Yesterday there was no decibel meter at the La Nave venue in Madrid, but as in macro-concerts, the ground vibrated as soon as you crossed the entrance to the eleventh edition of the South Summit, which has been held since yesterday in Madrid. The famous concept of networking (informal professional relationships) reigned supreme.

Corridors packed with groups, all the conference rooms with full capacity and queues to enter to listen to one of the great claims of the day, the dialectical duel between two particular leaders.

The former basketball player and current financier of entrepreneurs Pau Gasol and Pablo lsla, former CEO of Inditex and current president of the governing council of IE University, distributed to the agitated audience a not inconsiderable portion of advice camouflaged as an apparent conversation between friends. “There are many forms of leadership, but if I had to choose the one that I consider most relevant, it is not treating everyone equally,” said the former Inditex director.

“Not everyone is the same. The greatest challenge for a leader is to identify the best in each member of his team and make the best of him shine. Some are more sensitive than others, you cannot ask everyone for the same thing or in the same way”, suggested the manager to the hundreds of entrepreneurs who gathered yesterday to listen to him.

“Identifying how to motivate each one, that is the success of a good coach”, confirmed Pau Gasol. The former NBA player slipped in turn a strategic phrase for those who are in the process of forming their work teams. “If as a leader you’re in a room where people aren’t smarter than you, you’re in the wrong place.”

These days at the South Summit in Madrid, examples of intelligence, of innovative proposals in all social spheres, are multiplying.

As the founder and president of the event, María Bejumea, assured in the opening session, it is just an example of how much the Spanish entrepreneurial community has grown in the 11 years of South Summit, which, after the success of its edition in Brazil, is pressing the international accelerator looking for venues for Asia and the US.