Roberto Ferraro

I'm a personal development and technology enthusiast, project leader, coach and visual creator.

I define myself as " the energy that connects with you and multiplies your impact." 

After over 15 years in banking transformation, a failed startup and two wonderful kids, I have realized the importance of relationships and people development for the success of any project, professional and personal. 

I strive to develop relationships and teams, building something valuable in every project. 

I often acted as a liaison between the IT team and the business areas, managed complex projects and cross-functional teams, and interacted with top executives and stakeholders. I was integration director during the biggest M&A deal in the financial system in Spain.

I have always been and still am a very action and goal-oriented person, always in motion, always trying to improve everything.

This is what led me to become a co-active coach and a big believer in changing the ways of work for the better.

I am organized, analytical, decisive, and highly autonomous, and developed the skills to be an effective team leader, internal consultant, and change management champion. I have a deep knowledge of performance management, data analytics, MIS, new technologies, and digital transformation projects.

Business Mentor

In collaboration with the management of the acceleration programs, my role is to collaborate with startups in the growth phase. I support entrepreneurs by sharing with them conversations, knowledge and reflections on business development, finance and sales.

“You can't change the people around you, but you can change the people around you”. 

This quote is attributed to Joshua Fields Millburn and it's a good reminder that we have more agency than sometimes we think.

Thanks Olina for refreshing it 😉

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If you enjoyed this illustration, perhaps you'll also like my newsletter.

Each week I check hundreds of sources on personal development, technology, and innovation, and share what catches my attention 😊

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6921396423909359616/

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Grow and learn with me: personal development, leadership, innovation. I am a project leader, coach, and visual creator, and I share all I learn through my posts and newsletter.

Trust is the foundation for team performance 🤝

In his 2002 book, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team," Author Patrick Lencioni identifies five common team performance problems.

🛡️ Absence of Trust: team members consumed with self-protection or undermining peers lose focus on collective goals. 

When trust is present, they are open and vulnerable with the group, enabling them to dedicate their energy to the work.

😱 Fear of Conflict: over-politeness and withheld opinions hamper the team's progress. 

Productive conflict, grounded in trust, encourages challenging and improving ideas without resorting to personal attacks or destructive arguments.

🤔 Lack of commitment: hesitation in decision-making leads to missed opportunities. 

Without robust debate, individuals may not fully engage with team decisions, affecting overall commitment.

🗣️ Avoidance of team accountability: a lack of mutual accountability can lead to unaddressed mistakes and substandard performance. 

Supporting struggling team members is essential to achieve team goals.

🎯 Inattention to team results: Focusing on personal agendas or superficial team image undermines the team's primary objectives. 

The collective goal should always take precedence over individual interests or external perceptions.

The book presents these dysfunctions in an entertaining "management fable" format, illustrating how a skilled leader can overcome these challenges.

A great read I'd recommend!

We don’t have to act on all the feedback that we receive.

It's liberating to think that we can discard what does not serve us, so we can still genuinely ask for feedback, listen, say "thank you" and then decide what to do with that feedback  😉

Did this ever happen to you? You do something amazing, yet you don’t document it properly, and after a few days, it’s gone.. 

Inspired by Akhil Karun 😉

Does psychological safety mean we can say whatever we want in a completely unfiltered way?

NO 🙊

Should we be extra careful about what we say, lest we offend someone or make them feel “unsafe”?

Also NO 

Tom Geraghty suggests prioritizing kindness over blunt honesty. What’s the utility of the whole truth if its effect is only to harm? 

“If what you want to say is neither true, good or kind, nor useful or necessary, don’t say anything.” 

I also loved this Buddhist quote about the “five keys to right speech.”

“It is spoken at the right time. It is spoken in truth. It is spoken affectionately. It is spoken beneficially. It is spoken with a mind of goodwill.”

And yes sometimes it’s justified to speak, even with anger, when a wrong has been committed or to make someone uncomfortable, particularly if speaking truth to power. 

The idea is still pausing to and asking ourselves if what we’re doing is in service or damaging to a psychologically safe environment. 🌱

Illustration by me 😊

Extract from an article by Tom Geraghty. Link to the complete sources in the first comment 👇

Sometimes our meeting fantasies come true.. sometimes not and it's rather a nightmare. 

Inspired by Hannah Baker 😉

For many, the end of the year is a ritual to begin again to ensure that the next year is better. 🌟

We generally love to spend our New Year's Eve focused on new beginnings.

In a brilliant article from Jaron Vesely, PCC, he questions, “Why the focus on the new?” 

We often forget that the old year must end for the new year to begin.

Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze describe this concept in the two-loop theory of change: for new systems to emerge, the dominant system must die. 

Adrienne Maree Brown also speaks of this, taking inspiration from mushrooms; a mushroom finds nourishment in the decay of organic matter.

Yet, it's often challenging to fully acknowledge and embrace this reality. And perhaps, as a society, we have forgotten how to be present with loss.

We are fixated on creation, on productivity, on the new. But our world cannot sustain a never-ending cycle of creation.

We might have forgotten the importance of carefully and compassionately letting go of the things in our lives that are coming to an end.

We are like mushrooms; while it may feel challenging, we can find nourishment even in loss. 

This idea aligns perfectly with one of the cornerstones of my coaching training: people are naturally creative, resourceful, and whole. 🌱

Even when it comes to loss, we have the resources to experience it, making space for the endings and beginnings.

I love this quote from Seneca: "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

Illustration by me 😊

Extract from an article by Jaron Vesely on the Co-Active Training Institute blog. Link to the complete source in the first comment 👇

On the left, a broken pottery with the sign “endings may be”. On the right, a beautiful kintsugi artwork, made from the same broken pottery, with the sign “new beginnings”

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Jim Rohn

Coaching is a must-have leadership skill. 

Coaching is not for “fixing problems”.

Many years ago, I asked for a coach, and after a long time, my request was approved. 

Then, someone mentioned that my request for a coach was being perceived as an admission of defeat or a sign of a flaw needing correction. Ouch!

Fortunately, things have changed! Integrating coaching skills will make us even more effective at guiding, empowering, and upskilling people. 

This is especially true as "having all the answers" is insufficient for achieving great results.

In our working world, people expect to be treated as fully human and want to be heard, acknowledged, empowered, and invested.

And for that, we must do more than engage teams through workplace challenges and “tasks” 

Our skill set must grow to include emotional intelligence, awareness of identity, and a focus on the person beyond the professional role. 

A coaching approach can bring out the best in everyone. 

Coaching guides each team member towards their own goals, fostering trust and a sense of safety to explore.

Trust helps the most when the person feels that we care about them, as a human being, more than as a team member 

If we can, having an external coach is the best. I would argue that everyone should have a coach. 

At the same time, I recognize this is not always feasible, unfortunately, for 100% of the team. 

So, we can still have "coaching conversations" even if we are not in a formal coaching relationship; to me, it's the second best option.

Illustration by me 😊

Inspired by an article and ebook from Co-Active Training Institute. 

Link to the complete sources in the first comment 👇

"Doing our best" is our key to freedom.

Under any circumstance, we must always do our best, no more and no less.

But 'the best' varies from one moment to the next.

Our best will sometimes be high quality, and others will not be as good.

When we wake up refreshed and energized in the morning or tired at night.

When we are feeling wonderful and happy or angry and upset.

When we are healthy or when we are sick.

Our best will also change over time. Still, we keep doing our best—no more and no less than our best.

If we consistently do our best, we eliminate self-judgment.

And if we don't judge ourselves, there is no way we will suffer from guilt, blame, and self-punishment.

If we did our best and our inner saboteur tried to judge us, we answer: "I did my best." There are no regrets.

That is why we always do our best. This idea can set us free.

Illustration by me 😊

This is an extract from "The Fourth Agreement" by Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills. Link to the complete sources in the first comment 👇

"I would love to be paid purely for my judgment, not for any work" – Naval Ravikant

Choosing the right job, career, or field can greatly increase our free time.

Being knowledgeable and paid for our unique insights gives us maximum leverage in business.

Then, we could be masters of our time as we are evaluated on outputs, not inputs. 

Naval cites Warren Buffett as an example of demonstrated judgment.

“He’s been highly accountable. He’s been right over and over in the public domain. He’s built a reputation for very high integrity, so you can trust him. 

People would have thrown infinite leverage behind him because of his judgment. 

Nobody asked him how hard he worked. Nobody asked him when he waked up or when he went to sleep. 

They’re like, “Warren, just do your thing.”

Another concept is that even marginal improvements can lead to significantly higher pay.

For example, an athlete running just a fraction of a second faster can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Illustration by me 😊

Extract from a passage by the Almanack of Naval Ravikant. Link to the complete sources in the first comment 👇

Expressing gratitude can transform teams and workplaces. 🙏

Gratitude has numerous benefits in the workplace, such as stronger relationships, better performance, and increased job satisfaction. 

Unfortunately, a common belief is that organizations are merely transactional and professional, lacking space for forgiveness, gratitude, or compassion.

Gratitude is often perceived as a weakness, much like asking for help. At work, admitting our limitations is not always received positively.

How to bridge the "gratitude gap", from one of my favorite articles by Gustavo Razzetti

🌟 Lead by example: leadership plays a crucial role and sets the tone for the rest of the team when it's genuine.

🌟 Broadcast gratitude beyond our team: extend gratitude beyond the immediate group to the broader organization. 

🌟 Peer-to-peer recognition: gratitude shouldn't just flow top-down. Beyond giving kudos, recognize the person and their values.

🌟 Make gratitude part of our culture: go beyond occasional gestures of thanks, even establishing a daily gratitude practice.

🌟 Express gratitude towards our manager: gratitude is a two-way street, and having a great manager is not always the norm.

🌟 Flip the script on our apologies: transform apologies into expressions of thanks. For example, from "I'm sorry I'm late" > "Thanks for waiting."

🌟 Extend gratitude beyond the workplace: to the community and environment. Employees want to be part of something bigger than themselves.

Illustration by me 😊

"Don't compare your insides with someone else's outside."

This is a healthy reminder when stressed: if something is hard for us, it's probably hard for (almost) everyone else.
 
Our frustration and challenges are 100% normal. It doesn't mean we give up; instead, it means not second-guessing ourselves.

We need to feel we fit in and are not the only ones going through a particular struggle or ordeal. We're probably not the worst in the world at whatever we're doing.

It's hard to feel isolated. A lot of the time, it's not suffering that's the most challenging thing. Everyone suffers, and that's an essential part of life. The only thing worse than suffering is suffering alone.
 
Many people experience difficult days. Regardless of our personal feelings, others likely feel similarly. If something is challenging for us, it's probably hard for almost anyone. 

No one knows our situation or circumstances. If someone else were in our shoes, they probably wouldn't do any better than we do, and this is not just validation but motivation.
 
It's motivation not to give up because many others are going through something. 

It's motivation to move on to something else that might better use your energy and bandwidth. 
 
It's motivation not to be so hard on ourselves because we're normal beings facing everyday challenges.

Illustration by me 😊
 
Extract from an article by Ryan Fan via The Good Men Project. Link to the complete sources in the first comment 👇

Leaders are “economical”.

Their ratio of insights and quality for unit time of speaking is highest.

I attended Frances Frei’s office hours on Friday and using her metaphor, this catch phrases is one of the peaks of the session.

Instead of taking more air time, we should aim to increase our quality per unit ratio, speaking with simple words and simple structures. 

When we hear someone talking with complicated language and jargon, that person probably is trying to look like a leader, but they got it all wrong.

In under half an hour I got a page full of notes, and the Q&A space from the 750+ people connected was as insightful as the first part.

But what I appreciated the most was the warm, human communication style that Frances herself showed “walking her talk”, and a reminder that inspired this illustration.

If we use AI to do our writing, we are outsourcing our thinking to AI, and if we do that long enough, we’ll become replaceable.

I have felt the temptation to use Sauron’s ring multiple times (and yes made the mistake to use it sometimes too), and now I use AI mainly as a sparring partner for important conversations, to generate ideas, metaphors and, most of all, to code!

The link to sign up for the next office hours in the comments 😊

Bored at work? It happens to everyone (hopefully not every day).

Your boredom is actually a hint of which are your values. If you become curious about it, and ask what could be the unmet need causing you to feel boredom? 

If you value challenging tasks, and your work feels like "business as usual", or if you value focused work, and you're stuck in meetings all day, or if you want social exchanges, and you are doing mostly individual work.

Once you know the cause, you can do something, most of the time 😉

"People who laugh together work together” 😂

Laughter is an infectious positive energy, as all emotions are. 

The human brain has "Mirror Neurons". They mirror our reactions and behaviour to the people we interact with.

I was lucky to discover the amazing practice of Laughter Yoga, thanks to Jacqueline Oud brilliant ice-breaker in one of the Management 3.0 fast-track sessions.

🌟 Some of the benefits of Laughter Yoga include:

Laughter helps to release physical, mental and emotional stress.  

Laughter is a powerful emotion that can bring people together and work as a team. 

Laughter has no barriers of language, age, culture or background. It is a universal emotion.

Laughter enhances leadership qualities and creates an atmosphere of openness and directness.

Laughter, purely as a physical exercise and without any specific reason, helps suspend judgment.

Laughter promotes a strong union between those who laugh together, resulting in stronger bonds.

Laughter raises our ability to interact and connect with other people, therefore it helps to overcome fear of speaking. 

Laughter fosters a shared experience, uniting people in laughter and breath despite differences in thought and mindset.

Laughter helps to develop a positive mental attitude, openness and generosity. People move from self-centeredness to a giving attitude.  

💡 Did you ever try Laughter Yoga? What was your experience?

Illustration by me 😊

Extract from an article by Laughter Yoga International. Link to the complete sources in the first comment 👇

The best way to improve is focusing on habits, not on outcomes

Inspired by Adam Grant 😊

How can you inspire people and deliver results in our diverse world?

“In order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen” Brené Brown

And this is especially crucial when you lead and are part of intercultural global teams.

It was a pleasure to collaborate one year ago with Melanie von Groll to illustrate some of the key ideas of her book “Connect Trust Care”.

Melanie itself is a living example of what she relates in the book, and our collaboration was also a great multi-cultural co-creation. I am Italian and live in Spain, ana Melanie lived between Germany, Mexico, South Africa and Spain 😊

After one year, the English version of the book is ready! And we want to celebrate by sharing nine quotes from the book with a visual for each of them.

This book will help you to engage global teams, keep and grow top talent.

Connect Trust Care

Delayed gratification. 

Inspired by Melody Olson 🙏

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