A few days ago I was told that someone had been told that I, probably tired of pedaling so much in the life of advertising, had retired and that I now dedicate myself to golf.
Honestly, I burst out laughing. And I was fascinated by the idea that there are people who want to see me out of the advertising competition so much!… but I don’t have good news.
Neither one nor the other. I don’t play golf because I don’t have the patience for the clubs, the grips, the sand traps, the tiny holes and the hours involved. Besides, if I played golf now, what would I do in my 70s? So no, golf courses for me are wonderful grounds to run, to train hills and sweat with my Asics in mud and grass. Playing golf on them, for now, seems too conventional to me.
I haven’t retired either, nor do I plan to. Tribu has me hooked for many years to come, and especially now that I have a sensational team of professionals on all the courses. Without a doubt, it would be crazy to retire from the best Tribu that has ever existed, and much less, to miss out on all the spectacular things we have in store for the immediate and more distant future.
What I will not do again, is everything that many other people can do better than me. For example, the general management of the company, which today is led by Diego García, the financial and administrative management, headed by Elizabeth Vargas, who also oversees human resources, the planning management headed by Bernal Esquivel, the creative direction headed by Marcelo Furrer, who in turn, directs the production, both audiovisual and graphic, the coordination of regional accounts and business development, under Karen Steele and her determined professionalism, the execution, the follow-up. In short, in everything there are people who can do things better than you! How about that?
Porter defines strategy as sacrificial decisions, choosing one path over another, and deliberately focusing on being different. Likewise, I believe that if you want to be creative, you must live creatively. I also believe that companies should live fully in a state of social responsibility, and that if anything, we should do what we say we will do.
For this reason, I have decided to focus on ideas, on Lovemarks, to be a coach, a tutor, a mentor and hopefully an inspirer. I want to continue detonating new businesses. I have decided to become a facilitator for organizations performing at the peak of their capabilities, at the peak of their potential. I want to focus on innovating, provoking, detonating, igniting, firing, moving, distilling, revolutionizing, transforming, growing, consolidating, sustaining. I have also come to identify deeply with the idea of making a daily contribution to making the world a little better.
The inspiration of many people has ended up entering my veins for the rest of my life, and for this, I do not want to stop acknowledging it openly. The transformation in process, driven by a maturing relationship in Christ, leads me to a series of decisions that now focus me even more, and perhaps, make me a more valuable, more useful, more productive part of Tribu, of the group of companies, of my environment, of my family, of my community.
So there is no such retirement, much less such golf. God willing, I am fully focused on my work, with an energy that is growing every day and an illusion that never ends.
(Article originally published on September 25, 2006, and still fully valid)