Santiago Bilinkis l Risk and Reward - Trying to live a life out of the comfort zone

A few weeks ago I was at a meeting of the Advisory Council of Prosperar, the National Investment Agency of Argentina. There, Alec Oxenford mentioned something that truly concerns me: He said that in a speech a few days ago he asked the audience who was their most admired businessperson. And everyone in the audience looked at him as if he was crazy. And that, after thinking for while, the only answer they could think of was Marcelo Tinelli.

You may like better Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Larry Ellison or Jack Welch. Sergey Brin and Larry Page or Jerry Yang and David Filo. But what there is no doubt about is that in cultures such as the U.S., among the most admired people there are many entrepreneurs. In Argentina being a businessman is a stigma.

It is a big problem not having anyone to admire. And is an even greater problem when, for lack of something better, we start admiring someone by his or her success in itself and not by the process and values that made him/her who he/she is.

And this is not just limited to the field of business. As in the mid ’90s, when Menem made any mediocre but popular actor or singer a candidate for National Senator or Governor.

In a decision that to many in Argentina generates horror (including myself) and to others joy, this week we named Diego Maradona National Soccer Team Coach, a position that for many people like me is almost as important as that of President.

Do not get me wrong. I am an unconditional fan of Number Ten. I love him. I will be grateful to him until the day I die. But as well as singing (poorly) does not qualify someone to be Senator, playing ball (great or better still) does not qualify you to be a Coach.

Who we admire and why says a lot about who we are.