Ney Díaz’s Las 12 preguntas (“The 12 Questions”) is without doubt a book that will make you think, look back over your professional and personal journey and perhaps find a new focus in your life.
Ney Díaz is more than a friend and a professional contact I’ve been working with for almost 25 years; we both consider ourselves “brothers” because of our close personal and professional relationship, the great moments we’ve shared and the deep trust between us.
We met in 1994, when we were both studying at ICADE – Universidad Pontificia de Comillas in Madrid. He was doing an MBA and I was doing a master’s in advertising. A mutual friend introduced us, and from the very first moment I was struck by his tremendous proactivity and entrepreneurial spirit. My father was paying for my master’s, whereas he found his own way to fund his.
Once we finished the master’s, he went back to his country, the Dominican Republic, where he already had a job as an employee, but shortly after getting there he got in touch with me with a proposal.
“My brother, I was thinking of organising a professional seminar in a hotel with you and an executive from Nestlé. Would you be up for it? I hope it goes well; I could pay for your flight.”
The seminar was “Market Research in Times of Globalisation”, together with Nestlé’s director of market research, and it was a resounding success: nearly 100 top-level attendees, and we were on radio, TV and in the press. It was October 1996. Since then I’ve worked with his company INTRAS, finding the best speakers to give highly practical conferences and seminars on the most topical subjects.
From then until today I’ve been amazed by Ney’s capacity to keep growing, since he wasn’t content with INTRAS alone.
He has created more lines of business with Skills (training) and Gestion (a management magazine), as well as countless agreements with international partners (Wobi, Red Mentoring Spain, IE Business School and Incae Business School, among others).
Ney is a businessman of the highest order, a genuine natural leader who seeks excellence in everything he does and has a tremendous balance between his professional, family and social life, so I very much welcomed his book as a way to learn the secrets of his success. In this post from a few years ago I tell you more about him.
What will you find in this book?
It’s a book that will call you to introspection, drive you to strive to be better every day and motivate you to reflect and make the necessary adjustments in your life. That’s my friend Ney Díaz’s intention with his book Las 12 preguntas.
It’s based on everyday life and on his observations from more than 20 years at the head of his company, as well as his brief period working as an employee. It’s not a recipe book of doctrines. Through stories, anecdotes and reflections, Ney shares lessons that serve as inputs for you to answer each of the 12 questions he’ll put to you. He also suggests what to do and which aspects to work on so that the “noes” that hold you back in your day-to-day life become resounding “yeses”.
In a nutshell, his book Las 12 preguntas is a checklist – your checklist – for those of you who want to surpass yourselves and become better people.
It’s not just a book for reading: Ney will set us tasks, so that at the end of each chapter we write down our reflections and the actions we’re going to put into practice.
What are the questions you’ll ask yourself thanks to Ney?
- Do you know what your purpose is? And how to define it
- Are you successful? Your checklist for success and where to start
- Are you happy? Comparisons and changing perspective
- Are you motivated? Passion for what you do, the extra mile
- Are you someone who adds value? Relationships, reciprocity, golden principles…
- Are you focused? The key to those who get things done
- Are you resilient? Obstacles
- Do you have integrity? Your perspective on what is right
- Are you trustworthy? Reliability
- Are you humble? True humility
- Are you consistent? Learn to say no.
- Are you a leader? Credentials, the pressure filter
Question 13, because after reading it you’ll ask yourself: where do I start? For that, Ney encourages you to take notes chapter by chapter, and failing that, at the end of the book there’s a table to fill in with the actions you’re going to take over the next 30 days and the next 3 months to achieve your goals.
A quote I like, near the end, is:
In your process of growth and self-knowledge you will experience setbacks, anxiety, mistakes and disappointments. But I assure you that the feeling of not living up to your potential and fulfilment is worse.
So if you fancy it, you can buy Ney Díaz’s book here: AMAZON
Here’s his profile on LinkedIn
And if you’d like to find out a little more about his company INTRAS and its full range of training for executives.
I hope you’ll read his book and learn from a great person.
Categories