Year III January-February 2011 n. 1
in san marino
C ONTENTS
INFORMATION MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO
INTERVIEW Stefano Vitali, President of the Province of Rimini Seminars 2011 Economy Day Members’ Area Quest for Partners Service
Fortress Guard / Guardia di Rocca
E DITORIAL Massimo Ghiotti - General Manager
“Those who want to be leaders, but aren’t, say things. Good leaders explain things. Even better leaders demonstrate things. Great leaders inspire things”. Anonymous
Addressing change and dominating it is perhaps the hardest and most stimulating of challenges for anyone who has to take decisions. Many and multiform are the factors that come into play, the dynamics to be assessed, and the organising culture can provide the right motivation and determine success in achieving goals. It is in such a scenario that the figure of the leader becomes of crucial importance: it is the leader who translates intentions into reality and it is the leader who sustains it. The leader acts on culture, draws up prospects full of possibilities, is projected into the future. And in this propulsion towards change, the leader is able to develop and field resources that allow achieving set objectives. A leader’s flexibility enables him/her to govern
uncertainty and adapt his/her way of being to the contexts in which, from time to time, he/she has to operate. But the characteristic which, more than any other, distinguishes a leader is the ability to create a vision, to see the opportunities before they become obvious. Such ability is the upshot of previous experiences and constant research, listening and attention, which allows the leader to sculpt the future and interpret all the information in his/her possession. But the leader is well aware that without the backing of a motivated and satisfied operating team, his/her ideas would remain just words floating in thin air, and recognises the importance of the role of each of his/her team members. The trust and industry which they give to the leader in fact is directly proportionate to the latter’s ability to clearly express the vision, its meaning, to communicate a dream and the final goal, which must be shared by everyone in order to be achieved.
Successful internal communication is therefore vital to prevent resentment, misunderstandings and overlaps with consequent loss of time and, at the same time, makes individuals more responsible, increasing productivity (and selfesteem) when power is granted to them. In the same way, adequate external communication is crucial to prevent problems tied to bad publicity, lack of representation, or disclosure of wrong or strategically sensitive information. All this is only possible if the organisation invests in training, analyses feedback and learns to learn from its mistakes. For this reason, a quality system is needed that allows working in an increasingly better way, to eliminate waste and constantly monitor the path that leads towards the achievement of the goal. Many therefore are the variables to be taken into consideration on the road towards success: it is up to the leader to indicate the destination and to the team to reach it.
in san marino
january-february 2011 1