Felipe Gomez: Help Teams Excel & Reach Peak Performance

At Oslo Business Forum, Felipe took leaders on a music-filled journey through the mind, body, and soul of leadership, sharing the conditions necessary for leaders to become masters of their craft.

Felipe Gomez is one of the world's most requested and inspiring keynote speakers, combining management principles and a passion for music. He is an accomplished executive with more than 25 years of global entrepreneurial and general management experience, leading organizations like Compass Group and Farmacity and co-founding Azurian and Scala. Today, Felipe gives individuals, teams, and organizations proven tools to shift their mindsets and refine their behaviors.

Forced to elevate our performance

Two and a half years ago, business leaders were thrust into an unexpected and uncertain situation. Without warning, our plans were paused, and we were pushed to find new ways of living, new ways of working, and new ways of communicating.

We were forced to ask ourselves difficult questions that would require us to shift our mindsets and behaviors. We were forced to elevate our performance.

As Felipe reflects on how leaders must adapt to this new era, he sees a strong connection between the most successful leaders and virtuoso musicians.

"We are all called to act in an extraordinary way, trying to become virtuosos in what we do," said Felipe. "But we have never used this word in a corporate environment."

The idea of a virtuoso is more common in the arts, especially music. Felipe passionately believes that despite this, it is a concept applicable to business and leadership and developing specific virtues will allow us to operate in a better way.

The Three Conditions of Virtuoso Leadership


Our effectiveness as leaders stems from our personalities. Our personalities derive from both our temperament and character, and our character is built by developing virtues. In strengthening our personalities, we enhance our leadership.

Felipe likened our leadership journey to one of a would-be virtuoso and the three conditions they live by to realize their potential: method, attitude, and passion.

1. Method. They apply rigor and discipline to perfect their craft.
2. Attitude. They assume the right approach to create a connection with their audience.
3. Passion. On top of their technical expertise, they do their job with passion and love—and that makes all the difference.

"What I would like you to do this afternoon," Felipe said to leaders at Oslo Business Forum, "Is open your minds and think, 'what do I have to do, where do I have to improve, and how do I have to adapt my mindset and behaviors to become a virtuoso in what I do?'"

Method

Perfecting their method is the only way leaders can achieve virtuoso leadership. It requires rigor, accountability, and space to reflect on how much effort you're putting into your work.

"There are no shortcuts"

Method leads to mastery, and Felipe believes leaders need to develop the virtues of magnanimity, discipline, and perseverance.

• Magnanimity inspires us to think big. "Every project starts like a dream," said Felipe. "Then you learn to act on the dream. Then you start to practice."
  
  
• Discipline is habitual, systematic practice to achieve an objective. In business, this is exactly what we want—but we sometimes forget to allow people to practice what they do and really master their instruments.
  
  
• Perseverance strengthens the power of our method. It allows us to "go on, follow through, and finish what we start," said Felipe.

When we hone our leadership methods using these virtues, we are able to achieve operational excellence.

Attitude

Attitude has little to do with how well you do what you do, but it has everything to do with how you behave. "We might do what we do in an extraordinary way with the best technical expertise," said Felipe. "But without the right attitude, you are killing possibility."

"We can do what we do in an extraordinary way. But if we do it with the right attitude, that excellence is going to be amplified"

Felipe asked leaders at Oslo Business Forum, "What's your music like?" A leader's music—or attitude—determines how they relate to their audiences, from employees to shareholders to vendors to customers.

Attitude creates connection, and Felipe believes that leaders who cultivate the right attitude depend on the virtues of empathy, service, and humility.

• Empathy is demonstrated when we share someone else's feelings and thoughts by stepping into their shoes.
  
  
• Service encourages us to be in constant disposition to help others.
  
  
• Humility enables us to silence their virtues and allow them to speak for themselves in what we do, not what we say.

When we raise our awareness of the attitude we are projecting, we can work on adopting the virtues that will allow us to project different music and foster a culture of service.

Passion

Passion is perhaps the most powerful condition for virtuoso leadership.

"To play the wrong note is insignificant but to play without passion is unforgivable"

- Ludwig Van Beethoven

"Only the people who are passionate about what they do are the people who constantly ask themselves, 'how can I do this better?'" said Felipe. "People who are not passionate never ask this question. They are stuck in their comfort zones, prolonging the status quo."

Passion stirs emotion, and Felipe believes passionate leaders work with the virtues of love, courage, and prudence.

• Love is demonstrated in leading by example. "If you are doing your job with love, they will follow, and it will make all the difference," he said.
  
  
• Courage enables us to overcome fear. It allows us to step outside our comfort zones, ask difficult questions, and experiment with new ideas.
  
  
• Prudence allows us to find a balance between virtue and vice and lead in ethical ways.

When these virtues are present in our leadership, we ignite innovation.

Felipe reminded leaders that the real reward for mastering our craft through method, attitude, and passion is not about us. "It's about them," he said. "We must lead with a virtuoso mindset so that we can inspire other people to join us."

A standing ovation

Felipe concluded his presentation by summing up the conditions necessary for virtuoso leadership and tying them all to the outcomes we can expect to achieve in our practice.

• Method allows mastery through the virtues of magnanimity, discipline, and perseverance and leads our businesses to achieve operational excellence.
  
  
• Attitude creates connections through the virtues of empathy, service, and humility and leads our businesses to foster a culture of service.
  
  
• Passion stirs emotion through the virtues of love, courage, and prudence and leads our businesses to innovation.

Method, attitude, and passion parallel with mind, body, and soul and are essential to our leadership practice. "These three pillars will lead our stakeholders to give us a standing ovation for what we do," said Felipe. "Be the virtuoso."

Key Points

• We are all called to act in an extraordinary way, to become virtuosos in what we do.
• Our effectiveness as leaders is related to our personalities, which derive from our temperament and our character, which is built by developing virtues.
• When a musician (or leader) is met with three conditions, they can become a virtuoso: 1) Method, 2) Attitude, and 3) Passion.
• Method leads to mastery of your craft and requires the virtues of magnanimity, discipline, and perseverance. It allows businesses to achieve operational excellence.
• Attitude allows you to create meaningful connections and requires the virtues of empathy, service, and humility. It helps businesses to foster a culture of service.
• Passion empowers you to stir people's emotions and requires the virtues of love, courage, and prudence. It leads businesses to drive innovation.

Questions to Consider

• How do you have to adapt your mindset and behaviors to become a virtuoso in what you do?
• How do you focus on method? Do you challenge people around you to work better every day, and do you challenge yourself to do the same?
• How do you focus on attitude? Do you question yourself constantly about how to better serve the people around you, and do you do it?
• How do your focus on passion? Do you inspire others through your example?

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