Sugar Water or Changing the World?

Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life, or do you want a chance to change the world?

That is how Steve Jobs challenged John Sculley to leave Pepsi for Apple, in 1983. Sculley would later say that the question left him without an answer. Jobs knew that, to win him over, he had to offer him something bigger than a new job title or a salary.

Sculley brought his marketing experience from Pepsi to Apple and took part in the launch of the Macintosh in 1984. The legendary "1984" campaign, aired during the Super Bowl, presented Apple as an alternative to conformity and to IBM's dominance. The ad barely showed the product, yet it managed to communicate a vision that went far beyond its technical features.

Communicating is also leading

For me, knowing how to communicate and sell an idea, a product or a vision is one of the most important skills a leader can have.

We can have excellent ideas, knowledge, experience and technology, but they are of little use if we cannot convey their value and lead other people, whether customers, partners or employees, to believe in them.

And this goes far beyond speaking well in public or preparing a good presentation. It means understanding who is in front of us, knowing how to listen, adapting the message and finding the best way to explain what we want to achieve.

Steve Jobs realised he did not need to convince Sculley that Apple was a better company than Pepsi. He needed to show him an opportunity he had not yet considered.

Transformation is not only about technology

The transformation we are living through, particularly with Artificial Intelligence, demands much more than technical knowledge.

In organisations, we can provide the best tools, build solutions and set ambitious strategies. But we also need to be able to explain their value, engage teams and create the conditions for people to want to take part in the change.

That is why I keep learning from professionals in different fields, such as Marcello Pepe (public speaking), Jose Carlos F. Pereira (sales and business), Alexandre Monteiro (body language), Paulo Ferreira (decision-making, sales and negotiation) and Sérgio Almeida (DISC), among others.

These are fields that complement my work with technology and that I consider increasingly relevant for anyone who leads people, projects and organisations.

Communication is a skill I keep developing, both in how I present my own ideas and in the work I do with organisations investing in digital transformation and in the technological literacy of their teams.

Because an idea can be technically extraordinary, but it needs to be understood, valued and accepted by people to get anywhere.