Life and leadership lessons from Ayrton Senna

In the second half of the twentieth century, motorsport as emerged as one of the major - and most beloved - segments in sports; and if until the turn of the millennium the world of racing seemed pretty much split in two, with NASCAR dominating in the US and Formula 1 everywhere else, in the last twenty years things have change a little bit: NASCAR’s following in the States is still massive, but F1 has gained a big following in North America as well, with multiple racing events every year, becoming a de-facto “global circus”. Today, Formula 1 events are watched live by hundreds of millions every weekend, generating a multi-billion dollar business, and drivers are elevated at the stardom.

But if you ask any F1 fan - actually, any racing driver from any category - who is the greatest driver of all times, you are in from a double surprise. For once, you’ll receive an incredibly homogeneous set of answers, but also that single name that everybody repeats is the one of a man who died almost 30 years ago: Ayrton Senna.

This is not the place to tell the entire life story of Ayrton Senna: not enough space to go through his upbringing in Brazil, his legendary victories on wet tracks, his discussed rivalry with Alain Prost. But at the 1994 San Marino GP in Italy on May 1st, Senna stepped up on what would be his last race. He entered the Tamburello bend of the Imola circuit. He lost control due to a broken steering rod. He strode straight to the side walls and shook himself violently. The telemetry showed that Senna, when realizing that he was going to hit, managed to reduce the car from 300 km/h to 200 km/h. At that moment, the whole audience on live TV, and the entire Brazilian nation, held their breath, waiting for any movement by the pilot. A slight movement happened, but it drastically worsened his brain damage. Rescued promptly on the runway, he was transferred to the hospital in Bologna, where, a few hours later, he was pronounced dead. It was the end point of the athlete and the beginning of a majestic legacy. Senna’s death was breaking news on every outlet worldwide and, a few days later, his funerals in Brazil were watched live by over 1 billion people.

To truly understand Senna, beyond him being the ultimate drivers’ driver, we need to take a deeper look at his actions and his words, and we will quickly realize that the way he approached his job - his entire life, actually - was nothing like anything we’ve seen before. Senna thought of himself, genuinely and deeply, as “on a mission from God”: what was the mission’s goal wasn’t the important part, as much as it was the intensity of the mission itself.

Few drivers are as quotable as Ayrton Senna, whose words are just as captivating as his on-track heroics. At times, he spoke with a wisdom that almost belied his age: a few years back McLaren, the racing team he raced with and won most of his career, tried to put together some of the quotes that hit the deepest, making an amazing list of life and leadership lessons from the greatest driver ever.

1) "With regard to performance, commitment, effort, dedication, there is no middle ground. Or you do something very well or not at all."

There’s something almost Yoda-esque about this quote from Ayrton: you know, ‘Do or do not. There is no try.’ Whether Ayrton actually watched Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back we’re not entirely sure, but there’s arguably nothing more meaningful than giving you’re all to something. Granted, doing so won’t guarantee you success but it will increase your chances, and even if you don’t pull it off, it doesn’t matter; what matters is that you gave it everything you’ve got. And, if you do fall short…

2) "Many times through a mistake due to your own personality or your own character or interference that you get along the way then you learn, and the main thing is to make sure you learn from your mistakes and get better."

Do not fear failure. When we push ourselves to reach new heights or set out to achieve something, we don’t always get there – sometimes we come unstuck. However, that’s no reason to get disheartened. Losing is as much a part of life as winning, but we learn more from our losses. We all make mistakes and it’s what we learn from them, how we bounce back, that shapes the journey to achieving our ambitions.

3) "As soon as you touch this limit, something happens, and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high."

We all have limits, but none of us truly know how far we can go or what we’re capable of. The key is never to be afraid to go that little bit further, to keep pushing. As Ayrton suggests, you never know how high you might fly.

4) "There is no merit from a person, but from a team."

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts and you should never forget the power of the team. Teamwork really does make the dream work and Ayrton knew it. Even when you’re as talented as him, to achieve greatness you need the help of others and that applies to all walks of life; you will have a greater chance of succeeding at whatever you do, at making a difference, when you do it with the help of others.

5) "The main thing is to be yourself and not allow people to disturb you to be different because they want you to be different. You gotta be yourself."

Brilliance and achievement are all well and good, but bravery is what really wins hearts and minds. Ayrton had it in spades and demonstrated it behind the wheel on countless occasions. But you don’t need to drive a 200-mph rocket ship and seemingly defy the laws of physics to be brave. There’s arguably nothing braver than just being yourself, especially in a world that seems hellbent on bombarding us with messages of how we should look and what we should say, do, think and even feel. Be brave: be true to yourself and you won’t go far wrong.

But probably the most memorable quote, the one that hits the deepest, from Senna, is the one about the very essence of being a racing driver:

“And you should know that by being a racing driver, you are under risks all the time. By being a racing driver means you are racing with other people. And if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you're no longer a racing driver, because we are competing. We are competing to win, and the main motivation to all of us is to compete for victory; it's not to come 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th.”

Some might hear echoes of Vince Lombardi’s “victory is the only thing”, but the key lesson of Senna’s life is all about not being defined by the victories, not by the achievements, but by always being on the look for opportunities, and always ready to go after them. You will lose 100% of the challenges that you don’t take, so having a “go for it” mindset is probably the most important attribute to have to succeed, in life and business. Or, at least, this is what we can learn from Ayrton Senna’s legacy. He's the most iconic driver. He was an iconic individual, a real?leader?and a master of his craft.

Disclaimer

What's above represents?my personal opinion?and not the opinion or policy of my employers or any other company, organization or individual I can be associated with.

The facts expressed here belong to everybody, the quoted statements belongs to their respective authors, the opinions only to me: the distinction is yours to draw...