presentations on Peak Performance in 2009 and she became my first client in Charlotte. Her mentor had just died and she felt fragile. As an entrepreneurial CEO, she was concerned about leveraging her capacity and opportunities for growth. Fabi was also concerned about her health and finding ways to manage her energy better. Gradually and methodically, she implemented the core elements in her Breakthrough Blueprint, shifting her perspective on management and improving her outcomes - including the purchase of SPARK’s building. To date, she has earned dozens of entrepreneurship awards while her firm has won over 200 industry awards for their client work. She has published two books and regularly engages in community-building projects. The following text has been adapted from an interview published on June 2, 2020 on Thriveglobal.com on the lessons learned in her role as CEO.

IMAGINE

After my parents left France, they moved around a little before finally settling in the U.S. I was born in Canada, and then we moved to the Bahamas for a little while and then finally moved to the States. We settled in a tiny, one-stoplight town in South Carolina.

I was a creative kid, a good student as far as attendance, although I daydreamed a great deal about life beyond the woods surrounding our self-sufficient farm. Everything I came across, I’d imagine a story of how it got there. Life was a bit challenging there for me. We lacked none of the main basics of life. But imagine that one latch-key kid in junior high who was 5 feet 11 inches, had one pair of high-water bellbottom jeans, one pair of shoes, and spoke two languages. I was awkward, introverted, and had low confidence, but always had moments of bold courage.

Entrepreneurship ran in my family, but not as a positive thing. My great-grandfather was very wealthy and owned a bank in Paris. In the mid-1930s, that bank crashed as many around the world did at that time. That threw my family tree into poverty. My father was always trying entrepreneurial schemes, although unsuccessfully, to bring in big money. He was a good chef but had no business skills. He opened a restaurant that he had to shut down a year later. We lost the farm, our home, and the life we knew. A family friend near Winston-Salem, North Carolina, opened up her home to our beat-down family of four.

I wanted to be a graphic designer to be creative and share a visual story about anything I came across. At age 17, two weeks after I graduated high school, I left home and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, by myself with no money, no car, I knew no one. (There’s that courage I was born with.) I worked three jobs to put myself through school full time and became a graphic designer. I launched my first business at 22 years old and lost it six years later over a really poorly executed contract and crooked partner. I went back to work for other companies for a few years.

Then in 1998, I started SPARK Publications, which helps professionals tell their stories through independently published nonfiction books and magazines. And I still daydream and make up stories in my head about many things. And many of them come true!

IMPROVE

As the business grew, I felt a duty to help people. I set out on a mission to change the world, one employee at a time. My objective was to provide a workplace where folks could heal and grow. My intention was to find employees with potential and give them space to blossom.

The Universe responded by bringing a stream of personally burdened folks to my doorstep. Lots of dysfunctional people with untapped potential are out there, and that’s exactly who I attracted and hired. It was difficult to get high-level work done in between the drama and tears, situation after situation. I had quite a bit of turnover as I worked to build a healthy, heart-centered, and productive team. Each and every one of them had talent, but it was overshadowed by their personal problems. As a business owner, I had difficulty getting them to be profitable. I grew physically and emotionally exhausted.

I went to one of my advisors and described the broken lives and painful situations within my team. I was tired of running an emotional day care, and shouldering that burden was more than I could bear. Then my guide asked me this direction-changing question: “Why did you choose such a team, and why did you choose to run an emotional daycare if that’s not what you want to do?”

I no longer hire for potential. I hire and build teams that are deeply talented with a heart and mind for service and creativity. Fascinatingly, that is how I began to change the world a bit, one great client publication at a time. Early on, my vision was there; however, I needed to learn and mature into how to get there. In the early stages as a leader, I didn’t realize the power of my vision, goals, and actions actually had.

I was attracted to entrepreneurship because I wasn’t able to find a position that could use all my skills that also allowed me to focus on my family as a first priority. For six years, I built my own position as a solopreneur and turned down a fair amount of work. When my daughter entered her senior year in high school, she let me know “she’s got this,” and it was time to see how I could build the business. I rented my first office and hired my first full-time employee within weeks and then grew and transformed the firm from there.

I truly enjoy the creative freedom of being able to take on and continue providing services to a client or to not take on a client that just wasn’t a good fit. Often, it isn’t about a financial fit. It’s about the work and even more about the way they communicate or treat my team. Respect and kindness in how a client treats my team is very important. I’ve shed private tears saying goodbye to good money from a client who had become toxic to my team. What’s the point in not looking forward to coming into work either due to the work, the client, or an employee?

INSPIRE

Being founder and CEO has allowed me to create the work environment and type of firm I want to work for. As an entrepreneurial CEO, all the mistakes are mine. All the wins belong to the clients and are made possible by the team. The CEO makes or breaks the company. Although I’ve taken on that responsibility, the truth is that the team we have in place and the clients we take on create success.

A CEO needs to be extroverted. I entered as a deep introvert and have developed skills to be more of an ambivert when my role requires it. I could (and have) gone months at a time without seeing folks or being public. I have no issue having my team shine or take the lead.

Prior executive experience is required to be a successful CEO. Being an entrepreneurial CEO requires many, many skills and experiences in all areas of the business and its industry. I think applicable in-the-trenches training is more valuable for CEO success than having prior executive experience.

A great CEO needs to know how to build a team that is much more talented than the CEO is. Deep self-awareness is critical to having an aligned ego to be able to make room for the team to excel.

Academic credentials are critical to be an entrepreneurial CEO. In the world of entrepreneurship, experience and life skills outweigh book knowledge any day. I’ve had the privilege of outlasting and outwitting those with bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees when it comes to running a profitable, long-term, sustainable business. However, I do hire those with credentials when I have a specific situation that requires that type of knowledge.

I think the biggest challenge women face in business is the perception of our capabilities. I was ready to expand my business and went to my bank with my business plan and loan application in hand. I was two years into my business and had generated more money than I had in five years working for others. My husband’s only non-negotiable was he didn’t want our home used as collateral. I had the equipment and a really good client list and receivables. Less than five minutes into the banker’s interrogation, he (the loan officer) slammed the business plan and application down on his desk, leaned toward me, and said, “Mrs. Preslar, if your husband doesn’t think your business will succeed, why do you think we as a bank should?” I’m quite certain that if I were a man applying for that loan, I wouldn’t have been dealt that condescending smack. I pulled all my business and opened accounts with Bank of America, who saw my vision and gave me 100 percent of the expansion loan I asked for. And they’ve had my business ever since.

Resilience, persistence, and passion for what you are doing are key. Persistence is needed to keep moving forward, resilience to keep bouncing back up after the falls and gut-punches, and passion for your great “why” to make the resilience and persistence worth the effort. Then wrap all of that up with deep self-awareness and great vision. I think the type of person who may not succeed as an executive lacks compassion, self-awareness, and is too self-focused. If they don’t want to address these traits, then being a leader may not be a path for them.

The deeper and better you know yourself, the less baggage and ego you bring to the position, team, and company. I’ve learned the hard way how detrimental it was to bring my unhealthy ego into company leadership. Knowing who you are, what you stand for, and what your non-negotiables are helping you show up more authentically. Just know that not every position, company, or client is going to be a fit. Sometimes saying no to an opportunity can be the most successful thing you do for your career or life.

IGNITE

Watching clients positively impacting their audiences with powerful stories is one of those truly fueling joys that lets me know the projects we create are of great value. It means a great deal to know our work empowers little bubbles of the world, and then those bubbles positively spread. Having successfully built a small business where the team handles day-to-day production affords me the opportunity to share my personal story of resilience. I get to share that message through interviews in various media and also through private group conversations and on stage at conferences.

I never thought that my struggles, failures, and perseverance would be eye-opening conversations for those whom I attract. When I get letters and emails sharing that my journey of everyday resilience empowered or motivated people to grow their businesses, it’s a powerfully affirming exclamation mark on my efforts to make the circle I’m responsible for a little better.

I wish someone would have told me:

“Failure is not the end; it’s the beginning of every great new thing.” I used to think a big mistake or failure was the end of whatever I was aiming for or doing. I interpreted failures as deeply personal defeats until I took the time to review all the amazing successes that came on the heels of each failure. Now, if I’m not failing or getting rejected, I know I’m not trying enough new things. Yes, it still hurts, just not as hard or as long.

“You are going to learn more about yourself than you thought possible.” We all have so many layers. Each time I come close to knowing a part of myself, I encounter a deeper layer and then another and another. I’ve come to realize that our traumas, egos, and personalities take over every thought and decision until we learn to be aware of what makes us tick.

“To be successful in business, have a rich personal life.” Business will consume you if you let it. I’ve found that the more I prioritize and schedule time for my health, relationships, and personal time, the more success flows easily into my life. I’ve forgotten this fact at times and become all consumed with the business, forgetting that everything else is a necessary part of a successful life. Exhaustion, business complexity, damaged relationships, and serious illnesses showed up as harsh reminders that I was neglecting my personal life.

“To be a good leader, know how to be a good team player.” I was never very good at playing in others’ sandboxes. It was more comfortable building a new one. That made me work mentally and physically a great deal harder than I needed to. Working smarter through collaboration and learning how others have done similar things while being part of a team have taught me how to be a better leader. If I had always been leading, I would have missed out on seeing how my team can function without me.

“What you’ve done the first 10 years won’t get you through the next 10.” Leadership constantly requires learning new technologies and processes to pivot and innovate. There is no coasting or relying on what has worked for years before. The day I heard one of my team say, “That’s how we’ve always done it,” I knew it was time to implement some serious changes.

I think everyone should take the time to write their own memoir. I’m not saying you have to publish your memoir or even let anyone else read it. The biggest gifts I’ve given myself were when I took the time to reflect on my own timeline and life events. I did this when I began writing my first book about the life of my mentor after she died. Through the pain and frustration of trying to make sense of things, I learned so much about myself.

The biggest lesson I learned was that every hardship prepared me for the next situation I’d encounter. Jotting it all down helped bring clarity to a life I thought had no purpose or direction, where I felt as if someone was always pulling a rug out from under me. Reviewing my life also helped me start to see how I had created some of the situations I was in, whether through fear, old beliefs, or lack of confidence. After documenting my journey with my mentor, I strongly began focusing on my personal accountability, the power of my thoughts, and how brilliant our life paths and patterns can be.

My second book, a business journey memoir, helped me mature through the stories I told myself. I further dealt with my own anger and ego. I think the more we learn about how we operate in life, leadership, and business, the more compassionate we can become toward others. I came to realize that, similar to my journey, most people are doing the best they can with what they are aware of.

Therefore, I’d love to start a movement where all emerging and current executives write their memoirs in such a way as to become aware of what internal things are guiding them. I believe that will, in turn, help us become better communicators and humans as we find our greater purpose as leaders.

Kismit

After my life mentor’s death, I missed her deep, probing questions and the mirroring feedback she provided. I began a search for my next guide, but I wasn’t impressed by the various professionals I spoke with. To be fair, my next guide would have some big shoes to fill.

My speaking coach invited me to attend an event she was hosting. At this event a dynamic and creative Argentinian man, stepped up to speak. As he shared his transformational story and his clients’ breakthroughs, the top of my head began to tingle uncontrollably, like there was a hive of bees dancing on top of my brain. I knew he was my next guide.

What I didn’t know was how to make it happen. It took courage to let him know my intentions. After an initial meeting he took me on as a client. His insightful breakthrough and peak performance magic with Swiss bankers, global executives, high-level innovators, world-class and Olympic athletes, and me. I never really understood what magic had happened. I took a leap of courage because I knew that this was my next guide. What I didn’t know for 10 years was that I was his first client in Charlotte. Thank you Carlos for believing in me and seeing my breakthrough potential, inspiring me to push my boundaries, and helping me to visualize my “moonshot” goals. Meeting Carlos was a gift for us both of us, right when we both needed it. So take a leap of courage, you never know what kismit is conspiring for you.”

Philipp Johner

Philipp Johner is the Founder and CEO of Manres AG, a leadership development consultancy in Zurich (Zollikon), Switzerland, which he started three decades ago. I met him through a friend’s referral in 2003 and he kindly invited me to collaborate with some of their client projects, all challenging and rewarding in many levels. He’s also been a client in relation to the publishing of his books and course design.

Philipp coaches CEOs of leading companies, is head trainer of large corporate transformations, author ("Freundschaft", 2009 and “Transforming Leaders”, 2010). As a psychologist, he is a pioneer in developing and testing numerous instruments and concepts of positive psychology. Within the scope of the university's executive education, he received the Best Teacher Award of the School for Entrepreneurs of the University of St. Gallen in 2008 and 2009. He studied psychology, philosophy (University of Zurich) and astrophysics (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) and is a certified psychotherapist. He holds national and international titles in various martial arts: Swiss champion and on 5th place in the world championship in kick boxing. Swiss vice-champion in Taek Won Do.

I interviewed Philipp on what makes him a Peak Performer and a successful entrepreneur during one of my stays in Zurich. Here’s his eloquent response:

IMAGINE

"When I was a teenager, I was always interested in getting wisdom. Always. I was always attracted by dialogues of wise people, the Socratic approach, so to speak. I was extremely happy that in high school I could have philosophy classes and I was treated with dignity by the professors there, which was a new experience for us, because in mathematics and language we had to take them, but philosophy was only for those who wanted it. So, we were there somebody, with our own right to decide what to do.

I always felt the necessity to ask the basic questions of life. I remember as a boy, five years old, asking my mother: 'Where are we? What are we here for? Who are we? Are we angels? What is this Universe made of?' All she could do besides give me a lot of attention and love was tell me: 'Some day you will get the answers in school.' So, I thought two things; number one, it's a great thing to go to school, and number two, I never want to become old, like my mother (she must have been in her thirties or so), not knowing all the answers to these questions. That would be awful. You need to know the Universe, how it works and who we are.

IMPROVE

So, I always listened to older people. I love talking to older people, just with one condition: if they are positive old people, not if they're bitter. Even when I was a young man – and the cliché says that when you are young you get locked up with your peers – I could listen for hours to my grandparents or to old people. I just asked one question, listen again for an hour. That was great. I always understood early on, even if I had no terminology to express it, between knowledge you accumulate and knowledge that gives you orientation. You know, 'Greenland has two million square kilometers' surface.' So what? That's accumulated knowledge. But, 'love is the super value that gives value to all the other values,' that's really is practical, because it helps you decide. These are two different kinds of knowledge. One we may call 'wisdom.' I have an ear for wisdom. I suck it in, which is really interesting."

INSPIRE

"My greatest reward, as blunt as I can be, is when I feel like an instrument of God. I believe that I can give something to people that will stay with them for the rest of their lives, even if they are not conscious of it, but it just takes a little different route. It goes in another direction. They may start to open up again and believe that to be positive, to have faith in life is not just a sign of stupidity. It's not just opium for the people as Marx put it. It might be the essence of life, even if you become vulnerable through that. Even if you don't have the defense of the cynics. That, to me, are opportunities created by my success, because I, myself, I'm this kind of story. I live it. On the other side, what opportunities have been created? Well, some working places. I'm really proud that Manres works. We are still here. The opportunities created by my success are my success. I'm meeting people, I'm exchanging with people, people trust me. That's incredible. That's wonderful. How can someone modestly say 'I'm a gift of God?' If you really believe you are a gift of God, you have to exercise modesty. Otherwise, it's a fake. Maybe that's the greatest reward from my profession: to discover that I'm a gift of God."

IGNITE

"My life’s mission is to link people with their destiny through my work about identity and friendship, and I believe that in my life I exercise both things. I try to strengthen their identity individually, as groups and even as nations."

Georgette Boele

Georgette Boele is a Currency and Precious Metals Strategist at ABN AMRO Group Economics in The Netherlands. After studying at the University of Amsterdam, where she specialized in organizational science and financial markets, she spent a number of years in life insurance, mortgage lending and pensions before switching to financial markets. In 1998, after taking an internal training program, Georgette started at ABN AMRO as currency dealer.

In 2000, she moved to ABN AMRO’s private banking arm in Switzerland, where she remained until September 2011. Georgette specialized in various financial markets, and earned a doctorate by Rushmore University for her book “Strategic Market Analysis.” After that, she began specializing in precious stones. She holds a Diploma of Gemmology of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (FGA) and a Diamond Graduate Diploma (D.G., Rough and Polished Diamond Grader) of the International Gemological Institute. While in Switzerland, she held various posts, including Treasury Specialist, Currency Business Manager, Currency Training and Currency and Commodities Analyst. Since 2006, Georgette has concentrated entirely on currency and commodities market research and has headed up a research team. A year after returning to the Netherlands, she transferred to Group Economics to take up her current position as Currency and Precious Metals Strategist.

Georgette was the overall winner for her precious metals price predictions in 2018 out of 20 analysts and research institutions according to Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets has over 130 years of specialist commodity expertise and aims to be the world’s leading and most trusted data provider. She achieved 97.29% accuracy across the year. She also was the most accurate forecaster of precious metal prices and the platinum price in 2015 (runner up for the gold and silver price), of the gold price in 2013 and the silver price in 2012.

I met Georgette in Zurich, Switzerland, while consulting for ABN AMRO Private Banking. I soon learned that she had been a world-class volleyball player, competing for The Netherlands. Our first conversations were about comparing notes between her performances and my experience working with volleyball teams alongside Prof. Enrique Pisani in Argentina. I also discovered that she’s multilingual and an excellent photographer. When I visited her at her office, I realized how much pressure she was under and how competitive her role was. It was evident, though, that she was a superior thinker and that she could command authority through her academic knowledge and clear reasoning.

When she moved to Geneva, she engaged me as a client to improve her resiliency and energy management. She had gone back into training and could easily reconnect with her physical skills, from where we could engage his emotional skills to take them to a higher level of responsiveness. Georgette is often in the media spotlight, having to respond to the urgency of the world markets with firmness and consistency. When facing the TV cameras, she knows how to engage in her Ideal Performance State and act as the voice of reason, caution, as well as optimism in the Currency and Precious Metals marketplace.

“Your coaching sessions really helped me because we think alike. We are both open-minded characters exploring the World and new challenges. If I hit a brick wall, I will find a way around it. This mental flexibility is so useful in life. It makes you more resilient to changes in life, to see new situations and things as opportunities and actually have fun. When you started coaching me I was trying too hard, still defining and accepting the inner me. You saw that and recognized it. The coaching sessions helped me to increase confidence and have a better acceptance of myself. I’m also more cautious about how to use my energy and for what. That is also important in life. I have learned to fight for only the things that really matter and showed the people around me that they can count on me no matter what.”

Ron Jones

Ron Jones is that rare entity - a man who is happily doing exactly what he set out to do. An incredibly prolific composer, Jones has contributed music to a dozen feature films, countless theatrical and made-for-television films, television series, specials, and more forms of animation than a child could watch in a lifetime of Saturday mornings. I met Ron in Florida while working with sport psychologist Dr. Jim Loehr. His input on how to train peak performing players with music led to his scoring of an entire tennis workout, undoubtedly a pioneering effort with enormous educational value.

IMAGINE

"When I was about twelve years old, my mother dropped me and my brother off at band practice," Jones remembers. "Right away, that got me hooked. I was so fascinated by it that I wanted to start writing for it."

After completing his musical studies in college, Jones continued to follow his dream. This time it took him to Los Angeles. "I wanted to study at the Dick Grove School of Music, in Studio City, in their year-long arranging program. Instead of learning out of a book, with a teacher saying, ‘Here’s what the real guys do,’ I wanted to learn from guys who were working at Universal Studios or Columbia Records." Before he had completed the program, Jones had worked on an NBC Movie Of The Week, and had made his way onto the "unofficial" staff of music writers for Hanna Barbera. Jones worked for Hanna Barbera for seven years, on over 96 cartoon series. "Basically, I could sit around on any given Saturday morning, switch from ABC to CBS to NBC and hear my music on all three networks."

IMPROVE

Ron became a protégé of legendary composer Lalo Schiffrin (“Dirty Harry,” “Mission Impossible,” “Rush Hour”) and also TV composers Mike Post and Pete Carpenter (“Law and Order,” “NYPD Blue”).

From "The Smurfs" and "The Flintstones" to "Richie Rich" and "Pound Puppies," millions of children all over the world have heard Jones’ music.. Innumerable adults, too, enjoyed the seemingly inexhaustible composer’s music, as he has interspersed his work in kid’s TV and film with an equally impressive array of feature film and television credits. Typically, he initiated this phase of his career while still on staff of Hanna Barbera. "Because we did all the animation scoring right before the start of the fall season, when the animation would be sent over from Asia, I found myself looking for work the rest of the year," he explains. He began to work as one of Mike Post’s staff writers, composing music for several Stephen J. Cannell action/adventure series, including "Hunter," "The A Team," and "Hardcastle & McCormick." On what he thought would be a short break in his then five-year stint with Post and Carpenter, during which he also worked for cult hero Roger Corman, he followed the advice of a friend to bring his reel to an audition at Paramount.

INSPIRE

Less than a week later, he was scoring "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The show averaged twenty-two minutes of music per hour, and allowed Jones to work with large orchestras, often 50 or 60 pieces in size. The show’s success led to Jones’ music being featured on a CD in 1991, in which he received the National Association of Independent Record Distributors and Manufacturers’ (NAIRD) award for "Best Soundtrack Album Of The Year" for the Crescendo release, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Best Of Both Worlds Part I & II.

Ron further developed the Star Trek music in his scores for the groundbreaking computer games StarFleet Academy and StarFleet Command. These games were the first to use a full studio orchestra for the score. StarFleet Academy won the best score award from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.

Ron's generosity is extraordinary. After he learned I was ready to produce my play "A Voice Screaming to Heaven" in 1996, he offered to compose the score. In a matter of weeks, I received a CD with twelve original songs. A six-figure gift. No charge. Priceless. The score was also included in the film documentary I produced with director Gabriel Seisdedos in 1997 shown in Tampa, New York, Boston and Buenos Aires. The result was a monumental contribution that astounded audiences for its universal depth and sensibility.

Since 1999, he has written scores for “The Family Guy” (which earned him an Emmy nomination for ‘Best Original Song’) and for “The Fairly Oddparents,” which has won the coveted BMI Film & TV Award for Most Popular Television Theme for two years in a row. Not only has Family Guy become hugely successful as both a first run and syndicated series, it has topped the charts in home DVD sales, out selling many of the top feature films. In addition, Family Guy is one of the most popular iTunes downloads, usually in the top 10 weekly. Ron has been pushed to create nearly every possible musical style and genre of scoring during his years working on Family Guy. From Broadway parodies, jazz, pop, contemporary grooves and songs to serious orchestral underscore, which rival anything on TV and surpasses many feature scores. Ron also scored another of MacFarlane’s series, “American Dad,” which is also on Fox.

IGNITE

In 2014, he moved to Washington State and formed SkyMuse Studios, which he calls an L.A. Studio just located 1252 miles north. It’s a special location on 22 beautiful acres where the sky in not blocked by buildings, it is filled with open sky and stars. He is proud of his accomplishments and the over 40,000 compositions he has created so far. He looks forward to the next level of creative challenges with excitement and eagerness. Ron owes everything to his wife, Laree, for all of her wonderful support and love. Ron is very proud of their son, Nathan, and look forward to all he will be and do in his life.

He's also an educator and pioneer in Web-based music instruction for composers, as well as the founder of his own recording label, Emotif, where he promotes outstanding talent.

Ron has expanded his musical exploration by forming the Influence Jazz Orchestra. The group includes the most elite session and jazz players in Los Angeles. This ensemble convened out of a desire to share with live audiences the incredible and amazing studio musicians Ron calls to record his TV scores. Influence has performed at many of the top Jazz Clubs and concert venues to sold out audiences. The band performs new works by Ron, as well as the best charts written for Jazz Ensemble. Many performances feature Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy, singing his favorite classic Sinatra songs as arranged by Nelson Riddle, Billy May and more. Influence is involved in concerts of film and TV music as well as cutting edge Jazz.

Ron sent me an email with his comments on this book, which reveal his worldview and appreciation of seeing the glass as full and a half: “I think everyone has two things happen in their lives, one they are born and all the basic code is there and will remain there. As we grow through life, we are always the same person. Two, we get interested in learning stuff, and for the most part those who appreciate learning can do amazing things with what they have. Those who fall off the learning and being curious wagon, fall back to much less of what they could have accomplished. I can see, that in your case, through all these years, you have always valued knowing, understanding, always asking Why? How? When? Where? and What? From Lebanon Roots till now and tomorrow, you my friend will continue to seek, to learn, to grow and to share what insights and understandings you pick-up with many people all over the globe. You take the basic Carlos package and you build dynamically upon that foundation. Bravo on all that. I think we both can relate closely with that life-view. Does not matter the miles and years and experiences each of us goes through, we can instantly start up talking with vigorous energy along the same topics and same interests. I appreciate that you get all that. Not that many get meaning, purpose, and sacrifice, really and wanting to build castles in the air. That is the intellectual stuff, that is creativity and what humans should pursue.”

Sharai Lavoie

As CEO of Lavoie CPA, Sharai has over two decades of experience working with numerous clients and companies to drive profitability and growth. Sharai has managed the nuances of companies with annual revenues ranging from $12 to $170+ million. Her financial background in accounting and information systems support has provided a proven foundation for strategic thinking and financial operations management. Lavoie is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and later earned her MBA from Wingate University. Sharai is a 2017 CBJ “Top 25 Outstanding Businesswomen” award recipient, SBA Emerging Leader and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Alumni. In addition, Sharai serves on non-profit boards, volunteers with other organizations and mentors start-ups and other businesses in the community.

Sharai engaged me to facilitate two consecutive “reinvention” processes of Lavoie CPA, involving her husband Mark (CIO) and her staff. During the first process, we focused on mid-term strategic planning, aiming to raise their client profile for revenue growth. On the second one, we focused on branding, finding a new way of presenting their services and their competitive advantage. Since then, she has captained the growth of her services company consistently and diversified her networking opportunities, including becoming a mentor for a variety of start-ups.

“I am first generation college in my immediate family. I had to reinvent myself along the way. Somewhere during that process, I would find another piece of me, which was always exciting. There were plenty of down moments, but I could not let them get in the way, so I pushed through to the next happy place.

I was first introduced to Carlos and the Breakthrough concept at a business function. I was immediately intrigued about the connection between the mental aspect of pushing through in sports and applying this to business performance. Over the years I got to know Carlos and more about the process.

I eventually engaged Carlos to help me with digging deeper and achieving more as an entrepreneur. It was truly an eye opening experience for me. Not only did the concepts of breakthrough resonate with me personally and professionally, but it also allowed me to tap into the creative and connection side of myself. I never knew that I can live in the now but still continue my internal and mental push toward my moon shot. Just the concept of the moon shot was inspiring to me.

We all think about the next level as entrepreneurs. However, when you think about it in the terms of a moon shot and the mental conditioning it is different. It shifted my thinking to different elevation. The determination and ability to deal with anything while pushing through has become a part of my everyday. All while enjoying connections and the moment, taking the time to breathe so I can continue. It has allowed me to make adjustments in my business quicker to keep on track and be thoughtful about my place as an entrepreneur in the business and the community.”

Professional Sports Clients

The following is a summary of the Key Lessons I learned assisting professional athletes in their conquest of significant achievements based on seeing the Glass as Full and a Half.

Gabriela Sabatini - U.S. Open Champion 1990

The key lesson I learned through Gabriela Sabatini’s transformation from wanting to quit tennis to winning the U.S. Open in 1990 within five months is about the importance of nurturing our emotional life. When our high positive emotions are available, we can execute in our Ideal Performance State. In April 1990, Gabriela was performing as #3 in the world but mired in stale routines and burned out. Our work with Dr. Jim Loehr focused on helping her explore the breadth and depth of her life. This meant appreciating the rich opportunities she had and how her glass could be full and a half rather than half full. Gabriela’s talent was set free to express itself in multiple ways, with a larger dimension. Often times we find success after unblocking the path that leads to joy - and by understanding Why and for Whom we are doing something. Gabriela Sabatini’s contributions have gone beyond records and achievements; she’s now a tennis legend, an ambassador for the values of the sport. She is a woman of influence around the world. She’s leaving a template for others to follow. In retrospect, hers was an epic transformation.

Sergi Bruguera - French Open Champion 1993-1994

Lluis Bruguera, father and coach of Sergi, met me at the players’ lounge at the U.S. Open in 1991 and asked me about Dr. Jim Loehr’s approach to mental toughness training. Sergi had climbed to #11 in the ATP Rankings and he needed a different mindset to beat Top-10 players in the world consistently, as well as a sport science-based training regimen. As his coach, Lluis encountered increasing resistance. “Sergi used to tell me that no one played the way I was asking him to play,” Lluis said. Jim Loehr and I went to Barcelona later that year and realized that we first had to work with Lluis to help him adapt his approach, starting with communication. We suggested he designate a proxy, a coach of an age closer to Sergi’s whom he could trust. Lluis could channel most of his coaching advice through the younger coach and preserve his role as father, providing unconditional support and love. In addition, we suggested the introduction of a robust, year-round physical and mental training regimen. We traveled several more times to Barcelona in 1992 and 1993, including a tour through the South of France with Sergi and Andre Agassi as they played exhibitions and tournaments. Sergi won two consecutive French Open Grand Slams in 1993 and 1994, and lost the final against Gustavo Kuerten in 1997 and won a Silver Medal in the 1996 Olympics, losing the final against Andre Agassi. His higher ranking was #4 in the world in 1994. Sergi’s transformation from a scrawny youngster to a tennis legend taught me that wisdom implies taking the right decision at the right time in service of a higher purpose, of the larger vision and the ultimate result. Lluis Bruguera’s wisdom enabled Sergi’s talent to flourish, to feel free within a familiar entourage and to create his legacy on behalf of tennis in Spain and the world. The parent-coach-player relationship requires an acknowledgment of needs, duties and responsibilities for each role, not an easy agreement. The Bruguera father-son team put it together in a loving, far-sighted manner that produced the performance and achievement they sought.

Pietro Fittipaldi - World Champion Formula Renault 3.5 V8 2017

Pietro Fittipaldi is a disciplined, analytical athlete with a perfectionistic streak. When I met him in September 2017, he was probably trying a bit too hard. We worked through all the nuances of his weekly performance and I designed an elaborate training plan he could follow on the road, day-by-day. He won the World Championship he needed in 2017 and when he broke both legs in an accident in Spa, Belgium in April 2018, his discipline and the support of his family helped him pull through. Within a few months, after a few races in Indy, he became a test driver with Formula One Team Haas. I was present when team principal Guenther Steiner told him the contract was in the mail. We both realized that every prior step had brought him closer to that moment, it was all worthwhile. The key lesson I’ve taken from working with Pietro Fittipaldi is that discipline pays off; it’s the backbone of peak performance. After we explored multiple ways, he now makes his hard work appealing to him every day. Loving the challenge is a beautiful concept, yet you have to find a trigger and a craving to get the task done and deserve a reward. From our early days in which getting a smooth start would win the Championship to these days in which we test drives a Formula One car (a feat reserved to very few individuals in the world), the joy of discipline is what gets Pietro closer to his ultimate goal and makes him mentally tough.

Enzo Fittipaldi - Formula 4 Regional Champion 2018

Enzo Fittipaldi’s road to his 2018 Formula 4 Regional Championship is one marked by “Insights first, Desire Always.” From the day I met him, when he told me that he wanted to have a Championship like his brother Pietro’s under his belt the year before, I saw in him a talented athlete exuding raw desire. Enzo is not as meticulous as Pietro, yet gradually he absorbed the key insights of Peak Performance and Mental Toughness, one conversation at a time - making them into habits and testing them under competitive pressure. The key lesson I learned working with Enzo is that desire is ten times more powerful than duty to get things done. Once he persuaded himself that he would not give away the advantage he had collected over eight months of racing, he summoned his full focus, aligned his insights on how to get into his Ideal Performance State, consolidated them into rituals and delivered a dramatic final race to become a Champion. In Pietro’s case, sequential rituals and precision deliver the Ideal Performance State. For Enzo, he needs to connect with the feeling through his heart rate, breathing, tactile attention and visualization. He needs to “feel” desire and then his arousal level is optimal to win. Training is planning but it’s also deepening understanding through valuable insights. We train in service of the desire that pulls us to go beyond personal best.

Amna and Hamda Al Qubaisi - F4 Abu Dhabi Races 2019

I met Amna and Hamda Al Qubaisi through Carlos DaCruz, Pietro and Enzo Fittipaldi’s father, at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria in July 2019. We had dinner together with their families and watched their Formula 4 races. I started working with Amna in August, focusing on enhancing her self-confidence and toughness under pressure. The gradual build-up in her skills blossomed during her home race in Abu Dhabi and she won, becoming the first female Arab Emirati racer to conquer a trophy in history. A few weeks later, I engaged with Hamda in conversations to boost her own skills. She felt she was close to a breakthrough, which she attained at her Abu Dhabi F4 race, joining her sister Amna as a pioneer and trailblazer in the Middle East. The key lesson I learned in working with them is about the fundamental importance of the story we tell ourselves. What shifted in the sisters’ perspective is how we saw themselves and how they engaged in positive, appreciative self-talk to feel the feelings they need to feel. Once that circuit engages, the thinking and the actions shifts as well: rituals make sense, performance is easier, they start driving faster and they can clearly sense when they are going to win. “I already am what I want to be,” so I can talk to myself and perceive my influence right now. Act to feel, feel to Act.

William Cox III - U.S. National Young Lions Champion 2019

William Cox III is a learning sponge, I tell him often. His smooth transition between racing categories from Karting to Legends and to Late Models is remarkable. His rapid evolution took him from being stuck in the middle of the pack to fighting for a podium every race, and getting it often. He’s disciplined, organized and functions like a CEO, focusing on what really matters, discarding wasteful activities and aligning the key factors for success. Simultaneously, he integrates his online high school studies with family time and his Christian faith. He’s highly coachable and his parents Daniel and Natalie have put together a team of experienced coaches to guide his progress. The key lesson I’ve learned working with William is that specificity is a catalyst of peak performance as you seek the smallest advantage that can give you the largest payout, the win. The more specific the factor, the better it can be applied under pressure; especially in racecar driving where milliseconds make all the difference. Overtime, exploring specific mental toughness factors with William has led him to “steel” himself when there’s contact with other cars, often times intentionally, or when he knows his driving will compensate for sub-optimal mechanical set-ups, or when pursuing those at the top relentlessly will make them wobble and give him the lead. I’ve been in boardroom meetings as a fly on the wall where I’ve made a specific observation that shifted the creative value of the conversations and yielded a more potent result for all. An excellent radiologist once saved my uncle’s life because he could see in the x-ray a shadow no one else had noticed in the diagnostic process. See more, see better, be specific and integrate the key factor in your winning strategy.

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