May

14

One person who left a profound impact on my life when I was in school was Sergio Marchionne. He was the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and CEO of Ferrari. One legacy he left on me as a person and for my work on the financial markets is definitely his philosophy. He had a very particular philosophical thought which I've always found unique for being practical and abstract at the same time, an intellectual and a mechanic, a quality I deeply admired. There is much of his thought that I find highly relevant for understanding the markets:

- Marchionne never followed predictable roads, but always pursued new, creative, bold roads. When he was appointed as CEO of Fiat, basically the most important asset of Italy at that time, he was losing 5 million euros a day; and he got out of that terrible point by taking courageous and strategic moves which were totally unexpected.

- He always stressed about adaptability. I know he was a big fan of Darwin and of course it very much applies to our field. He had a belief that failure to adapt was severely punished and the same if for the markets, where having an open mind and spirit of adaptability cannot be negotiated.

- There is a quote of him which I particularly like as someone who operates in a field which is survival-based, which is "We can never say: things are going well. At most: things are not going badly. We must be paranoid. The journey is extremely difficult. We are survivors, and the honour of survivors is to survive" and it highlights perfectly the financial markets winning mentality to employ.

- Another thing he used to say is that "Leadership is not anarchy. In a large company, the one who leads is alone. 'Collective guilt,' shared responsibility, does not exist. I often feel alone." and that definitely applied to trading.

- “Mediocrity is not worth the trip" is one of these iconic quotes.

-He believed that the market was without morality, without consciousness, and without being able to differentiate between what is right, fair, and what is not, and that none of us could break or alter the operations of the markets.

Sergio Marchionne was an extraordinary man, maybe not a perfect one, but definitely exceptional, brilliant, determined, consistent, with an open mind, humble but strong, decisive, courageous, and a true leader. He thought that "focusing solely on yourself is such a small ambition." Without this quality, it will be hard to stand above mediocrity, unless you find someone who takes the risk for you.


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