A leadership story

In early 2024, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Francesca Colazzo, a bright student who had been in my classes at the University of Salento during her bachelor’s degree. Following her graduation, she made the decision to relocate to Milan to further her studies at PoliMi (a move that was undoubtedly a loss for our local community, but that’s another story). Despite the geographical distance, Francesca continued to stay updated on my professional updates through LinkedIn and Instagram. It was during this time that she was tasked with a project for her Leadership and Innovation course, known as the Leadership Story project.

The project involved conducting an in-depth examination of the career of an innovative leader, along with an analysis of their behaviors using the primary leadership frameworks studied in the course. I was delighted when Francesca selected me to be the subject of her project. You can watch the short video interview she conducted here.

In addition to the video interview, Francesca also crafted a comprehensive report about me, encompassing my journey, professional achievements, and my perspective as an innovation leader. The report can be accessed here (I extend my gratitude to Francesca for allowing me to share her report!).

The report meticulously analyzes and outlines the insights gained from the interview, illuminating key facets of my personality that contribute to my role as a (modest) innovation leader within my community, specifically within my research lab. Below is a brief excerpt that I believe encapsulates crucial aspects of my character:

What he is trying to do with students is to be an example for them, motivating them and transmitting the passion for computer science, innovation and challenges. Roberto is by nature keen on big challenges: trying to solve “impossible” or known issues is what keeps him awake at night until he finds a solution. For this reason, he stimulates students to participate in hackathons, which he considers a testing ground for their competencies and a boost for their creativity.

I am drawn to challenges. I thrive on pushing the boundaries of knowledge, exploring uncharted territories, and seeking innovative solutions to unresolved problems. However, my passion for challenges is a double-edged sword: when I’m focused on a particular objective, it consumes my attention and becomes the sole purpose of my existence—at least for that moment. This intense focus sometimes leads me to neglect ongoing activities, risking discontinuity in my endeavors. Another interesting passage in the report is the following:

Being a leader of innovation puts him in a position where he needs to delegate and trust his collaborators. He came from the experience of the spin-off in which he have always trusted his partners blindly and this sometimes caused him problems because, when issues arose, he had to take full responsibility for them. So now he feels somewhat limited by the control mania that has come over him and the need always to know everything to prevent things from getting out of hand. He realizes that this is not a good approach and that it is therefore necessary to find the right compromise in order to work better with his team. Learning to trust and delegate is also important because it allows him to better organize his days and devote the right amount of time to himself.

Delegating tasks is a wonderful exercise in trust and mutual growth. However, I acknowledge that I am a work in progress in this regard. Due to past negative experiences, I find it challenging to remain calm when assigning tasks to others. While I understand that everyone has the right to make mistakes (as I certainly have in the past), I often find myself inquiring too frequently about the progress of delegated tasks, which may come across as somewhat intrusive. I will delve further into this topic in the next excerpt:

Another challenge he has to face in his leadership role with students is finding the right trade-off between leaving people to freely express their creativity and doing activities respecting the timeline. Some students do their job meticulously following the directives and the suggestions; on the other hand, others are volcanoes of ideas. In the first case, Roberto feels that he should encourage them to put in their effort, to give alternative solutions and not to be mere performers; in the second one, he needs to calm them down but at the same time consider their ideas, perhaps revising and adapting them to the project while making sure that requirements and deadlines are still met. It is a delicate job because the risk is that of hurting the sensibilities of people who may be frustrated by having ideas that are of great value to them rejected. As a leader, therefore, Roberto first and foremost wants to encourage creativity and enhance the new ideas generation process, but, at the same time, he needs to highlight the importance of following a plan and respecting deadlines and project specifications.

Over the past two and a half years, roughly coinciding with my short-term research contract, I’ve had the privilege of supervising dozens of students. Each one is a unique individual with their own background and aspirations. However, they all share a common trait: a deep desire to learn and a keen determination to obtain their degree. I see these dual objectives as forming a cross: the vertical line symbolizes their thirst for knowledge, their eagerness to specialize in a particular field, to comprehend creation, and to master nature. The horizontal line represents their life journey, their pursuit of their goals, and their sense of agency over their own destinies. At the intersection of these two lines stands the professor, embodying the institution and tasked with harmonizing all the elements while letting things happen, as naturally as possible. Much like a flower emerging from the soil or a melody flowing from a guitarist’s fingers, a thesis is a manifestation of nature expressing itself, as stated by John Frusciante in an interview. As an older flower, I love my mother Nature and I’ll let my Lab be the most coloured flowery meadow in the University… because I love challenges 🙂

Unfortunately, I can’t delve into the entire report here, but I must say it’s a fascinating and valuable resource for anyone aspiring to become a (digital) innovator—not just because it features my story, but due to the insightful conceptual frameworks Francesca employed. I highly recommend downloading it and taking the time to read through it. Once again, thank you, Francesca 🙏🏼 be the most flourished seed in your soil!