Being invited to give a masterclass at Les Roches during its annual alumni gathering this past weekend prompted me to reflect on just how much a good education has shaped my life.
I arrived expecting young graduates, ready to encourage them to appreciate their privileged position and use it to become the people they wanted to be, rather than simply fulfil others’ expectations. To my surprise, my students’ average age was fifty! My planned session on authenticity in leadership quickly became a lesson in authenticity and spontaneity, including my own.
Perhaps that made the experience even more meaningful. The older I get, the more I recognise what my education gave me, alongside my dad’s three golden rules.
It wasn’t always easy. My Spanish teacher wanted me to drop the subject because my marks were bringing down the school average, but my mother insisted I continue. She arranged extra lessons in Spanish, French and maths, determined that struggling shouldn’t mean giving up.
A good private school was followed by economics and politics, French and Spanish, shorthand and typing, while Saturdays in my uncle’s furniture shop and holidays in my dad’s office and the local pub provided practical lessons.
When I left home at twenty, I was innocent and unprepared in many ways, yet those foundations helped me move forward with confidence. Privilege also taught me to feel comfortable around wealth, while questioning its use to make others feel inferior.
Sharing the evening gala with senior figures from Les Roches worldwide was particularly special, especially seeing Manu’s achievements at the Marbella campus being recognised.
Education certainly does opens doors, but its greatest gift is the confidence to choose which ones to walk through.