"A leader must be a good visionary, see beyond what everyone else sees, having a clear vision of the future"

17/07/2024

- What do you like most about your work?

Seeing that I help people. I think I help them, I tell them things that they can then use and in the long run are good for them.

- Something difficult?

Connecting with the group at the beginning is the hardest thing, so they realise that what I will tell them will be useful to them. We work with such different groups! That's why I meet the companies before, this anticipation is the solution.

- When did you realise that you could specialise in leadership?

While I was a coach and I was training to be a leader. I realised that the ideas of great business leaders could be transferred to the sports field and could be replicated. What they all had in common was what they generated in people. I explain how you can become a leader, if you want.

- Can anyone manage people?

Anyone who wants to, but you have to want to, train to do it and be willing to be one.

- What skills are needed to lead a team well?

There are lots. You have to be a good visionary, see beyond what everyone else sees, having a clear vision of the future. You need to know how to listen to understand the needs of the group that you have to lead, have a good capacity for persuasion, not manipulation, to get people to see that this is good for them, and you need communication skills.

- Is a leader born or made?

People are born with a certain capacity for persuasion rather than leadership, because leaders are sector-based, they must at least be experts in that area. If they aren't trained, they won't have the capacity to lead.

- You give talks on leadership, motivation and teamwork. Are these three things interrelated?

Yes. Leadership is focused on motivation. Emotional state is individual work, and teamwork gives the team a series of values. It is important for people who manage groups to distinguish between the two roles they have, to better define their leadership. One has more to do with the manager type, it's related to protocols and processes, getting people to know how to do what they have to do. The other has to do with leadership and people's emotional side, getting them to want to be part of the project.

- Why is teamwork so important?

It's part of the human essence, we advance because we live as a community. Teamwork creates synergies, allowing everyone to give their best. Teamwork makes each member better and, at the same time, the sum of individualities makes the end result even better.

- To what extent is it important to choose your travel companions wisely?

It's very important, especially when things go wrong. Then people start looking for excuses but if you've picked good companions, you sort problems out faster.

- What can we do about people who don't help?

In a sports team, as only a few get to play, you don't pick them to the team. In groups where this isn't possible, this is one of the leader's jobs, to get everyone to want to collaborate, to convince them that if the team achieves its goal, individual goals are reinforced, so it's better for them. The leader has to be ready to persuade them and get them to understand that if they align with the team, they will be better off.

- What's the key to controlling your team's emotional state?

Be alert, you can never make assumptions. Depending on how I am, that's how the team will be. If I want to generate change, I must first generate change in my own emotional state in order to transmit it. You cannot convey or demand an emotional state if you're not there too. And then you have to manage the team's emotional state, which consists of helping your people reinterpret the environment, so that it generates a positive emotional state for them. That's what the father does in the movie Life is Beautiful, he controls his son's emotional side, reinterpreting everything that happens around him. That's what makes a good leader.

- What makes team members feel part of it and engaged?

There's a little magic trick, let people feel that they're part of the creation of things. Usually, when they participate in the creation of the environment, they feel implicated.

- How is the leader's emotional state self-regulated? What network sustains it?

When you work to find positive things to offer your team, you're already realising they exist, and that's also good for you. Another option is to have a coach, who helps you to reflect. And one of my secrets is to have a mastermind group, between 4 and 6 people from different fields, who have a similar level of self-demand to yours. The goal is to look for results, not advice or ideas. What makes a group work is the opinion of someone from outside of your sphere who gives you a perspective that might never even imagine. The idea is to meet once a month for a year or two, then it starts to dry up but until then it's very powerful.

- How do you know when you and your team have reached your best?

You can always go further. When you realise that you're giving your best, that's when a new dimension gets added. Don't dwell on what you're already doing well, add a new concept that generates a new drive.

- In the last 12 years you have inspired hundreds of companies in their change processes. What do you dislike most about this process?

The resistance you face. Leaders have a vision of the future, they do things earlier than situations or needs require. But the rest of the team don't see it, and there are some who resist that change.

- You did the Master's in Psychology of Learning at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Why did you want to carry on studying? And why at the UAB?

Leaders should always continue to train. I chose the UAB because Dr Teresa Anguera and Dr Jaume Cruz's observational methodology was the best suited to what I wanted.

- Your daughters also studied at the UAB, was that coincidence?

They started studying on scholarships in the United States. When they came back to Barcelona, they wanted to continue studying in English, and they could do that at the UAB. Also, it's close to Sabadell, where they were training, and that meant they could train and study.

- 2024 is an Olympic year. Your daughters are Olympic players... How do you deal with the nerves and emotion as a parent watching from the stands?

Every time worse. At first there wasn't too much expectation, winning was nice but they've had brilliant careers and winning has become almost an obligation. As the years go by, I’m feeling more pressure because of their emotional state, I worry about how they'll react to winning or losing. And the Olympic Games are the peak moment of any athlete's career.

- If you could now give advice to the Xesco who started playing handball at Barça, what would you say?

I'm very happy with the way things went. I'd tell him to do things the way he feels they should be done.

- Is there any coach who fits the paradigm of a leader and a good team manager? Someone who serves as an example of what a good coach is?

I can think of lots because there is no one way to lead. There are coaches with different leadership methodologies who have managed to get good performance out of their players. What that shows is that everyone has to have their own methodology, and sticking to it is the most important thing.

- What's the secret of the Barça handball team that has won practically everything?

Except in the European Cup, they have a much bigger budget than the other teams. They have the support of the club and are much better than the rest. They have the whole season to prepare without too much friction for the deciding games in the European Cup, and that's when you see if the team has been doing a good job all year, if the coach has got them working to their best.

- What's your explanation for the moment the Barça football team is going through?

The handball team's superiority in terms of budget doesn't exist in football. Maybe there's nothing really wrong, it's just that winning is very difficult, you can't win every year. It's one thing to be a great player and another thing to become a leader, the skills required are different. Xavi and his staff were a little inexperienced for managing Barça.

- How important is the attitude to face whatever comes in the best possible way?

Having a good attitude means focusing attention on what you do well, on your strengths. Don't think about what could go wrong. A good attitude doesn't guarantee that it will all go well, but it does squeeze out all your talent because you have the desire to do just that.

- When was the last time life gave you lemons and you grabbed tequila and salt?

It's a habit of mine. Whenever I'm in a slump, I try to do it. That's my way of responding to challenges.

- You've also written books. The latest was Jugar amb el cor. What does writing do for you?

It sorts out the ideas that are bubbling in my head. Writing books helps to expand my emotional leadership. Not just books and also the videos I make to generate this state in people, to raise their self-demands.

- What are your plans for the next few years?

I have a project to expand the coaching academy, an online training space for coaches of all sports. I'd like to continue lecturing, reaching as many people as possible, and to end my professional life at university.