The Maverick Leadership Family is taking a moment to celebrate mothers. As the saying goes: "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."
My mother had a great influence on me and I learned many things from her. Many of these lessons have steered me well in my life and business.
Here is a short list:
Keep Your Promises
My Mom was very strict on keeping promises. She always reminded me to think well before I made a promise and taught me to keep them whether it was convenient or inconvenient. To this day, I am always careful when making promises and when I make them - I keep them, no matter the cost.
Never Give Up
My Mom, just like me, was a soccer lover. She enjoyed the game and in her younger days, used to go every week to watch the game live at the local stadium. She taught me to never give up, often making references to soccer where a goal can be scored in the last few seconds of a game and completely changing the outcome of a match.
She used to say a goal scored at the 89th minute is just as good. It can get you from a draw to a win in few seconds, so never give up until the referee blows the final whistle. She would also say: “It does not matter how you start but it matters how you finish!”
Be Prepared
While my Mom had a lot of creativity, she was a good planner and always preached the benefit of doing your homework as key preparation. She would say, use more of your brain and then less legs. If you don’t prepare, you will be using a lot of legs later. These wise words have helped me in my consulting practice, building a new brand and when writing my book Maverick Leadership: Practical Advice for General Managers, Entrepreneurs & CEOs.
The Finishing Touch
She always stressed to do the best you can and to strive for excellence. My Mom would often say: “Do not aim for perfection or you’ll never get anything done; but aim for excellence." Even when you're forced to wing it...wing it with style and give it your best always!
She used to insist on laying a full table even if we were just having a sandwich or fruit. This would include a big plate, fork, knife, big spoon, small spoon, salt, pepper, glass, napkin. If you don’t lay the table well, you’ll have to get up many times to continually go fetch what you forgot. To this day, I always lay a full setting when I sit down to a meal and I bring this same thoroughness to every assignment that comes across my desk.
Most Essential Ingredients
My Mom was an outstanding cook and she would tell me to always make sure that my kitchen had 3 ingredients: garlic, red wine and cream. She taught me that they could save any meal that has gone wrong.
In my business, I have instituted this principle by always having 3 essential practices in place which have helped me build a successful multi-decade consulting practice and also allowed me to be the turnaround specialist for several multi-national firms in Brazil, Italy and France.
Don't Always Follow The Recipe
My Mom was a maverick in the kitchen. She seldom followed a recipe with clear measurements. She would say "Watch carefully, and memorize what I do."
Her terms were mostly in Italian and while the translation loses some punch, here is what she would say: A pinch of this… A dash of that… A drizzle here… A handful of that… Only a tear of this… A soupçon of this and a touch of that…Only a whisk of that. The ultimate lesson was that to cook pasta Al-dente you need a huge pot (never a small pot) since the pasta must be free to cook correctly. The results of her flair was always outstanding.
My Mom showed me that the kitchen - like life and business - is not always made for following rules. Sometimes, we must proceed with expressiveness, creativity and love when the occasion calls for it. I bring this same creativity into the customized strategies in my business practice, except with more heightened clarity so everyone can follow along and implement them effortlessly.
I'm wishing you a very Happy Mother's Day and it is a privilege to honour mothers and mother figures the world over who have sourced us so well with their maverick advice both in life and business.