Roberto Grippi’s Personal Blog
A personal blog with daily posts, biography, main activities and publications, available in Italian and English.
Leadership is a journey, not a destination.
It is a process of learning, adapting and constantly growing.
The quotes and reflections contained in this blog are the companions I have relied on throughout my career. They have helped me motivate people, lead teams, and even offer criticism without humiliation.
They have been a means of inspiring company policies, complimenting achievements, and opening dialogues in the multifaceted environments of companies, factories, offices, and corporate groups.
By sharing these reflections, I hope to offer something meaningful to readers, budding leaders at all stages of their journey.
Whether you are aspiring managers, seasoned chief executives, or individuals seeking wisdom in your personal lives, I invite you to draw from these pages as I have drawn from the insights of others.
From my desk to yours, this is my story: a testament to the power of resilience, the value of words, and the infinite potential of those who dare to lead others in a working way.
My story, the story of many…
Every leader’s story begins with a single decision, an act of courage, curiosity or necessity that marks the course of a lifetime.
For me, that moment came when in 1982 I was a young law student and bought my first computer (computer, not PC: better still, it was a Commodore 64!).
I asked my aunt Franca, a bank manager, for the money for the purchase, and she asked me what I needed it for.
It was 1982, the first Personal Computers had just appeared on the market in 1980; nobody from the general public knew what they could be used for and my aunt worked in a large bank, where the rule ‘computers = gigantic facilities’ applied.
I replied: ‘I will tell you in 10 years’.
It took only three years: when I ran my first factory, I introduced electronic accounting in the company. Until then they had been using an Olivetti accounting machine with paper cards!
Estimates and invoices that had previously been individually typed in several copies using carbon paper were created with a word processor.
Today, nobody thinks anymore that back then all documents were single originals, and that if you wanted a copy, you had to type it out in full! Photocopiers had just become machines in regular use, but still not common; they cost a lot, so they were not affordable for everyone.
That first challenge triggered something deep within me: the realisation that challenges, however complex, can be overcome with innovation and determination.
This conviction would become the cornerstone of my philosophy and the basis of the journey recounted through my posts.
In four decades I have worn many hats: lawyer, turnaround manager, expansion strategist, startup founder and CEO.
These roles, though varied, have been united by an unwavering commitment to transformation. I have not only led companies, but I have built and rebuilt them (and, unfortunately, sometimes had to witness their downfall), reshaped them and even had to reinvent the company to innovate its industry.
The lessons learned along the way have been invaluable to me, and this blog is both a reflection of those experiences and an offering to those who aspire to lead with purpose.
