THE MANAGER
A journey inside The Initiative Board.
About writing the foreword:
At first I was reluctant. Andres set the bar so high and I'm a French Canadian of Portugese origin so you don't need to be Einstein to figure out English is not my strength.
But then I said to myself, "Why not?" Maybe more ( people ) will be willing to do it after all. So Let's do it.
Who am I?
A 36 year old father of 3 kids. They are what I cherish the most, above all and everything. Working for family business, landscaping and garden center, is where I spend 80 hours a week during the autumn. Winters are break for me as long as it doesn't snow. Since I am not the kind of guy who likes to speak about himself, I think that is good description of me.
How I started playing?
I was introduced to the game by William José Gonçalves, and it was back in CH2. I ended up managing Benfica against a group of 5 close friends. That was an awesome experience. When you are playing the game with a friend you see every day, it is a totally different thing. It becomes more personal. It was a real challenge. The game is so complex that starting from nothing isn't easy. Fortunately, some good folks, such as Thiago Netz, Rafael VP, BK and Paul Skelton, shared some tips and hints with me. Paul even shared tactical scheme and he took over my Benfica while I was on family vacations with wife and kids in Portugal. That seems so long ago!!!
I became very quickly addicted to this game. Kickstarter campaign was over few months before I joined but than I was able to join Andres as an Initiative board member. That was awesome. Now, not only will I be able to play this great game but I could be part of it's development. We soon decided to welcome another community member. A member voted by the community to speak for them. That's how Thiago joined us. A guy who had played the game before and had a vision that would complement ours. Still, despite the board trying to find what's best for everyone, we were seen as like a closed club. I hated that perception and after some discussion with BK, I decided to sponsor 2 seats open for whoever wanted. We voted and got Woody and René joining us. Now with 5 people we could have some serious talks and vision for the game. Now we are set and able to progress quickly and efficiently.
Red's. notice: Peter Waddell ( Game Master ) is in the board as adviser with no vote.
Member of the Initiative Board, a great patron of Managersim, family man, businessman.
Helder has supported the game for a good amount of time. When not managing his team in the game, he manages his family business, and provides for his family structure, care and passion similarly as in the game where he is a good guy, always eager to help fellow managers and always keen to learn more to get better at every bit of the game.
From outside it may look easy. How do you make this game evolve so you can attract new players without upsetting the habits of the players of the old days?
Easier said than done.
The experience I have from my family business taught me that one of the most difficult things to do is change people's routine. We are so comfortable in our old shoes!!
We know where we come from, we know where we are and we know where we want to go. But that's doesn't guarantee that this is something we are going to achieve.
Those of us who have been in business know that nothing ever goes 100% according to plan, and that is why you have to be able to react and have a plan B.
So in conclusion, Enjoy the game. Enjoy it the most you can. We need to learn the lessons from the past to go forward into the future. The game has moved forward and reached wider audience despite some players would have preferred it to stay and play on his old position.
What we don't want is going back. So great things can happen when we trust each other so we can move on a free role.
Helder Mendes Martins