How to become successful and build a great career?
As I mention on the homepage, many of my students, young colleagues, and trainees have asked me over the years:
“How can I become successful and have a great career?”
There is no easy answer. You need a bit of luck, the right timing, and ideally a good mentor who helps you along the way.
But there is one thing you can actively control: be well prepared for fortune to find you.
And to be prepared, learn.
This blog exists to help you learn every day about your work, your mindset, and yourself.
How this blog can help
The posts here will help you understand how to manage people, organize teams, deliver projects, work across cultures, and simply get things done.
Each topic combines a practical perspective with a touch of theory, applied to real teams, large corporations, or sometimes private life.
And it is meant to be fun.
By embracing the oddities of life and telling stories in an engaging and entertaining way, learning becomes easier and more memorable.
Everything here is about sharing knowledge. The material comes from the courses I teach and from real experiences in my professional life.
This blog also helps me stay connected with the many people I have met over the years, and hopefully reach those I have not yet met.
I hope to see many of my former students here, along with colleagues and friends from work.
My goal is to build a community where everyone can share, exchange, and help each other navigate the strange, complex, and sometimes bizarre situations that fill our working lives.
For those who do not know me yet
My name is Daniel Sechi, and as you can probably guess from my surname, I have Italian roots.
I have almost 20 years of experience in banking and education.
I work as a manager in a large international banking group and, in my free time, as a lecturer at several universities.
My expertise lies in change: making it happen, leading projects, influencing people, and creating high-performing teams and communities.
I have worked across many functional areas, from Sales to IT, but my job has always been about one thing: making things happen, either by leading teams directly or by guiding those who do.
I completed my degree while working full-time, during five intense years on a large international merger and integration project, often with ten-hour days and constant travel.
That experience shaped my views on motivation and discipline.
It was rewarding, but I would not recommend it to anyone who values sleep.
A few things about me
- I am quite a down-to-earth person.
- I have been married for many years and have two wonderful children.
- I love spending time with my family and traveling together.
- I enjoy sports and am always open to trying something new.
- I love reading; there are simply too many good books out there.
- I enjoy standing in front of people: speaking, teaching, presenting.
- I believe people do not come to work to do a bad job or make life difficult for others (well, except maybe that one person who came to your mind right now).
- I also believe that clear priorities, structure, and organization are rare virtues.
- People fascinate me; it is amazing how differently two people can interpret the same situation.
That is probably enough for now.
This should give you a first impression of who I am and why I write this blog.
I am glad you are here, and if you would like to stay connected, just subscribe.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you will go.”Dr. Theodor Seuss
Books I am currently reading
- Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg
- Measure What Matters by John Doerr
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
- What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz