4 roots to uncover to understand what makes you unique and improve the impact on the organization.

Every CEO is diverse: the corporate culture adapts to resonate when governance changes.

Photo by Eilis Garvey on Unsplash

I wish someone had told me when it was my turn. Instead, I struggled to understand my value in the company.

The 4 roots model (first seen in Building A Second Brain) allows you to understand your unique point of view.

  1. Location
  2. Family
  3. Education
  4. Experience

Here are mine.

Location: the environment that shapes

I grew up in Poggibonsi, an industrial town in the Tuscan countryside, with busy people.

During childhood, we moved to the suburbs. I have always been lonely.

This gave me two things: fiddling with technology and wanting to explore.

Family: the primary source of values

My mum and dad were small entrepreneurs, since I was a child, I “breathed performance”.

Responsibility is encouraged in the family. When my 14-year-old father was diagnosed with lymphoma (later resolved), I got a “promotion”: the new family man.

Here I learned to take responsibility and take the pressure.

Education: out of the shell to understand who you are

At 6, I had already decided to be an engineer. I didn’t study a lot. I simply learned. And then, in order not to look like a nerd, I behaved naughtily.

Industrial Engineering was, for me, powerful. I was introduced to meta-systems, creating connections.

What I learned: scientific method, learning by experiments, and atomization of concepts. Ah, I was already a team leader.

Experience: specialization or experimentation

I was born in the family business. I wanted to get married, and I made a comfortable choice, despite 3 proposals from multinationals.

I received a lot of criticism, but this was my unfair advantage to try and observe: my grandfather kicked me in Brazil, and I made many mistakes.

Conclusion: higher confidence, I appreciate mistakes and believe in others.

My Why is to trigger talents to change the world, my roots have brought me here.

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Matteo Cervelli | The People's Gardener 🧑‍🌾

🪴 Cultivating fertile environments for leaders to trigger people’s blooming 📝 Writing on strategy + coaching + parenting 👨‍💼 CEO midsize org. | Father of 2