Full transcript
0:11Good morning everybody. How are we
0:14today?
0:15>> Happy Tuesday. Well, first I'd like to
0:19thank everybody for being here. Welcome
0:20to a new school year. Uh already it has
0:23shaped up to be a marvelous one. Uh
0:26welcome to our fourth the beginning of
0:28the fourth year of the green school
0:31speaker series. Uh we have had the
0:33pleasure of having some amazing guests
0:35over the last four to five years. Uh
0:37leaders in industry, leaders in finance,
0:40technology, science, uh sports, uh
0:43leaders in fashion, a little bit of
0:46everything we haven't been able to put
0:47in front of you. And today we have the
0:50pleasure of our first former head of
0:52state. So, uh, congratulations.
0:55[applause]
1:00When this came to fruition and we knew
1:03this was going to be happening, uh, very
1:06quickly I realized that, wow, I really
1:09don't want to have to introduce a former
1:11president. So, what I have done and made
1:14a very quick decision on is I'm going to
1:16have a current president introduce
1:19president. Uh, Robert, our student
1:22government uh president here at school
1:25uh is going to give a little
1:26introduction today. Robert, you ready?
1:29[applause]
1:36>> Thank you, Mr. Hammerman, for that
1:38introduction. So, you guys now know my
1:40name is Robert. I'm the president of our
1:42student council here and it is my
1:44absolute honor and pleasure to introduce
1:46President Ivan Marquez.
1:52President Duk was elected in 2018. At 41
1:55years old, he became the youngest
1:57president in Colombia's modern history.
2:00Serving from 2018 to 2022, he led his
2:03country through a significantly
2:04challenging period, including the CO 19
2:07pandemic. His political career, however,
2:09began long before his presidency. He
2:12spent more than 12 years at the
2:14Interamerican Development Bank, the IDP,
2:17an institution focused on developing the
2:19economies and quality of life of Latin
2:21America and the Caribbean.
2:23In 2014, he was elected to the Colombian
2:26Senate, where he expanded much of his
2:28work at the IDB.
2:30As head of the IDB's culture,
2:31creativity, and solidarity division, he
2:34developed the concept of orange economy,
2:36which recognizes creative industries as
2:38drivers of employment and economic
2:40growth. As a senator, he further
2:43developed this concept through the 2017
2:45Orange Economy Law, bringing the concept
2:47to the national level. As president, he
2:50continued his focus on economic
2:51development and opportunity,
2:53accelerating Columbia's 4G
2:55infrastructure program from 16% when he
2:57took office to 66% by the time his term
3:00ended.
3:02In this time, he created directly more
3:04than 63,000 jobs. Since leaving office,
3:08President Luke's efforts have not
3:09stopped. He served as the inaugural
3:11distinguished fellow of Cornell
3:13University's Emerging Markets Institute
3:15and is now a senior fellow at Brown
3:17University's Watson School of
3:18International and Public Affairs,
3:20mentoring college students while
3:22continuing his work in entrepreneurship,
3:24sustainable development, and economic
3:26policy.
3:28His journey presents a very meaningful
3:30lesson for all of us that leadership
3:32doesn't end when a term in office does,
3:33but rather it evolves into an
3:35opportunity to share experiences and
3:37inspire others. Please giving a very
3:40warm welcome to President Ivan Marquez.
3:44[applause]
3:49[applause]
3:52>> Good morning.
3:53>> Good morning.
3:54>> It's a real honor for me to be here this
3:58morning at the Green School. So, Robert,
4:01thank you so much for your generous
4:03introductory remarks. Also, Stephen,
4:06thank you so much for this invitation. I
4:09also want to thank uh Jeff Green who I
4:11met few moments ago and I enjoyed the
4:14conversation with him and also to the
4:16Cavayto family. I'm happy to see Miguel
4:20to see Kolina to obviously Lucas who's a
4:24student here at the Green School. What I
4:27want to share with you this morning is
4:29not just a speech.
4:32What I really want to share with you
4:34today is a testimony of a life journey
4:39and a journey in a moment in life where
4:43we have to make decisions and your
4:46decisions will impact in the life of
4:49others.
4:50What I want to share with you today is
4:52about what leadership means
4:55and looking at leadership from a
4:57different lens.
4:59Maybe some of you have already read and
5:01listened to the concept of the Stoics,
5:04these philosophers
5:06that started in Greece and were able to
5:09influence great part of the Roman Empire
5:12that invited us to nurture ourselves in
5:17kindness, in justice, in being able to
5:20serve and be detached from many material
5:25ambitions so that we excel.
5:28as human beings. I had the privilege in
5:31my life to listen to those theories
5:35without being explained that they were
5:37from the exto.
5:39I had it from my parents and I had it
5:42with other people who I met in life and
5:45they all help me trying to define my own
5:49way of looking at
5:52when I see each one of you and I've been
5:55walking around the school. I bet each
5:59one of you is full of dreams and
6:01ambitions in your life.
6:04Some of you want to reach political
6:06office. Others want to be entrepreneurs.
6:09Others want to be artists. Others want
6:12to be great in sports. Other wants to
6:16work maybe as physicians. Each one of
6:20you has a dream. And in each one of your
6:23dreams, you have to be a leader.
6:26Which means how am I going to serve
6:28others? How am I going to inspire
6:30others? How am I going to motivate
6:32others so that we can have a much better
6:34society?
6:36And you are privileged. You're
6:39privileged to be here in an amazing
6:41school. At the same time that we're
6:42seeing one of the fastest changes in
6:44humanity
6:46as we are having this conversation
6:48today, there is a broader discussion out
6:51there about the future of AI and whether
6:55AI is going to be able to displace human
6:58talent or human ingenuity or human human
7:01intelligence.
7:03We're having also big debates whether AI
7:05is going to transform this product and
7:08maybe break the essence of the labor
7:10market
7:12and we are also witnessing many things
7:14that are happening with our planet.
7:17How do we deal with climate change?
7:20How can we close the social divides?
7:22Things that are happening as we sleep as
7:25we have privileged spaces like I did and
7:28maybe like you do.
7:30But what's the role that we have to
7:33We need to try to make this world much
7:35better
7:37which means how can we be more
7:40humanistic
7:42because for sure there's going to be
7:43plenty of artificial intelligence but
7:45I'm not sure if we are ever going to
7:47have artificial talents
7:50or artificial reflections
7:54because no machine can have our
7:57sentiments
7:59and that's why in everything we embrace
8:01we We have to be conscientious on how to
8:03serve society. And that is what I want
8:06to share with you this morning. Starting
8:08with my own personal experience.
8:12When I was looking at the classrooms
8:14this morning, I remember when I was your
8:16age and I even remember when I when I
8:19saw the the the students in preschool or
8:23starting kindergarten that once I was 70
8:27years old
8:29and I had a father who had been in
8:31public service, who was a stoic, who was
8:34a an honest public servant who his
8:37ambitions
8:39his ambitions were how to serve
8:42and he motivated me. But I also had a
8:45grandmother who talked to me about
8:47politics every day,
8:50who was able to show me the legacy of
8:54JFK,
8:55who was able to tell me the legacy of
8:58Abraham Lincoln, who had this amazing
9:01motivation of what the United States had
9:03accomplished as a society. So I grew up
9:06with those with th with those dreams.
9:09And when I was seven years old, I was
9:12invited to participate in a TV interview
9:16done by another kid because basically
9:19they were interviewing kids from
9:21different parts of the country and he
9:23knew at that time my father was a
9:24minister and this is the question that I
9:27was asked and I'm going to share with
9:29you this video.
10:03So I was seven years old.
10:06I think I was crazy.
10:09But I was seven years old and I was
10:11asked that question.
10:13And that response was yes.
10:18It was genuine.
10:20It was a line purpose that I have
10:22already defined.
10:25And I think we all have that in
10:26ourselves.
10:28And maybe if you're asked today, maybe
10:30you're asked today, what are you going
10:32to [cough] do when you grow up? We
10:33already have a sense of what we want to
10:35be able to do.
10:37But the beauty is that sometimes the
10:39dream becomes an ambition.
10:42But it's more when the ambition becomes
10:46a vocation
10:48which is something that you do for good
10:51that you do convinced that that's the
10:53best way that you're going to flourish
10:56as a human.
10:58And it's not that you have to raise eye
10:59in politics or political leadership. for
11:02those who want to do that. I'm, you
11:04know, I'm pretty motivated and and I
11:07would love to share a lot of my
11:08experiences with you, but I think this
11:10is applicable to many other things in
11:11life. And that's what I want to share
11:14today. What is leadership? And you'll
11:18see here images of leaders that we have
11:22all discussed maybe in our academic
11:26from Martin Luther King to Abraham
11:28Lincoln from Winston Churchill to Nelson
11:31Mandela to Mahatma Gandhi from Roger
11:34Pereza to any other leader
11:38and what is it that that defines them
11:42how would you define what a leader is
11:45and that's where I Love the concept that
11:48leaders are the ones who are always
11:52taking us to a much better level who are
11:57improving our lives and our condition
12:00who are improving the way we do things
12:02and the way we foresee our future and
12:07that's why I sometimes have some of
12:09these kinds of debates with my students
12:10at some universities because some people
12:13say okay do you believe for example
12:15ether was a leader or do Do you believe
12:17for example
12:19Heni was a leader and yes you can have
12:23testimonies in history of people that
12:25have been able to mobilize masses of
12:28citizens but are they really improving
12:32our lives? Are they really improving
12:35societies?
12:36So there can be people that have traces
12:39of leadership but are not leaders
12:40because they do they don't do good. They
12:45don't improve society. Instead,
12:47sometimes they bring societies to great
12:49confrontations, great conflicts and they
12:51try to impose by force the way they
12:54think.
12:56So the real definition that I want to
12:58share with you today is try to see
13:01leadership as a vehicle to improve what
13:05you already have in your So Robert is
13:09the president of the student council.
13:12He needs to improve the way you as a
13:14students engage the value, the way that
13:18you have maybe access to more speakers
13:21or the way that you can have more events
13:24that nurture your intellect and the joy
13:26of being in an amazing school.
13:29When you see a leader in a nonprofit,
13:32they have to make us understand what
13:36their cause is, what their motivation is
13:37in order to massify the distribution of
13:41resources.
13:42So keep in mind that it's about
13:45improving
13:47and
13:48why do I refer today to the Stoics?
13:53The Stoics, as I said, were
13:55philosophers. They used to meet in these
13:57places called was and that's why they
14:00had these conversations about society
14:03but also about self-improvement
14:06and there's a lot of academic
14:08discussions whether they were real
14:09philosophers but I don't get into that
14:11debate because for me the essence of the
14:13stoics is not the philosophy
14:16but the school of selfgovernance
14:20you can't be a good leader if you're not
14:22a good person
14:24and how do you become a good person is
14:26the question and those are The four key
14:29stoic virtues that have defined my life.
14:32The first one is courage.
14:37And courage is about making sometimes
14:40the hard decision.
14:42Sometimes going against the time,
14:45sometimes not following the common
14:48wisdom. Even if that puts you on the
14:51spot,
14:53even if that generates criticism.
14:56Courage is about making the right
14:59decisions, not withstanding that you may
15:02be attacked or challenged or questioned
15:04because of that decision.
15:07Courage is about daring.
15:10So if you want to be a leader, you have
15:13to dare sometimes to raise your voice.
15:16Dare to change the way we think and try
15:19to create uh an awareness or a
15:22consciousness about something that can
15:25help us improve the way that we
15:27collectively respond.
15:29So that's the first value that for me
15:31has been very important.
15:34The second is associated with
15:37temperance.
15:39That's my favorite stoic version
15:42because sometimes we love to whine when
15:44we have an obstacle
15:48or we just uh want to express our
15:51discomfort.
15:52But you know what the Stoics always said
15:54to us?
15:56When you see a crisis, be motivated by
15:59the crisis.
16:01Try to turn every adversity into an
16:04opportunity.
16:06Don't be frustrated when you have an
16:08adversity. Don't feel frustrated when
16:10you have an obstacle. It is actually the
16:13obstacle what defines our character and
16:17how do we surpass the obstacles is what
16:20also improves the way we deal with our
16:22everyday situations.
16:24So that's why the Stoics used to say you
16:28don't fight with the things that you
16:30can't control. Don't feel disappointed
16:32about the things that you cannot
16:34control. But there's one thing that you
16:37can control. How do you respond to
16:39adversity?
16:40How do you respond to circumstances? How
16:42do you respond to a challenge?
16:45And that's how we need to nurture
16:47ourselves. And it took me a while to
16:50really acknowledge that because maybe
16:52when I was your age, I was so
16:54competitive that I always wanted to be
16:56the smartest guy in the room. I always
16:58wanted to show how intelligent I was,
17:00how knowledgeable I was. And at the end
17:03when you mature in value, you understand
17:06that the important thing is how do you
17:10create yourself certainty without having
17:14to impose and show off the things that
17:17you believe were the final collective.
17:20The temperance is something that I
17:22learned and believe me I was president
17:23of a country at the time where I had a
17:26hurricane category 5. If someone wants
17:28to know what a hurricane fire is, it's
17:30like Katrina in an island that is 800
17:34miles away from the Colombian shore and
17:36almost 6,000 people were exposed to
17:40death and at the same time dealing for
17:42the first time with a pandemic in more
17:44than a 100 years and at the same time
17:46dealing with a migration crisis with
17:48more than 3 million Venezuelans in our
17:50soil, an economic crisis where our
17:53deficit skyrocket to 6% in the economy
17:57and had to deal also with terrorism and
17:59other challenges that a country like
18:00mine unfortunately has.
18:03And those days I realize what I have
18:06learned from this book.
18:08Just embrace the crisis. Embrace the
18:12circumstance with courage and try to
18:14turn that adversity in your best
18:16opportunity.
18:18And my kids maybe were your age at that
18:20time. And I remember how sad they were
18:23because I had to make a lot of unpopular
18:25decisions.
18:27And when you want to do something in
18:29life and you expect that nobody will
18:33criticize you, it will only happen if
18:35you don't do anything.
18:37But when you're going to make any
18:39decision, you're always going to be
18:41questioned, challenged, call names.
18:44Always remember what uh I think it was
18:46Mahatma Gandhi who used to say that
18:48first they they ignore you, then they
18:52they laugh at you, then they fight you
18:54and you win.
18:56So it's about dealing with the obstacle.
18:59So temperance is that amazing lesson.
19:03When you see a crisis, when you see a
19:06circumstance of adversity, change it and
19:09transform it into the best of your
19:11opportunities.
19:12And then you have the value of justice,
19:17the virtue of justice.
19:20And that is for me the most humane of
19:22all the four four virtues that these
19:25poets used to share.
19:28Am I fair with the people that surround
19:30me?
19:32Am I fair with my classmates?
19:36Am I fair with the people outside that
19:38don't have the same opportunities that I
19:40do?
19:42Am I fair with my parents? Am I fair
19:46with the people that surround me? And
19:48especially when no one something
19:52because as human beings we're always
19:54tempted to do good and trying to let
19:56everybody know how much good have we
19:59achieved
20:01in order maybe to be respected in order
20:03maybe to be proud.
20:06But the beauty is when you are able to
20:08do those justice actions every day and
20:12nobody is staring at you. Nobody's
20:14looking at you.
20:16And it's more than just uh understanding
20:18justice from a legal point of view. It's
20:21about our own stand with others, our
20:24respect.
20:26And that's why Marcus the great emperor
20:29of Rome who was a student of the stoic
20:32philosophy used to say if it's not true
20:35don't say it if it doesn't do good don't
20:39do it very simple as a as a
20:44virtue that also inspired me in my life
20:46and then I'll say the most difficult one
20:49is how do we look for wisdom
20:53wisdom how do we define wisdom
20:57is judgment.
21:00It's about not making decisions with
21:02hard with hot headed
21:05focus or hotaded
21:09situation.
21:11Be able to make decisions when you know
21:13the boundaries of the power that you
21:15execute.
21:17Be aware of the power when that you have
21:21when you're going to let someone else
21:24know about the decision that you're
21:26going to make. From being a school
21:29teacher, Stephen, to being a head of
21:30state, sometimes we have to make
21:32decisions where your choice is not just
21:35about good and bad.
21:37Sometimes you have to make decisions
21:39where even if you make the right
21:41decision, people are going to be hurt or
21:44are going to be affected or are going to
21:46be disappointed. Whether is cutting a
21:48subsidy or imposing a new tax or just
21:52restricting mobility like it happened in
21:55many parts of the world during the
21:56pandemic.
21:58So you have to be prepared to achieve
22:01wisdom by understanding when your
22:03judgment is done with arguments. It also
22:06needs to be done by heart. Which means
22:09it's much better to persuade than to
22:11impose. So those virtues for me are the
22:15first things that I want to share with
22:16you this morning. And then what are the
22:18talents that I expect from a leader to
22:20have and how did I learn those talents
22:24or I tried to learn those talents. And
22:26the first one has
22:28to be based on ethics,
22:31our own ethics.
22:34There was a professor at Harvard
22:36University called John C that said that
22:38leaders need to be ethical, they need to
22:42have energy and they need to be honest.
22:47So if you are or competent. So if you
22:50have ethics and you have all the
22:53competence but you didn't have the
22:55energy, you're lost out.
22:58If you don't have ethics but you have
23:00the energy and you have the confidence,
23:02you become very dangerous because you
23:04don't have boundaries. So those three
23:07elements were very important in the way
23:09that I tried to understand what leads
23:11are.
23:12So having ethics which means if you're
23:15going to enter a political office for
23:17example and your ambition is to be a
23:20rich person you're in the wrong place.
23:24If you want to devote your life to
23:26service, you either have previously a
23:29financial stability or you don't care
23:32about being managed or tempted by the
23:36material presence of money in your life.
23:39And I know it's hard to say, but if you
23:42let temptations on your ethics to do
23:45domain, what's going to happen is you're
23:48going to lose track and lose focus. So
23:52ethics matters. Also, discipline.
23:57How do we nurture discipline?
24:00You have to train every day yourself to
24:04excel, to go farther in in terms of
24:06achievement, but also you have to create
24:09your leadership routines.
24:12How do I express myself? How do I
24:14connect with others? How do I motivate
24:17others?
24:19How can I teach by example?
24:22Not just by the rhetoric, by example. By
24:26the way inspire others. So discipline
24:30matters
24:31and something that sometimes we forget.
24:35IQ is very important. I admire people
24:38with high levels of
24:41but EQ matters.
24:44Our emotional intelligence matters
24:48because sometimes we can be blunt and
24:50intelligent when we say something but
24:52we're not impacted in the way we want to
24:56demonstrate others where our
25:00We may also use the possibility to
25:03persuade.
25:06So your EQ is about being able to be
25:09known as choose, understand their
25:12feelings, understand their background,
25:16understand their motivations, and
25:19understand their suffering.
25:22That's where emotional intelligence
25:24needs to connect with IQ.
25:27We devote a lot of time in our life to
25:29nurture our IQ but how much time are we
25:31devoting really to advance on our EQ.
25:36So that balance is important as a talent
25:39to be achieved
25:42story.
25:44Good leaders are storytellers.
25:48They have to be able to communicate
25:52and in terms of AI you need to be much
25:55stronger in the way you communicate
25:57because how you differentiate yourselves
26:00from machines.
26:03I don't have a prompter tonight for
26:05today.
26:07I'm not reading. I'm just trying to
26:10share the things that I feel and that I
26:14have learned in an spontaneous way.
26:19I don't think machines will ever do that
26:21with us or for us.
26:24And that's something that differentiate
26:25us from the machines.
26:28And as I said this morning, what worries
26:30me in times of AI is not that machines
26:32end up behaving like humans, but is that
26:34humans are tempted to behave like
26:36machines without empathy, without
26:39understanding
26:40how we build greater good.
26:44So that's why storytelling, which is
26:47communication skills, written and oral,
26:50are so important for a leader to have.
26:53from medicine to academia,
26:55from nonprofits to being a leader of a
26:58business aggregation,
27:01from being a great professor to being an
27:04amazing writer who's also transforming
27:06society by its own analysis. And those
27:08are also models of leadership, maybe a
27:11more passive way, but they're also
27:13models of
27:15so being aware of nurture your
27:18communication skills to be a successful
27:20story.
27:23being a manager
27:25because that's that's for me the weakest
27:27ling of the league. I've seen a lot of
27:30leaders who are great speakers, great
27:32motivators, have the possibility to have
27:34empathic sentiments, can tell us what
27:37the future should be, but they don't
27:40have capabilities to materialize their
27:43ambition.
27:45So if you want to be a good leader, you
27:47have to be a good manager.
27:50You have to be able to know how to get
27:52things done. You need to have clarity on
27:54your methods.
27:56You need to have clarity on the process
27:59in order to achieve. How long does it
28:01take? What materials do I need? What
28:04instruments do I need to have at my
28:05disposal?
28:07And as I have learned also in life and I
28:11remember when I was studying at public
28:13policy, there was this graph that was
28:17defined in that was defined in fire.
28:20High knowledge of the means,
28:24low knowledge of the means, high
28:27knowledge of the objective, low
28:30knowledge of the objective.
28:32So if you have high knowledge on the
28:36objective but you don't have knowledge
28:37on the means you're just idealistic.
28:42If you only have knowledge high
28:44knowledge of the means but you don't
28:45have high knowledge of the objectives
28:48you're bureaucratic. You're just uh in a
28:51in a treadmill moving moving moving
28:53without any further advance.
28:57When you have knowledge of either both
28:59you're just doomed for failure. But when
29:02you have the combination of having
29:04clarity on the objectives and the means,
29:06that's where you become a manager.
29:10And a manager must always know that if I
29:13want to build something, the timing that
29:17I define, how do I share the timing with
29:19the people is going to determine my
29:22credibility.
29:24That's why many leaders fail because
29:26yeah they convince us of something but
29:28since they don't have management
29:30capabilities or knowledge on how to get
29:32things done they create frustration.
29:36So try to be good leaders,
29:39managers
29:41and team.
29:43This is the only time that we take for
29:47granted.
29:48I've seen many of the classes team
29:50worked this morning. But what is really
29:53being that team player?
29:56And that's why I love this picture of
29:57the last roll cup. Although I must say
30:00that I had my heart broken
30:03or missing, but I still admired the
30:06Spanish team. And you know what I loved
30:08about this team that they didn't have a
30:11messy
30:13even Jamal was a great player. They
30:15didn't have a Messi.
30:17They had an amazing team, a compact
30:20team, a team that always performed with
30:24rigor
30:26where all the players knew what they
30:29should do in order to become the less
30:34goals against receivers in the World
30:37Cup,
30:38winning all of the games and having a
30:42team performance in all their
30:43evaluations in terms of assertive passes
30:46and so
30:47that we're successful.
30:50Being a team player is also being a team
30:52builder.
30:55And I've seen many leaders that love to,
30:58you know, give credit of victory to
31:01themselves
31:03and all everything that goes wrong, they
31:05just share it with the team.
31:07A real leader is the one who takes
31:11responsibility for the failures and
31:13embraces the triumph of the whole group.
31:19And I learned those lessons in life
31:21sometimes in the hard.
31:24But I became good at trying to build
31:28teams.
31:30Why? Because you need to surround
31:33yourself with people that are better
31:34than you.
31:36And the first way of defeating your own
31:39ego
31:40is when you are able to select people
31:42that are better than you.
31:46Because then you understand that only
31:49with people that are better than you,
31:51you can excel and you can get everybody
31:53else to be motivated.
31:56So that talent that I say it's a talent
31:58because you have to nurture it every
31:59day. You have to learn how to deal with
32:01people that think differently in a team.
32:04Thomas Jefferson used to say that when
32:06too much people think alike there's not
32:08too much thinking going on
32:11and you need to surround yourself with
32:12people that think differently
32:15they will argue against you that will
32:17counterargue
32:18that sometimes they're just going to
32:20make you crazy but the possibility of
32:23exchanging ideas
32:26even even if those ideas challenge your
32:28own common wisdom is the only way that
32:31you can have a better test of the social
32:34sentiments that you're trying to improve
32:36when you take a decision.
32:38And that takes me also to this lesson
32:42that I want to share with you. And I was
32:45uh speaking uh with one of the history
32:47professors this morning visiting one of
32:49the classes whether he teaches or not
32:51the Roman Empire.
32:53There's a a historian called Edward J.
32:56Watts who just published the only one
32:58single volume of the 2,000 years of the
33:01Roman Empire. He's a professor at San
33:03Diego. He was invited to our foundation
33:05in Bolabat three weeks ago. And I just
33:08love the way he described every part of
33:10the Roman state history.
33:14And why should I be worried today about
33:18what happened in the Roman?
33:21If you want to be a leader in any field
33:24of knowledge,
33:26Winston Churchill used to say, "Study
33:28history, study history, and study
33:30history."
33:32Because only those who have not studied
33:36history will be condemned to repeat the
33:40mistakes of history.
33:43When you study history, you learn from
33:45the mistakes of others.
33:48You understand the challenges that
33:49others faced in the past.
33:52You understand why in some specific
33:55circumstances great failures happened
33:59because they were either dominated by
34:01ego or they had false premises or they
34:04thought things will never go wrong.
34:07So when you study history, you know that
34:09every day, every moment in any field,
34:13you need to have clarity on which are
34:15your hubris moments, your black swans or
34:18your potential black swans that will
34:20appear and make life miserable. So even
34:24when you feel success is already in your
34:27pocket, you have to ask yourself
34:31what will be that humorous situation
34:34that will give me so much danger that I
34:36will lose money.
34:38There are many companies in the world
34:40that had made decisions false premises
34:43that they will be always successful.
34:47Kodak
34:48had in their innovation labs all the
34:51knowledge of all the digital photographs
34:54technologies that were going to happen
34:56in the future.
34:58But they always posted it because they
35:00always thought they were going to make
35:02more money with their traditional
35:03business until Steve Jobs in 2007
35:07launched the iPhone and then some two
35:10years after 3 years after Instagram was
35:12already in place and it started
35:14challenging the traditional business of
35:17the photography industry.
35:20You have to be aware of the who moment
35:23and you have to create in everybody that
35:26surrounds you the connection, the
35:28intuition and the constant reflection on
35:30you moment. So study history is another
35:35tactic that I will always encourage you
35:37to follow.
35:39This is something that for me is very
35:41important.
35:45Can someone here raise their hands when
35:48I ask the following question?
35:51>> Do you want to be unhook?
35:55>> Nobody wants you to be a hunker. You
35:56want to be a good
35:59>> risk.
36:00>> Say that again.
36:01>> Sometimes taking risks.
36:03>> It means taking risks.
36:06Who else wants to be a bumbler?
36:10Who wants to be bumper?
36:14If you want to be popular, you want to
36:15be popular. Who else?
36:18You need to be aware
36:21that if you want to do anything like
36:24that,
36:25you need to defeat the inner fear of
36:28being unpopular.
36:32You need to defeat the sentiment that
36:35criticism will weaken you.
36:39And that's not easy. You have to be
36:41highly exposed. to those circumstances
36:45in order for you to develop what we call
36:47thick skin.
36:49But thick skin matter.
36:51Leaders have to be making unpopular
36:54decisions every time.
36:56I had to approve three fiscal reforms
37:00and believe me I still have a lot of
37:02wounds in my back and I left office
37:04after expanding taxation in Colombia.
37:09And you know that's not really nice when
37:12you have to make those decisions.
37:14But why did I make those decisions?
37:17Because I live in a country where
37:19there's so much inequality
37:21and only 5% of the population in my
37:24country pays income tax.
37:27So if we want to close the social
37:29dividing, we need to have more and much
37:31better education, much better healthare,
37:33much better infrastructure.
37:36We can't do it just if only 5% of the
37:38population pays income tax. So I had to
37:41expand the tax base for more people to
37:43pay taxes three times because I also had
37:47to make a reform to get the resources to
37:52pay for all the expenses that we had
37:54during the pandemic
37:57and how did I
38:00embrace that and thought about that and
38:04I remember that by the that my kids were
38:07really sad about my popularity levels or
38:11popularity level. They didn't
38:14understand.
38:16Four years after, and that's three
38:19months ago, I was with my son and we
38:22went to see a Colombia game in the World
38:24Cup and we were in a plane full of uh
38:29French full of Colombian citizens.
38:33And when we landed,
38:35people in the plane started to applaud
38:38when they saw me. And I was even
38:41shocked. I like, you know, I'm not am I
38:44again or what's going on? But my
38:46son said, "Dad, why aren't they?"
38:50And I said, "Son, because time
38:54is always ready to be
38:58materials, but also human beings."
39:01Sometimes the unpopular decisions that
39:03you make today
39:06are going to be only witnessed and will
39:10only be valued when time passes by.
39:15I was and I still am in some
39:16circumstances very unpopular as a dad.
39:20I don't pay too much permissions on
39:22Friday night every every weekend.
39:26And sometimes we have just have to say
39:27no.
39:29And that's going to disappoint. going to
39:31get frustration. People are going to be
39:33blasting you maybe.
39:36So don't have that fear. Nurture
39:39yourself into the effects of saying no.
39:44Learn how to say no and learn how to
39:46tell a friend in a lonely way that they
39:50are going to make a mistake.
39:53be able to tell to a group study group
39:57something that sometimes isn't to get
39:59things done in a much better way so that
40:02we also be awkward.
40:05Challenge yourself every day
40:08when it comes to the definition of what
40:11I'm going to decide is popular or
40:12unpopular because most of the good
40:15decisions that I have made in my life
40:17are early seen as unpopular.
40:21Sometimes you have just the good luck
40:24that you're making a tough decision that
40:26becomes fun. But I had to receive in
40:28Colombia three million Venezuelan's
40:31brothers and sisters
40:33that had crossed to our borders with
40:35frozen bones lacking every opportunity
40:38in life because they came from a regime
40:40that had depressed the economy,
40:43destroyed society and annihilated any
40:45form of good.
40:49And believe me, they came to Colombia
40:51looking for an opportunity.
40:54And I decided to promote a temporary
40:57protection status to give them all the
41:00full rights with the exception of the
41:02political rights in Colombia.
41:05I remember that the UN initially called
41:07me and said, "Mr. President, why don't
41:09you give them a refugee status?" And I
41:11said, "No way. Because I don't want my
41:13country to be full of ghettos of people
41:15just being segregated because they are
41:17migrants. I want them to blend into our
41:20society. I want them to come into the
41:21Colombian society and feel at home.
41:25And I remember that my communication
41:27team came and said, "Mr. President, if
41:30you do that, you're basically going to
41:32destroy all your political capital.
41:36I don't have I didn't have re-election.
41:38We don't have re-election in Colombia."
41:41But it was not because of that. I mean,
41:43we didn't have re-election. And I said,
41:45"Okay, we election, which means we're
41:49not going to be tempted by political
41:52immediate achievements.
41:55We're doing what is good for them and
41:58we're doing something that is also going
41:59to be good for Colombia
42:02because the the Venezuelans that are
42:04already Colombia,
42:06I recognize they will enter the labor
42:09force and they will help us reduce
42:11unemployment.
42:13They will help us close the social
42:15divide because that will help us reduce
42:17monetary and multi-dimensional poverty
42:20and also informality levels that are so
42:23harmful to our society.
42:27So I remember that I called the
42:29communication team and I said I'm going
42:31to call Pope Pope Francis
42:34and they said you're going to mix
42:36religion with that and I said no but
42:40it's we are a Catholic country and the
42:43only country that has an ambassador in
42:45every municipality is the Vatican
42:48because we have a priest in every single
42:50municipality in Colombia and Pope
42:52Francis had just publishes an encyclical
42:55called
42:56about embracing the migrants in a
42:59constructive and faithful way but also
43:03in a human way. So we launched that
43:06policy and Pope Francis came out in St.
43:08groups plaza and said that he praised
43:10the Colombian government or Colombian
43:13authority was the term he used by
43:15embracing this large amount of Venezuela
43:19and we're not a rich country
43:22but you know why the message was so
43:24important because it killed at least in
43:26Colombia any temptation of xenophobic
43:30center
43:32five years have passed and unemployment
43:35has been coming down since
43:39Five years have passed and
43:40multi-dimensional poverty has been
43:42dropping year over year.
43:45And five years have passed and
43:48informality rates have reached record
43:51lows.
43:53So was it unpopular? It was.
43:57Is it popular now? Yes. Why is it
43:59popular? Because nobody dares to change
44:02that policy. because it proved that we
44:05were able to do well and do good at the
44:07same time.
44:10I also want to invite you today to think
44:14about balance.
44:16Sometimes we're captured by polarization
44:20and ideological premises
44:24or sometimes ideological prejudice.
44:29You know, I have always been a a great
44:31admire of the United States of America.
44:35I was not born here, but I came to the
44:37United States multiple times when I was
44:39a kid. I came to Florida. I had an uncle
44:41who lived here. So, I came to spend
44:44summer time. I was a student in Elmyra,
44:48New York when I was maybe 13 years old.
44:51And then I was as exchange student in
44:52Minnesota in 1993.
44:56Then I did my master's degree in the
44:57United States and I am really a fan of
45:00this country
45:02and I grew up looking at the United
45:04States understanding that you don't have
45:07to think alike in order to bridge divide
45:12that Democrats and Republicans have
45:14their own premises their own uh maybe
45:18focus on policy but they were able
45:20sometimes to get together and get the
45:23best out of the United States of
45:25America.
45:27This year, I don't know if you have
45:30really made the analysis
45:34that this year
45:36250 years of the United States
45:38Declaration of Independence have been
45:40celebrated
45:42and there's that beautiful phrase of
45:44Thomas Jefferson
45:46when he said that we hold this truth to
45:48be so evident that our man created evil
45:51and he was able to put that in a
45:53declaration that inspired the world to
45:57have a democratic system as the best way
46:01to govern society.
46:04250 years of that inspiration
46:08cannot be lost by division
46:12and the unwillingness to make
46:16ideological
46:18bridges.
46:20And that's having a balance
46:23in life. you have to keep the balance
46:25and in leadership you have to keep the
46:27balance because yes I was elected by 56%
46:31of the Colombian people but I had more
46:35than 40% of the population that did not
46:37vote for me does my election give me the
46:40right to impose everything that passes
46:43in my head against the other 40% or do I
46:46still have to bridge the divide every
46:48day and try to convince those voters
46:50that did not get to the ballots to
46:52support
46:54Having a balance means to understand
46:57that you have to also give not only the
47:02word but the safe for those people that
47:05don't think like you.
47:08And leadership is also about keeping
47:10that balance.
47:12Which doesn't mean to be a people
47:14pleaser,
47:15which doesn't mean for you to try to
47:17please everybody in the room, but at
47:20least to try to have as much opinions as
47:23possible, even though those opinions may
47:25take longer,
47:28but you have to be inclusive when you
47:30think about leadership and that's also
47:33keeping the balance.
47:35And Winston Churchill used to say
47:37something
47:39the
47:42leader is the one that is concentrated
47:46and focused on the next generation and
47:49not just on the next election.
47:54Make choices
47:56not for the immediate. Make choices for
47:58the future.
48:01Make choices for those that you want to
48:04have the opportunities that you have.
48:08Imagine how how honored I am here to be
48:12at the Green School.
48:14And remember how privileged are all of
48:17you to be at the Green School.
48:20The rooms you have, the teachers you
48:22have, the methods you have, the spaces
48:26that you have to share with others.
48:29Why not dream for other people in
48:31society to have the same opportunities?
48:33How do we
48:37I had the privilege of coming to the
48:39United States, going to great schools. I
48:41had the opportunity of being in in other
48:45countries in the world, visited almost
48:4630% of the world so far. And still,
48:50still every day I wake up and I just say
48:52thanks to God because we can't take for
48:56granted the opportunities we have. We
48:57still have to take the opportunities and
49:00they how we enrich the opportunities of
49:02others. And that's what we do right now
49:05with our foundation in Colombia, our
49:06state.
49:08Think of the next generation. And let me
49:11also leave you with three
49:15ending.
49:18Humbleness.
49:20Nurture humbleness.
49:24Nurture every day the need that we have
49:30on
49:33Sometimes everyone
49:37whether it's someone that has great
49:39opportunities or lacks all
49:41opportunities,
49:43there's always going to be someone that
49:45is going to enrich your life.
49:48Kindness is free.
49:52Kindness is something that doesn't
49:54represent a great expense from none of
49:58us.
50:00But being kind is a way of humble.
50:04Having an apprentice mind is so powerful
50:07in life.
50:10Even if you know something,
50:12try and go to bed every day, asking to
50:15yourself, what did you learn that day?
50:19From the simple things to the most
50:22sophisticated things.
50:24and understand that being rich
50:28is not having more but needing less.
50:34That is humbleness.
50:36And in all forms of leadership, that
50:38happiness is a secret of success.
50:43And obviously
50:45my invitation is that you have to be
50:48pragmatic but at the same time ideals.
50:54Don't ever lose your ideals.
50:57It is the ideal of having a much better
50:59society, of having a society that can
51:02integrate those who are encouraged. It
51:06is our idea listen of having much better
51:11education, much better technology, much
51:14better services. What has made this
51:16country so great?
51:19But being pragmatic because sometimes to
51:21bridge the divide you have to be
51:22pragmatic not just to enforce is to
51:25persuade but sometimes to find a bill
51:28able to create an agreement.
51:32So that is part of the leadership
51:34lesson. And I'll show you this image. I
51:38don't know if you're familiar with this
51:39image but this is one of my favorite
51:40portraits in history.
51:43During the Roman Republic
51:46after the monarchy,
51:48Rome was creating a method for the
51:52Senate to select the councils to run the
51:57Roman state.
51:59And in circumstances of war
52:04or great threats, they looked at this
52:06general called Chinatu.
52:10And Chinatu was
52:12an amazing guy
52:15who had learned philosophy who was an
52:18incredible warrior
52:20and he asked him to become a dictator.
52:24Remember in the Roman Republic dictators
52:27don't have the meaning that we have
52:29today who was to dictate the course of
52:32the state while managing the crisis. So
52:36was called was brought into higher
52:39office full powers. He defeated the
52:43enemies. He won the wars and he was
52:45tempted to stay in power. But you know
52:47what he did? He resigned and went back
52:50to his farm
52:52and he did it for three times.
52:56And it was that guy coaching
52:59that inspired George Washington to say
53:01when he was asked to become king. No, I
53:04don't want to become king. I just want
53:05to be in office. Two terms and that's
53:08it. Then I'll go to Mount Vernon.
53:13Power is a drug.
53:16Power is
53:19something that is too much of a
53:20temptation.
53:23If you want power more than achievement,
53:27be aware of the dangers that you're
53:30about to embrace.
53:33Power requires detachment.
53:37And the only way that you can change
53:39power for the good is by the word
53:42service.
53:44Service.
53:45Define leadership by service.
53:50When I left office, I remembered my dad
53:54who did not ever told me, "Son, you're
53:58going to be president and if you're a
53:59president and you finish office, you
54:01have to do this and that." My father was
54:03a very simple guy who had been in public
54:05service and has trained me without
54:07telling me that it was that idea how to
54:11live those moments when you say goodbye
54:15to power
54:18and I feel happy today as a human being
54:20coming to the princip by telling you
54:23that I was able to have full powers as
54:25president deal with so many crisis and
54:28left office and continue my life with
54:31the vocation of that I now do from the
54:33nonprofit program.
54:37So I just want to finish this talk
54:41by inviting you all to go deeper and
54:45study historic or virtue.
54:49Think on how you're going to nourish
54:52those talents that I mentioned.
54:56Look for a balance. Think in the next
54:58generation. Be humble. Don't be
55:02frightened to be unpopular
55:04and look service as the biggest
55:08motivation.
55:10Those are the lessons that I wanted to
55:13share with you this morning. Thank you
55:15very much.
55:16[applause]
55:26>> [applause]
55:29>> about five minutes for some questions
55:31and answers. So, raise your hands.
55:36>> What Why don't you help me uh begin the
55:39questions?
55:41Can I have a a Let's take about five
55:43questions. So, I will let's take the
55:46five questions all together
55:47>> and then I'll I'll respond.
55:49>> Perfect. Uh Robert
55:52As a leader, I'm sure
55:56you think
56:01how do you deal with these kinds of
56:03missteps and things that you could have
56:05done better forward?
56:08Other questions?
56:11>> The younger generations today have
56:14a huge amount of information
56:18that they can gather.
56:22enormous amount of polarization.
56:27What can we do as parents
56:29to give them better skills at home to
56:33allow them to keep discussing
56:37more conscientious
56:40hum
56:51question.
56:56>> That's a good question.
56:59>> But I should
57:08leadersh
57:18we as young adults begin to start
57:21looking into global issues such as
57:24social injustice, climate change, the
57:26use of AI and start to formulate our own
57:30opinions and impact on
57:40>> connection
57:42to
57:44advance in position.
57:54What was your first challenge in your
57:56office
57:58over
58:05>> I love all the questions.
58:08So regrets
58:12I I always ask to myself that question
58:16and
58:18I don't think I have uh regrets in a
58:22sense that everything is part of our
58:25life and part of our experience. If I
58:28ask you what are your regrets when you
58:30were in sixth grade
58:34you may say well this and that but why
58:38do you waste time on thinking of what
58:40you regret at that time. So instead of
58:42having regret, I have lessons.
58:45Because if I have regrets, I put my mind
58:47on past mode. If I think of the lessons,
58:50even the lessons are different from what
58:52I thought they were before, that allows
58:55me to be always forward looking and take
58:57those experiences to either not repeat
59:00them or share with others the lessons so
59:03that they won't have that the same
59:05mistake. I think there are many in
59:08multiple ways. Um I think there were
59:11people that for example I selected for
59:13certain jobs that I gave them a
59:15responsibility that
59:18maybe they they they didn't have all the
59:20skills
59:22and I had amazing group of people.
59:26I I had a minister for example that she
59:28was one of the saviest persons on the
59:30justice system but she didn't she didn't
59:33have the political experience to deal
59:35with Congress and it was so painful for
59:37her that I I fell down because it was my
59:40mistake. I mean she would have been a
59:42much better judicial advisor than just
59:45putting her on the driver's seat
59:48for example. Uh
59:50I could have been I could have done much
59:53more harder my first fiscal reform and
59:57trying to uh use more political capital
1:00:01at first and then do it later.
1:00:06There were uh moments where I I should
1:00:09have maybe called other parties to have
1:00:12a a broader consensus or agreement on on
1:00:15the specific issues. But I think there
1:00:17are many, but I look at them as lessons.
1:00:21I'm actually working on a book uh that
1:00:22should be published next year called
1:00:24Temperance. It's about my life, my life
1:00:28in office and there are many of those
1:00:29lessons. So I think we all have to learn
1:00:32every day and and what I tell always my
1:00:35kids and I tell this to you is always
1:00:39carry a compass
1:00:42and people as we you know talk so much
1:00:45about the compass. You know what I love
1:00:48about this instrument
1:00:50that it tells us where are we going
1:00:54and it tells us where do we come from
1:00:58and we sometimes don't reflect as much
1:01:00as we should of where we do come
1:01:03the legacy of our parents the legacy of
1:01:06our grandparents
1:01:08how I started a process in life
1:01:12how humble I should be by recognizing
1:01:14that life is a learning process
1:01:17So I think like the compass even the
1:01:20lessons instead of regrets are part of
1:01:23the understanding of where we do come.
1:01:27So that's how I will I will respond to
1:01:29your question. Um
1:01:33so skills I think you raised a very
1:01:36important point. We have so much
1:01:39polarization. We have so much uh
1:01:43populism
1:01:45and sometimes so much uh disinformation
1:01:49news.
1:01:51There's some things that are worrying
1:01:54and there's a there's a singer from
1:01:57Guatemala that came to Colombia about
1:01:59two months ago and I went to this
1:02:00concert and we're all of the same
1:02:03generation and I don't I see many
1:02:05parents here and I feel proud of the
1:02:08best ex generation present in the room.
1:02:11And who were our influencers?
1:02:15Our influencers were
1:02:19we had those two influencers that we we
1:02:22shared supper with that we went fishing
1:02:24with that we had nice walk with them and
1:02:29and sometimes when I see so much digital
1:02:33consumption and digital addiction
1:02:35it's like we are tempted to
1:02:40not look to our real influencers and try
1:02:44to give more weight the things that
1:02:46others are just producing in order to
1:02:48feed the algorithm.
1:02:50So I would say my my first reaction is I
1:02:53do value technology. I do value the
1:02:56positive things that social media bring
1:02:57to our society. But I think if we really
1:03:00want to be able to fight this
1:03:02information, we have to teach our
1:03:06society and also the younger generation
1:03:10that that infinite scrolling is really
1:03:15giving us an excess of dopamine that is
1:03:19going to destroy our own knowledge
1:03:22capabilities
1:03:25and which is why this is so important.
1:03:29And I go back to that declaration of
1:03:31independence. Democracy, real democracy
1:03:33started in this country. And the essence
1:03:36of democracy is that we have the the
1:03:38right to choose.
1:03:40But we have the right to choose with our
1:03:42own criteria,
1:03:44with sound and credible information,
1:03:46with trustworthy information.
1:03:49But when we allow
1:03:51the algorithm to feed us with the
1:03:54prejudice and false premises that we may
1:03:57have, we're highly exposed to destroying
1:04:00the greatest of the nation, which is the
1:04:03democracy.
1:04:05So how do we nurture those skills? And
1:04:08and I think the education system has a
1:04:10great part of our responsibility. And
1:04:13that's what I love about the green
1:04:14school. Not because I'm here, but I'm
1:04:15looking at the method of education. I I
1:04:19don't think that education should be how
1:04:21do we prepare 20 year old kids to go on
1:04:24and look for a job
1:04:26and I think we have oversimplified what
1:04:28education is in many countries where we
1:04:31just feel okay we just want to train the
1:04:32kids so that when they're 22 they'll
1:04:34find a job and and they'll make some
1:04:36money and they continue you know feeding
1:04:38the all the premises of society.
1:04:42I think it is about building good human
1:04:46beings,
1:04:48having quality conversations,
1:04:50having open debates about at home.
1:04:55That's what we can do as parents.
1:04:58What we can do as parents is try not to
1:05:00impose that, you know, just shut down
1:05:02the phone, but convince you that, as I
1:05:04suppose many of you know that if you're
1:05:07going to have no for breakfast, lunch,
1:05:09and dinner, you know what's going to
1:05:10happen next.
1:05:11The the same thing is happening when
1:05:14you're putting a a Big Mac every day on
1:05:16your infinite scrolling not just for
1:05:18breakfast, lunch and dinner but the
1:05:20whole day you're destroying your human
1:05:24way of creating your dopamine which is
1:05:26also to be bored sometimes to be
1:05:28creative to write to discuss to exchange
1:05:31ideas that's I think the best way to
1:05:33start that changing society and
1:05:36obviously I think as parents we need to
1:05:38be more torren and we need create those
1:05:41debates at home and schools to create
1:05:43those debates at home in a humanistic
1:05:45way.
1:05:47Um
1:05:51I have here
1:05:56okay
1:05:57so I'm I'm going to try to pack three
1:06:00three ideas here.
1:06:04How do we prepare societies to deal with
1:06:08climate change and and equality.
1:06:12Um,
1:06:14where's the kid
1:06:16that as the question and
1:06:22how can we learn from that leadership
1:06:25lesson?
1:06:27Why do I want to connect the three?
1:06:31That video was recorded in 1985
1:06:35and u I was trying to find that kid. But
1:06:38I don't know who that kid is,
1:06:41but you know, I think about that kid and
1:06:45he wanted to be a journalist and I
1:06:47wanted to be president of that.
1:06:50What I enjoyed about that video is that
1:06:52he asked the question in a spontaneous
1:06:55way. I responded the question in a
1:06:56spontaneous way
1:06:59and life passes by and we start defining
1:07:04what are the causes that we want to
1:07:10We live in a world where we're
1:07:13destroying ecosystems. I don't know if
1:07:14you're aware, I come from an Amazonic
1:07:16country. 35% of the colonial territories
1:07:19Amazonic land. And the Amazon has lost
1:07:22in the last five decades since I was
1:07:24born the equivalent of the size of
1:07:26California and Texas due to
1:07:28deforestation
1:07:30together or France and Germany together.
1:07:35And there's still people who are denying
1:07:37that there's climate change. I mean, I I
1:07:39don't see this as an ideological
1:07:40imposition. I just believe that if we
1:07:44have to be aware that we have to protect
1:07:45the ecosystems because if we don't
1:07:47protect the ecosystems and especially in
1:07:49our case the Amazon, the Amazon is a
1:07:52climate regulator for the whole
1:07:53hemisphere and it sinks almost 15% of
1:07:56all the greenhouse gases emissions in
1:07:58the world. So even if you don't believe
1:08:01in climate change, it it will be very
1:08:03absurd that We have to recognize that
1:08:06there is mother nature that also sinks
1:08:09carbon dioxide that helps us to have a
1:08:12much balanced climate
1:08:15and we need to protect that with smart
1:08:17finance with the globalization of
1:08:18resources but also understanding that we
1:08:20can do a lot by not exhausting our
1:08:24natural capital
1:08:26and the same thing happens with with the
1:08:28AI. I mean I I love technology and I
1:08:32love the technology advancement and I
1:08:34love the speed of technological
1:08:36advancement but what I'm going to say is
1:08:38going to sound very controversial but I
1:08:40just dislike that we are putting the
1:08:43life of humanity
1:08:46in the hands of preppy
1:08:52billionaires under 30 that want to play
1:08:56with technology without having
1:08:59humanistic principles to defend the
1:09:01essence of society.
1:09:04That is something that bothers me.
1:09:08I think it's great to have innovation.
1:09:10It's great to have companies that
1:09:11innovate.
1:09:14But when I see now all this group of of
1:09:17young preppy billionaires coming and
1:09:19give you know interviews and all the
1:09:22media outlets talking of everything that
1:09:24happens and pass it through their minds
1:09:26without any sufficient deep knowledge
1:09:28and without any humanistic base. It just
1:09:31makes me crazy because I do think that
1:09:36AI has to be regulated
1:09:38and it has to be regulated because if it
1:09:42is not regulated, we're going to put
1:09:44societies in danger. Obviously, AI can
1:09:47allow us to have more knowledge, faster
1:09:49knowledge, and be applied in a faster
1:09:51way in order to cure disease, to look at
1:09:54uh languages that were lost 5,000, 6,000
1:09:57years ago, even to improve the way we
1:10:00have science of all kinds.
1:10:03But AI is the same thing as a hammer. It
1:10:07can be a tool or a weapon. And who
1:10:10defines whether it's a tool or a weapon
1:10:12is us. And that's why it needs to be
1:10:14regulated. Having unleashed capacities
1:10:17of all this crazy competition of young
1:10:20person billionaires without enough
1:10:22humanistic approach for me is going to
1:10:25put in danger things that had taken
1:10:27thousands of years to be built
1:10:30and yes I think it's part of our life to
1:10:32do the advocacy and I know for example
1:10:34in the nonprofit world that in
1:10:36California there's a center called the
1:10:38center for human technology that is
1:10:40putting all these questions in front of
1:10:41us.
1:10:43So yes, the Chinese are going to do much
1:10:47more things maybe with AI just because
1:10:50they don't have the restrictions that
1:10:51democracies have. Well, it happens in
1:10:53everything. But just because the Chinese
1:10:55wants to play with the technology, it
1:10:58doesn't allow us in free societies and
1:11:00democratic societies to have unleashed
1:11:03capacities without any restriction or
1:11:06regulation. And I think you as part of
1:11:10this younger generation need to be
1:11:13aware, raise the voice and request from
1:11:16the government attention so that we
1:11:18don't disrupt what has taken us so long
1:11:21to rebuild.
1:11:23Um
1:11:26I think the biggest
1:11:29challenge that I faced in office was a
1:11:32pandmic.
1:11:34I was the youngest president elected in
1:11:36my country's history and I had all these
1:11:37amazing plans for the country and I
1:11:40remember that fiscally I I came from a
1:11:41fiscal background. I inherited a 4%
1:11:44deficit and by the end of my first year
1:11:46we had we had achieved the first primary
1:11:50surplus in 15 years and I had reduced
1:11:53the deficit to record lows. The year
1:11:56after
1:11:58I had this pandmic
1:12:00and we had to increase the deficit to
1:12:026%.
1:12:05We had to increase the debt in order for
1:12:08us to protect the social safety to
1:12:11protect employment to put together so
1:12:14much policies trying to to manage such a
1:12:17situation
1:12:18in uncertainty
1:12:21all contaminated by this uncertainty
1:12:24moment.
1:12:26But the beautiful part of how we managed
1:12:29this having an amazing team of it was an
1:12:33amazing team of people all compromised
1:12:35by helping the country and doing good
1:12:38was the fact that we had to make a
1:12:42choice. Are we going to make decisions
1:12:45that are to live
1:12:47or are we going to make decisions that
1:12:49are based on science?
1:12:51and I choose that.
1:12:54Everything that we did was based on
1:12:58scientific and medical information to
1:13:01protect people lives.
1:13:04And I'm not going to brag here. I didn't
1:13:06come to the green school to brag. I know
1:13:08the beautiful end of that story is that
1:13:11by the moment the pandmic was already
1:13:15coming to an end, we were ranked as the
1:13:20number one country in the Bloomberg
1:13:23pandemic resilience index first in LAN
1:13:27second in the western hemisphere
1:13:30and it is because we were able to have
1:13:33the less amount of possible debts
1:13:36and the greatest amount of economic
1:13:39growth 10.5%
1:13:42in 2021 8%
1:13:45and it is because we made decisions so
1:13:48it was a real challenge
1:13:51I remember when Johnson went to the
1:13:53hospital or Donald Trump went to the
1:13:55hospital that I was over and I said,
1:13:57"When is going to be my turn?"
1:14:00And you know, it was it was uh it was uh
1:14:05for me quite funny that I never had was
1:14:08never diagnosed with COVID. My wife had
1:14:11co two of my kids had like whole family,
1:14:14but I was I don't know if I was inh or I
1:14:17had co in a sentimental way which more
1:14:19more complicated. But that was the that
1:14:21was the biggest challenge I guess
1:14:23because it was a combination of
1:14:24everything and you had to put together
1:14:26everything that you had learned in life
1:14:28and also being humble and dealing with
1:14:31uncertainty. Um
1:14:34and I think that the last question that
1:14:36I'm going to respond is about
1:14:39the making the difference and and how to
1:14:43differentiate in in in the way you
1:14:47experience leadership.
1:14:51The the most important thing in life is
1:14:54as I say
1:14:56have judgment
1:14:59and that is an art of science.
1:15:03There are a lot of things that maybe I
1:15:05would have done different,
1:15:07but I look at the past with the
1:15:10information that I had at that that time
1:15:13and how did we analyze each specific
1:15:17situation and I'm just going to tell you
1:15:20something.
1:15:21Being able to deal with a pandemic, a
1:15:26hurricane category 5, a migration
1:15:28crisis, an economic crisis, dealing with
1:15:31terrorism and uh the drug cartels all at
1:15:35once, and being able to leave office
1:15:39with the lowest homicide rate average in
1:15:43a 4-year presidential period.
1:15:46Living with the largest economic growth
1:15:50achieved in two singular years, 2021 and
1:15:532022.
1:15:55Being able to leave the country with
1:15:57more than 7,000 new kilometers of roads.
1:16:00Expanded the housing sector for people
1:16:03to have more than 400,000 new homes and
1:16:06being able to leave free public
1:16:09university education for the poorest of
1:16:11the poor and the upcoming middle class.
1:16:14It just demonstrate that we try to make
1:16:16a difference. Maybe we were not that uh
1:16:21strong at the communication side but now
1:16:24people recognize because people are able
1:16:26to compare. So there will be a lot of
1:16:30things that I I would have done
1:16:31different but I think the fact that we
1:16:33did everything based on the principle
1:16:36that I shared with you today allow me to
1:16:38say to God every day thank you and allow
1:16:41me when I these examples this
1:16:44experiences in life to be able when I
1:16:47when I talk about leadership is not a
1:16:50theoretical approach it's about a
1:16:52practical approach with mistakes and
1:16:54achievements but I think that's how we
1:16:56try to make a difference today based on
1:16:58those thank you so much and it has been
1:17:01a great [applause]
1:17:12>> [applause]
1:17:13>> Uh families, thank you for joining us
1:17:15today. Uh this was the first of many
1:17:17speaker series uh events this year. Uh
1:17:20now to make a very unpopular uh
1:17:23statement, students, go to class.