Defying doom

FOREWORD

There are places and moments that rekindle stories or influence the story of our lives in very important ways. I experienced one of those special moments about three years ago. Something changed in my life and, since then, it has kept me very busy and amused at the same time.

I had arranged to meet my lecture agent for a coffee in a bar on Calle de Juan Bravo, a street in Madrid. He turned up with a friend of his whom I did not know; he was Bernardo Quinn, then HR Strategy & Executive Talent Director of Telefónica.

We talked for hours over coffee and croissants. We immediately realized we had lots of things in common in our personal and professional lives. We had both been educated by the same brotherhood, the Christian Brothers, so ...