ColB – Antonio Valdivieso

Simple and Elegant, the right option

Regardless of the situation and a particular moment, there are two fundamental things concerning language, one is Elegance and the other Simplicity. Both are absolutely essential to convey a message with power and forcefulness. Not applying these two rules, makes any contents, however good, lose all its value. We can see a very good example of this in the reply made by the company SEAT S.A. to Netflix, following their comments on social networks about the SEAT 600 in the TV series La Casa de Papel. Not only social networks, but also the print media echoed the comment, using precisely the word elegant in the headlines. Nice it is definitely, when things are done right.

ESADE Executive Education Session: What is your leadership model?

Encounter of former students of PMD in ESADE on Leadership Models and Team Motivation, presented by Raúl Castellón, with a spectacular performance by Norbert Monfort in a session with a fresh, dynamic and interactive format using the cinema as common thread, which unquestionably was an absolutely enriching experience. An interesting dissertation on the leadership styles of Boomers and Millennials, and the relationships between them. The essential role of values, and a great reflection over the importance of people. I´d like to point out that the section concerning the concept of Gamification was of the utmost interest. I wholeheartedly congratulate all the ESADE team. Barcelona, June 6, 2019

Get over Stage Fright

The fear of public speaking, normally called Stage Fright, often emerges when we have to make a speech in front of a certain audience. The best way to knock it down is not try to avoid it, but to manage it.

Tenth anniversary of Jesús Serra Foundation Trophy

The Jesús Serra Foundation Trophy is an event unique in its category, which links the world of sports with educational training, through the practice of skiig. The competition takes place in Baqueira Beret, and it includes highly demanding events as “Parallel” and “Giant”. Besides that, students gain access to scholarships and are offered different prizes by the Foundation. Jesús Serra, president and founder of Grupo Catalana Occidente was an enthusiast of sports, being a sportsman himself, as well as the promoter of many business initiatives. He was even designated as an Honor Member of IESE, despite being the only one who was not a teacher.

The Importance of Communication

The primary objective of communicating in the first place is to convey a message, and the big challenge in communication is to do so effectively. This in itself can seem blatantly obvious and over-simplistic, but what happens on many occasions is that, either the desire transmission does not occur, or it does not occur effectively. This gains increasing importance and relevance when, for example, you have to present that project you have been working on for three years and you only have ten minutes to convince the client, investor or sponsor that the idea is not only good but worth considering. Sometimes the opposite occurs. You might have an absolutely extraordinary and novel idea, and you need funds to make

Five points to remember before speaking in public

Effective communication is achieved with a good presentation, good moderation or good exposure depending on the type of event in question, and -I always emphasize this especially- regardless of audience and size. There are five essential points that I recommend taking into account before any public performance. The first is the importance of staging versus the content. I regularly observe a tendency, especially in more technical subjects, to focus on the content, when this only represents one fifth of the exercise. Mastering the staging is key, and fundamental to achieving a successful presentation. The second point is something I consider extremely important: body language. We are so transparent that our way of acting says everything about us. The third point