The draft is done. By the end of 2016, I plan to self-publish my third book in English. The working title is, GAME CHANGER – Catapulting people and organizations out of their comfort zone. It’ll be a book about how to transform people from a corporate trainer’s point of view. It’ll be a book for leaders who are determined to change the game of the way we interact and do business. It’ll be a book for anyone who wants to trigger a positive change in others.
Throughout the summer, I’ll publish a series of draft chapters from the book. I’m very much looking forward to your comments and feedback. Thank you so much!
Chapter 1:
I, Game Changer
Three Gin-Tonics, please.
That’s how it all started. Tony Anagor, Tobias Rodrigues and I were sitting on the rooftop terrace of the fashionable boutique Hotel Pulitzer in the heart of Barcelona.
Tony is an exceptional event specialist. He looks like a better version of Sidney Poitier. Originally from the north of London, he found his passion for work, love and family in Barcelona. When he was in his teens, Tony became Karate champion in the UK. What a guy.
Tobias is a change and conflict connoisseur. It’s no wonder that he has worked with prisoners and terminal cancer patients for years. Tobias wore a long black gown for 15 years, before he embraced his real professional passion — helping people and organizations grow.
Tony, Tobias and I had for a while been thinking about collaborating in the field of teaching personal growth, but we’d struggled to find the right formula.
Those gin-tonics certainly helped. We didn’t know whether it was the right one or not, but we found a formula. Our idea was to create a platform for ourselves and a limited number of other like-minded souls specializing in teaching personal growth, a platform for people whose calling is to have a positive impact on other people’s lives. The more variety, the more inspiration for everyone. Coaches, trainers, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, professors, artists, cultural ambassadors. We gave them a name; we call them game changers. Game changers, for us, are the leaders of the future, who will transform people, companies, cultures. People who make a lasting positive impact in our societies.
On that rooftop in 2012 we gave birth to The Pitstop for Game Changers.
I worked for 3,013 days as a business consultant, but I didn’t find many game changers. Don’t get me wrong; I love my former employer, and the dearth of game changers there is not a problem specific to this prestigious brand. Big firms and blue chips follow standards. Change might be the topic of a keynote speech at a corporate event, but it’s not part of the corporate DNA. As long as there are enough people in the market who are willing to run after that carrot, they’ll do fine using their business-as-usual shtick.
I discovered game changers in my public speaking trainings and in my seminars on charisma, creativity, or leadership. I discovered game changers at my clients in the gaming and software industries; I discovered game changers in countless conversations with representatives from internet startups.
Think about the concept of game changing. Everyone will have a different idea or definition. Different sectors, different challenges. Different characters, different perception. But one question is vital! How can you change the game if you’re a cold, false, self-centered type of old-school leader? Hard selling is so 80s; hard selling is so 90s. The 21st century faces the biggest transformations in the history of humankind. The way we live and the way we do business — everything is changing. Technology, health, and energy are only three of the most momentously transformational areas of life.
We need game changers who lead us to the next level. The world needs you.
This book is not about motivation. This book is not about inspiration. This book is about you and how you can be an even better leader. This book is about helping you to turn into a game changer — a leader who cares and a leader who can share his inner self to make a change in the world. An empathetic leader for whom Socrates’ mission statement, Know thyself, is an imperative!
Maybe sometimes we could be better at delegation, but most of us are extremely good at delegating responsibility. What you can never delegate is making change happen. Change is your primary responsibility as a leader. You are the one who has to take the initiative. You are the one who has to move others to action. You are the one who creates the atmosphere where transformation thrives.
Don’t look to your left; don’t look to your right; look into the mirror.
Do you see a game changer?
Are you ready to change the game?