For years, corporate leadership was understood as a combination of rational strategy, results orientation and process control. However, in the contemporary business environment – characterized by hyperconnectivity, constant disruption and growing pressure to perform – a new paradigm is emerging: the force of leadership no longer depends only on technical competences, but on the human balance behind who leads.
A constant is repeated between high performance executives: those with greater capacity for resilience, focus and creativity share a deep link with hobbies that connect them with the essentials. It is no longer just dominating markets or interpreting metrics; It is also about navigating complexity from a well -founded personal center.
Activities such as motoring, motorcycling, fishing or kitchen – apparently disconnected from the business world – are revealed as spaces where leaders exercise key skills for senior management. On the clues, for example, acute reflexes are developed, confidence in decision making under pressure and an absolute approach. The speed forces to read the environment in real time, anticipate scenarios and work as a team with millimeter precision. The metaphor is inevitable: leading a company in changing times demands exactly the same.
Read more: Sheinbaum and Canadian Premier dialogue about the importance of TMEC for competitiveness
Sustainable leadership: what happens outside the boardroom
At the other extreme, practices such as fishing demand strategic patience, thorough observation and acceptance of limited control. Knowing when to act and when to release becomes an applicable philosophy both in the water and on the corporate board. The kitchen, meanwhile, introduces a relational dimension. Cooking not only implies technique, but also care, delivery and emotional connection. It is a symbolic form of leadership: creating spaces where others feel treated, valued and nourished.
Various studies support this correlation. Leaders who cultivate significant hobbies have lower levels of exhaustion, a greater capacity for strategic analysis and a more empathic connection with their equipment. This translates into a more human organizational culture, resilient and oriented to sustainable results.
In this context, personal passions cease to be a luxury or an evasion to become a compass. They are emotional regulation mechanisms that return perspective and purpose. Faced with the permanent demand to deliver results, these spaces do not distract: they emphasize.
Thinking about the leadership of the future implies expanding conversation. Beyond the spreadsheets and quarterly presentations, there is a silent dimension that also defines success: that which occurs in a kitchen workshop, on a motorcycle at full speed or in an instant of contemplation against the sea. There, in the most personal, it is often gestated as transformative.
The author is founder and CEO of ENTI – National Specialists in Technology and Innovation, Mexican firm focused on digital transformation solutions, cybersecurity and business intelligence. With more than 20 years of experience leading strategic processes in key sectors such as aerospace, automotive and financial, Mora is a promoter of intelligent nearshoring and a reference in the evolution of corporate leadership towards more human, sustainable and visionary models. contact:
(email protected)
You may be interested: Pareto principle and family SMEs: Focus on what really matters
