Pablo Martín Páez Gavira, popularly known as Gavi, is one of the footballers of the moment. At just 18 years old, he has become an essential piece of Barça's midfield, while he is making his way in the Spanish team, where he holds records as important as the third-earliest goalscorer in the history of the World Cups. Although his career is eminently short, the Sevillian has already managed to earn the respect of his teammates, the admiration of the experts and the affection of the fans.
And what qualities does Gavi have to be such a special player? Well, the truth is that he is not the fastest in the class, nor the one with the best dribbling, nor the ideal header, nor the one with a differentiating shot, nor the one with the most experience, nor does he even have a vision of the game extraordinary. He surely treasures a little of everything. But then he has three intangible virtues that make him extraordinary: passion, effort and attitude.
The passion for his work gives him a first-rate competitive spirit, driven by an illusion that defies any obstacle. His effort capacity allows him to be better than the others, since he always gets to the ball before the most talented footballer. And his attitude is the main lever of his progress, with a personality anchored in values such as humility, perseverance and honesty. Thus, it could be said that Gavi is a clear example of the theory of Professor Benito Echeverría, who states that "professional success is 25% aptitude and 75% attitude".
All organizations need profiles like Gavi, who incorporate these individual qualities to collective skills. And it is that the winning teams are also those that move with positive energy, those who understand that persistence is more powerful than ingenuity, and those who prefer a gram of action to a ton of intention. In fact, the success of many benchmark companies has been built on corporate cultures that reward passion, effort and attitude, understanding that these virtues progressively lead to excellence.
The difficulty in giving opportunities to professionals like Gavi is that it implies breaking three management stereotypes that are deeply rooted in companies. The first is the one that refers to the professional hierarchy based on age, as reflected in the Jurassic division between seniors and juniors, which on many occasions only serves to limit the development of young people and accommodate veterans. This is where you have to show managerial courage and give wings to people who really have potential, regardless of their date of birth.
Another paradigm that must be changed is that of the supremacy of the curriculum, since technical knowledge can make us capable, but not necessarily competent. And it is that the ability to develop a job optimally has a lot to do with the qualities that Gavi represents, although they are less identifiable than the number of titles, languages or years of experience.
And the third stereotype of business management that must be overcome is the one that tends to overestimate external talent and underestimate that from home. This is a very common cognitive bias, but it can be combated with a firm commitment to internal promotion. Because Gavi wouldn't be Gavi if someone hadn't seen that this 17-year-old from Seville could be just as good as any midfielder in the world.
