MindSight

A Smarter Way to Lead

by Eliana L. Medeiros

Ijust returned from another trip and, as usual, I took so many notes along the way that, running out of paper, I ended up writing on the airplane's sickness bag. I couldn’t risk losing that new information, or the insights that, in some way, reinforced what I had already learned.

As someone enlightened recently told me: "I am a learner who takes the best from every place I go." And that is so true. I keep learning, and my curiosity remains intact. In fact, I’d even say I am more curious now than when I was younger. After all, I’ve learned that time is finite, and since I only have one ticket for this journey, I want to experience as much as I can.

Is that what makes me feel like a citizen of the world? Being invited to lecture at Kyoto University, having a Finnish CEO wander into a forest to bring me fresh blueberries, buying an extra suitcase to carry all the gifts I received in Peru, staying an extra hour and a half chatting with my client’s customers in Poland, being invited to stay at colleagues’ homes in Columbus, receiving flowers from my students in Brazil, or getting ambassadors, presidents, and ministers to dance in an African country I won’t name, to maintain decorum. :)

How do I do this, being just a "girl from Barreiro"?

Excellence. That’s the answer I give myself. Excellence demands leadership, first leading yourself, then leading others. Because alone, there comes a point where we can’t go any further.

This pursuit of excellence and self-leadership is what took me to the C-Suite of a market-leading ultra-luxury company. It’s what allowed me to take on challenges like designing service strategies that, today, make me say with near certainty that my work has touched some of the most powerful and influential people in the world.

Me, the "girl from Barreiro".

But it could only be this way. It is those of us who come from many intersections of life who, when we have the courage to embrace our talents, bring innovation.

From Steve Jobs to Margaret Busby. From Nelson Mandela to Greta Thunberg. From Baroness Floella Benjamin to the idealistic Benjamin Zephaniah. From Gina Miller to Marcus Rashford. From Heloísa Assis to Cristiano Ronaldo. This is how it has been, and this is how it will be.

This is why this newsletter exists, for everyone who feels they don’t have a seat at the leadership table.

And what I have to say is simple: the table is waiting for you.

I will share with you proven strategies and tools, ones that have worked for me and will work for you, to help you get there.

Thank you for being here.

Eliana.

"You are only truly free when you realize that you belong nowhere and, at the same time, you belong everywhere. The price is high. The reward is great."
Maya Angelou

Strategy #1

Where you are is the right place for what comes next.

Invariably, and due to societal pressures, we often think that if we were different of another age, nationality, gender, color, or social class, we would be in a better position.

Maybe that’s true. But we only have one life, and to reach our full potential, we must play with the cards we’ve been dealt, and the ones we have right now.

All disadvantages, when seen from a different perspective, become an advantage because they teach us to look from a less obvious angle. And that angle, often ignored by those who feel disadvantaged and minimized by those in power, is a rough diamond. A unique perspective that can be refined and transformed into valuable know-how in professional life.

After all, even in mathematics, a negative times a negative equals a positive.

two woman sitting by the window laughing

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

The Strategy in 3 Actions

Photo by Diego Jimenez on Unsplash

1. Have a Vision for Yourself

You may not have the plan, but have the vision.

Since childhood, I knew I wanted to be like the strong heroines I saw on TV. I identified with them and saw myself in their stories. I wanted to be the leader of my own life, to travel. I have always loved beautiful, sophisticated, and elegant things, even when they felt far from my financial reality.

That focus, both consciously and unconsciously, shaped my choices. By the age of 17, I started working in the luxury industry and eventually traveled the world.

Having a vision means doing exactly what Stanford neuroscientists like Dr. James Doty call manifestation. When we give our brain a destination, it finds the way.

Here’s how it works:

If I ask you to find everything around you that is green, your brain will focus on that. But if I then ask how many gray things you saw, you’ll probably say none, because your brain filters out what it wasn’t asked to notice.

The vision you have for yourself defines what your brain will focus on.

And this is even more important when we realize that 47% of our day is spent on autopilot, doing more of the same, without full awareness.

red brick wall with live, work, create. quote

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

2. Always Do Excellent Work

Regardless of your current role, be punctual, professional, stay organized, and at the beginning of the week, send your boss an update: your priorities for the week and what you achieved the previous week.

"Oh, but my boss didn't ask for that." or the classic "Okay, but my colleagues don't do it." It doesn’t matter. This is about you and about building personal discipline.

Your boss may not have asked for it, but they will respect you for it, even if they never show it.

Our circumstances don’t define our mindset, but they do influence it. Working with excellence will remind you that you have places to go and goals to achieve.

Where you are today is a stepping stone, not the whole journey. Working this way is already preparing you for what comes next.

And more than that, it boosts your self-esteem. It makes you feel like you deserve more, and that becomes an unstoppable fuel for energy and motivation, which enhances a true human superpower: proactivity.

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

3. Learn everything you can, from everyone

We learn even from those who seem to have nothing to teach us.

Because they do teach us, even if it's what not to do or what to avoid.

Sit down with colleagues from other departments and ask them:

What do you do?
What are your biggest challenges?
What do you love most about your work?
How can I help you with mine?
What opportunities do you see?

That networking is essential. 100% of my clients come from recommendations by former colleagues or clients. I don’t even need to do marketing.

And the fewer financial resources you have, the more you need to work on building these connections. The wealthiest people in the world do this all the time because they know that’s how influence is built and maintained. This is one of the secrets I learned from them.

All of our life experiences should be leveraged for the next step up.

I can’t even count how many times I’ve used my entire professional experience in a project and created something new, surprising even myself.

Everything is everything. Every experience, every mistake, every detail, everything can be used for growth.

To lead well, you must develop the muscle of courage. As Maya Angelou said: "Courage is the most important of all virtues, because without it, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently."

woman in brown long sleeve shirt sitting by the window

a hand holding a pair of glasses with water droplets on it

To Read

"The Power of Habit" was essential to my personal and professional growth. An extraordinary book that should be required reading in both schools and executive courses.

Why should you read this book?

It will help you successfully implement the three key actions that transform your trajectory:

Personal Excellence → Develop high-performance habits at work.

Vision and Focus → Understand how unconscious habits shape our decisions.

Continuous Learning → Reprogram habits to absorb more knowledge and evolve constantly.

This book is a tool for growth because if you don’t understand how your body and mind work, you won’t recognize the resources you already have within you. And without that awareness, you can never reach your full potential.

To Watch

This is my favorite movie because it set me free.

At 22, rewatching this story made me realize that I had a place in this world and that I owed it to myself to explore how far I could go—exactly as I am. It’s a masterpiece of resilience, transformation, and self-leadership. Few stories capture the journey from oppression to self-empowerment of women and minorities as well as The Color Purple.

This Steven Spielberg film inspires, challenges, and teaches, making it the perfect complement to Strategy #1.

Why should you watch this movie?

The Color Purple perfectly encapsulates the three actions we discussed:

Excellence in the present → Celie starts from a place of adversity, yet she does everything with quiet strength, proving that dignity and discipline shape the path to the future.

Having a vision for yourself → Even without knowing how, Celie believes life has more to offer her than suffering. Her growth is the perfect example of how perseverance can manifest a new reality.

Learning from everyone → Celie’s transformation is shaped by those around her—some teach her what to embrace, others what to avoid. Every experience molds her, just as it does in our own lives.

If you haven’t seen it yet, now is the time. And if you have, maybe it’s time to rewatch it with a fresh perspective.

To Experience

For a lesson in excellence, I recommend visiting The Lanesborough in London and, if possible, enjoying a tea or coffee at the Withdrawing Room.

Why should you experience this?

This experience perfectly encapsulates the three actions we discussed:

Excellence in the present → At The Lanesborough, nothing is left to chance. Every detail of the service and hospitality reflects a consistently high standard of excellence.

Having a vision for yourself → Being in an environment where quality and attention to detail are elevated to the highest level can help expand your perception of what is possible.

Learning from everyone → Observing the staff and how they interact with clients teaches us how to adapt, respond with elegance, and create memorable experiences, even with difficult customers.

Visiting these spaces is essential, not for the luxury, but to understand what "the best of the best" means in our society. To perceive the language, the codes, the way everything is interwoven, even if it’s not part of your daily life, even if it feels like it’s not your place.

But how can you grow without knowing the different versions of life that exist? And how can you be certain without experiencing them?

To move forward in this world, you must step out of your comfort zone. Otherwise, complaints become meaningless laments.

A simple coffee at The Lanesborough is not an unattainable luxury, and it is, without a doubt, a masterclass in excellence.

I go there whenever I need to remind myself that excellence exists, and life can be like this too.