I am Harry Potter

Literature has given us many heroes whose deeds are not as heroic as themselves. You can remember Ishmael from Moby-Dick or even Joshua from the Bible - they were loved because they were different from others.

They dared to be different and in their own way, they became leaders, kind of heroes. Not as someone who frees a country or who saves lives, but more like people who overcame deep inner challenges.

Nowadays, when everyone tries to be similar to the next, Harry Potter emerged as a different paradigm. And he conquered the world, there is no doubt about that. His magic was to "touch a nerve" and make the character, who was refused by his own people, become a heroe.

At some point of J.K.Rowling's books, Harry mentions that he never intended to do something to be a heroe, it just happened like that. The reason is simple: when you are different, you tend to be a heroe everytime.

The world is still not ready for different people and it tries constantly to make others to be like the main stream. Harry Potter showed a kind of path for those of us who are different, who are leaders, to-be or de facto.

The first thing was to give himself a chance, when the opportunity emerged. As soon as he knew he was a wizard, even though that could be the most absurd thing in the world, he accepted the opportunity, with all the risks envolved.

Second, balance emotions and reason - this is a constant in the life of this modern hero. Balance is a key for success and failures come due to its lack. Listen to the heart, but also to the head.

Third, life is a big and interesting school! Whoever has read those books started to wonder why was that schools cannot be that fun. In fact, our own lives happen in a huge school and each step is incredible, it is a powerful lesson.

Fourth, magic is ALWAYS the solution. For those of us who are leaders, different from the rest, rules are not so strict, especially concerning to how to get success. We rely a lot on pure "magic" - not the wand-kind of magic, but the one that emerges from talent and energy.

Fifth, last and you can complement if you want, no matter what, you have to stick to your vision, objectives and aim. That is a big challenge, but leaders cannot afford to wander from their destination, even though sacrifices are high!

And let's not forget that Harry Potter, because of all of that, received constant help until the end.

Take care.

One hour

I have already written about it before, but I cannot help thinking back on the powerful experience I had last year when I have met a person in terminal stage - a few months later she has gone. The most powerful was watching her mood and energy, her desire to continue to be what she has always been, and I will never forget a phrase that more or less said:

"Marcelo, all I do is negotiate with God a few days more."

So today, my birthday, which celebrates the time when I first saw the world in this life, I want to be the beginning of the deepest stage of my existence here.

If my whole life would correspond to just one hour, how much do I have to live yet? Half an hour? A quarter of an hour?

What happened, happened, and it will not return no matter how great it was. But there is what lies ahead, and this is far more important than what I have lived until today - those years I am about to start living.

By thinking like that, I noticed something quite disappointing: most of the time I lived, and possibly the time I will live, was spent in "physiological activities." As a human being, I spent most of my three quarters of an hour or so, eating, sleeping, bathing, etc.. and so on.

But now, as I write, while my body (human) is involved in the physical act of typing these words, my mind flies high. Even a part of my body, my eyes, look out and send other messages to the mind. That is, the hour we have on the planet is not only human. There is also the BEING.

As a BEING, I think I spent more time reflecting on my life. What once was considered bad and negative by many who saw me, today I feel that's what helped me to become who I am today. My reflections, thoughts, imagination, ideas, values, creativity, love, peace, and all that you cannot see, touch, hear or feel physically, are part of three quarters of an hour, and will be part of the minutes that I am starting to live today.

And this I can control. I can choose between being angry and loving, between being discouraged and excited about a new challenge, between being happy or feel sad.

I know that the physical part of whatever will happen is variable. I know many things will happen to me. But I also know that the brightness of my existence depends on that inner dimension of the Being who is me.

And the same goes for you: you can choose to do whatever you want with the time you have remaining, the fifteen minutes or half an hour which is yet to come. Reflect, think, be very light and enjoy everything that comes your way.

So the wonderful hour we would spent on this planet would be worth of it. For you. For me. For all.

Branding, ¿to be o not to be?

When I took the decision to leave a successful career at the moment in IT and brave myself in a world I used to call in a generic way as "consulting", I had many ideas and dreams.

One thing I used to think was that I could do whatever I wanted and what I was offering were not "products" or "tools", but a serious work to help people to change and to become better human beings. In my mind, by taking the decision of career change, it was clear for me that if someone is a better human being, he/she will be a better boss, employee, mother or father.

Years passed by and life made me change many of my ideas and dreams. For finantial reasons, I started to work in a different way, and I have learnt to use words like "tools" too. After all, a few organisations in the world invest in making people "better human beings".

Even though, with all the effort to adapt myself, I saw my own work fading away before my eyes. No illusions here, I know physicially there are also reasons, mainly that I am pretty bad in marketing. Yes, I don't know how to "sell myself", another idea I did not want to use. All my professional projects emerge as something almost magic, divine and it seems God finds me a grown up now, so that I can get things by myself.

However, during the adaptation process, I've noticed that each time I had to work in something that was pushed into me and it didn't please me, ideas which were not mine, I have learnt. Yes, I've learnt many things, even to remove the quotation marks from tools and live with them, fearlessly.

I have learnt I can keep my dream to help people to improve and at the same time, give them practical things for their day-to-day lives.

I have learnt if I want to reach thousands of people, I must change my perspective, without changing the original dream.

It has been a long learning! Probably the longest MBA course and the most expensive one, with many ups and downs and threatens to my self-esteem. But I feel, inside, now I am getting into another course for I am not going to stop to learn. I feel my former course certificate is about to arrive, at any moment.

A friend of mine suggested me to "make my branding", so that I could understand what I can really offer which is unique in the market. I feel that by doing this "branding" process, this helped me a lot to resume my dreams into the reality I live, even to make other dreams to emerge.

So that I take advantage of this space to introduce a bit of what I will do from now on.

Yes, definitely I am in another course... I look forward to count with you in this new stage of my life, and count with me in this new stage of your life.

A big hug, from my heart.

My branding:

I exist  to enable the best from you to make History.

As a person, I deliver

• CREATIVITY
• SPIRITUALITY
• TRUST
• CONFIDENTIALITY
• DEDICATION
• PERSEVERANCE
• CONTINUOUS LEARNING

As a professional, I make use of

• COACHING

• It is fundamental for me to help you to find out the magic you have within yourself, in your team and your organisation.

• CONSULTING

• With a different perspective, I help your organisation to set itself in the globalisation process, increase effectiveness by having more committed individuals and to become a leading edge school for leaders who are able to solve and face modern challenges.

• AUTHOR

• Through text and images, I want to share my experiences and transmit learning, so that these can be used by individuals and organizations during their transformation process.