The wise are essential (Marcet, à la Wagensberg)

I remember as if it were yesterday meeting Xavier Marcet after a trip to New York in mid-2019. One of the first things he told me is not an aphorism as such, but it could be: "To lead is to put swing and build legacy." Xavier Marcet must be listened to as much as possible because he simply makes himself heard from humility and authenticity.

For those who still don't know him, I like to describe him as a humanist who revolutionizes management in search of a new Renaissance. And I don't say it because of his trips to Italy, his past as a History professor at the Autónoma, or his admiration for The School of Athens by Raphael. I say it because in a world full of noise —too much noise—, the reflections of Xavier Marcet or Oriol Montanyà are mandatory reading for all those who years ago also embarked on the great adventure of learning with Jorge Wagensberg.

I have kept in mind the definition that one day the editor Jordi Nadal gave of Xavier Marcet: "He has the perfect dose of a Dry Martini, which is the solid forcefulness of Peter Drucker and the wonderful perfume of Josep Pla." Gin Peter Drucker and vermouth Josep Pla is a very good guarantee of success to avoid mediocrity from singularity and to keep in mind that the best strategy is people. The author explains that he was afraid to write a book of aphorisms, but that meetings with clients are an inexhaustible source of learning and a real opportunity to make the most complex simple.

Yes, management is a profession that has to deliver results, but not in any way or at any cost. Within the framework of Hegelian dialectics, there is the thesis (affirmation), the antithesis (negation), but above all there is the synthesis (overcoming). The challenge of management now is to make the synthesis between people and technologies. Xavier Marcet points out that we need more than ever a triangle formed by three legs: competitiveness, goodness, and beauty. "You will live from your clients and not from AI. Observe, think, write: these are the weapons with which we will put artificial intelligence in its place. Nobody remembers wars. When time passes, only beauty remains. Humanism is not 'goodism'. Now it's our turn for a new Renaissance," he reflects.

Xavier Marcet's new book is titled 100 Aphorisms on Leadership and Management (Plataforma Editorial) in collaboration with Marlex, which this year celebrates its 30 years promoting talent. In fact, the CEO of Marlex, Àlex Sanabras, tells the anecdote that when he met Xavier —now also vice president of Grupo Marlex— he advised him to always keep an eye on what car he drives and what business margin he has.

There are 100 or more aphorisms, but I'll give you 11 as an editorial taste:

• "Our job is to make things happen, but to make them happen with meaning."
• "Management is always the management of limits."
• "Transferring problems without solution proposals is to honor mediocrity."
• "It is impossible to lead without knowing how to have difficult conversations."
• "To be afraid, to doubt, but to decide. This is leading."
• "We cannot avoid stupidity, but avoiding stupid people does us a great good."
• "Perfecting the complaint is useless."
• "There is no innovation without risk, but the great risk is not to innovate."
• "There is no algorithm for the soul."
• "Experts are necessary, wise people are essential."
• "Without passion nothing happens. Without compassion we are nothing."