Liberating Spaces

In a recent conversation at the table with my uncle we discussed the absence of leaders in Europe. I believe there is an absence of leaders able to push societies through change. We live in transformational times, where political institutions that had legitimacy are losing it rapidly, leaving a void, which is not filled by alternatives that could provide people with a possible future. Only capable leaders can provide the force that is needed to show us where change is happening and how we can face it to make our world better and not worse. In this void, bad elements thrive, filling it rapidly, like weed.

What is a leader? What makes a leader? Marshall Ganz has great insights about these questions in “Leading change: Leadership, Organization and Social Movements” (chapter in “Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice”, ed. Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana. Harvard Business School Press, 2010). He defines leadership as

accepting responsibility to create conditions that enable others to achieve shared purpose in the face of uncertainty.

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Twenty-three steps. This was the number he had to go up to get to his office on the second floor of a three-storey building on Brussels’ expensive Avenue Louise. There, his personal assistant always waited for his arrival in the morning at 8.30 am to brief him on the day’s agenda and remind him of the most important commitments of the week. His PA’s name was Jean-Marc. Efficient. Handsome. Young. Single. French.

Forty-three years. This was his age, not Jean-Marc’s, Michael’s. Black hair. Grey eyes. Handsome. Intelligent. Ambitious. Rational sometimes. Emotional often. Bored easily. Married. Two daughters. British father. Italian mother.

Fifteen as a corporate lawyer. He was good at his job. Clients appreciated his work with expensive fees and gifts. He gave them back one of the best lawyers in European competition law the European education system can get. That is why he could afford having his own firm. Alone, against the Baker & McKenzies or the Freshfields, Bruckhaus, Deringers that populated the trade. Big law firms with dozens of lawyers. He, only him.

Seven days a week. If Michael would have been just a lawyer during all this time, he would have probably killed himself. He had not. Nothing of the sort. He had another life besides being one more puppet of the multinational legal system in which he navigated in his dull life. A life that provided him with the thrill he needed to keep his body and mind on this earth. A second life that was going to change his first life forever. (more…)

It is said that when the Earth was created, the Sun and the Moon were made of the same stone coming from a faraway place of the universe. The Sun was given the power of light and the Moon the power of beauty. During the day the Sun would illuminate the Earth, giving strength and energy to its creatures and plants. During the night the Moon would break the darkness with its soft silver light, inspiring the hearts of animals and humans. Every day and every night, the Sun would come and go when the Moon would go and come. For only very short moments the Sun and the Moon would vaguely see each other from the extreme sides of the earth. Because of its strong light, the Sun would not see the beauty of the Moon, and the Moon would not dare to look at the sun for fear of being burn. They were for each other a mere moment of every day and every night. (more…)