LidVa Magazine
Num. 4, November 2024
01
Leader or responsible?
David Noguera Hancock,
Humanitarian worker,
president of Doctors Without Borders
in Spain (from 2016 to 2021)
The emotional inaugural speech of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at the General Assembly reflected his impotence and frustration in the face of the challenges of the world around us. Uncontrolled wars, climate change, artificial intelligence… existential threats that are present today. His audience was the world, but in the room, he was surrounded by what we call “world leaders”.
I greatly appreciate the invitation from the Chair of Leadership in Values to write this text. But I ask you for one thing in return. As a chair, I would entrust you with the task of redefining what a world leader is. To tidy up the lexicon so that we are clear about what and who we are talking about.
Because leadership, a concept loaded with positive connotations, either has a favorable impact on the population, or it is not leadership. We must identify it in another way. And if we called them responsible? From the balcony of the memory of my 25 years dedicated to humanitarian action, I know firsthand what the failure that Guterres somehow expressed is.
Because there is no better example of collective failure than an armed conflict, a famine that kills dozens of children, or an uncontrolled epidemic. When you lead an emergency response project, where you always work overwhelmed by the context and operate triage medicine (choosing who you save and who you don’t), you must be very clear about where the limits and differences between leadership and responsibility are.
We live in a world that has all the capabilities to solve its fundamental problems and decides every day not to do so. Moreover, we live in a world where there are already people/individuals who can change everything, and who decide every day that they will not. Because there are those responsible for these existential threats. With names and surnames, at the head of governments and other entities, who enjoy this label of leader.
And it is essential to distinguish between popularity and prestige. They are popular, but no one is able to identify the Mandela of our generation, impossible to find among a new generation of rulers who, yes, have won their particular “Squid Game” in which they have turned contemporary politics in their respective countries and institutions, at the cost of their prestige among the population. This is not leadership.
And it is essential to distinguish between profit and well-being, and between performance and utility. There are individuals who can accumulate profits and wealth to obscene limits, but are absolutely useless in generating balances that ensure the well-being and dignity of the population around them. This is not leadership either.
And let no one confuse this text with anti-politics. On the contrary. Because the alternative is very real. I remember firsthand the tough moments of COVID in Catalonia, where all the forms of leadership that we need to identify, enhance, and recognize emerged. Among the rulers, healthcare workers, and other services, and a committed and responsible citizenry, there were thousands of examples of solidarity and empathy that defeated the greatest threat of our generation. And it is true that we had some examples of greed, incompetence, and excessive selfishness. But it is undeniable that collectively we overcame that challenge. True politics was made.
Therefore, the ability to solve major challenges and problems is not about capacity. It is about will. It is not that it cannot be done. It is that it is not wanted. It is not a question of leadership then. It is a question of responsibility.
Therefore, those responsible are those who make us worse, hoping that somehow and someday they will have to be held accountable and we will strip from their immense ego that satisfaction when they hear themselves called a leader.
And let us reserve this last word (leader) for so many people who make decisions seeking balances between interests and principles, between the individual and the common, and in a very human way, in the sense that they do it full of contradictions, full of doubts, without having all the answers, achieving good things without ever being perfect. And they try from the position they have reached or have been given in life, contributing not only to the well-being of their own (perfectly legitimate), but also trying to respond to collective challenges, seeking an impact that transcends what is strictly popular or profitable, and with a view that also seeks the well-being of people, and particularly protects the less favored.
And by doing this, they set an example every day.
David Noguera Hancock
humanitarian worker,
president of Doctors Without Borders
in Spain (from 2016 to 2021)
02
Talk between Manel Estiarte and Ramon Besa
Manel Estiarte and Ramon Besa talk about leadership and communication.
“Words that foster wills”
Manel Estiarte
Former water polo player and member of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City. He has been an Olympian on several occasions and was part of the International Olympic Committee. He received the Prince of Asturias Award for sports in 2001 for his exemplary sports career.
“We want them perfect. We want the leader to be a single person. Let’s leave that aside. The leader must be an imperfect person, who shows their limitations, with their abilities, who knows how to surround themselves with good people.
[…] The most important thing of all is that [the leader] has a good understanding of the human being: that they know how to harness [the person’s] talent to put it at the service of the group.”
03
David Noguera recommends...
David Noguera,
Humanitarian worker,
president of Doctors Without Borders
in Spain (from 2016 to 2021)
At the beginning of the 20th century, an expedition of 28 people embarked on the Endurance to undertake an unprecedented feat: crossing Antarctica on foot. The ship became trapped in the ice, and the crew, led by Ernest Shackleton, had to endure two years of extreme conditions before reaching a command post connected to civilization. Along the way, part of the group stayed behind while others ventured with a small lifeboat to seek help.
The feat of Shackleton and his fellow travelers is considered the last of the great heroic expeditions to the South Pole. Alfred Lansing built this account from the expedition’s diaries and interviews with most of the survivors.
David Noguera Hancock
Humanitarian worker
and president of Doctors Without Borders
in Spain (from 2016 to 2021)
LANSING, Alfred: Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
Editorial: Basic Books; Reissue edició (1 abril 2015)
ISBN 10: 0465062881 / ISBN 13: 978-0465062881
04
Magic Maze
Recommended by
CAE, formació i serveis socioculturals
Author: Kasper Lapp
Illustrations: Gyom
Publisher: 2 Tomatoes games
Brief presentation: Magic Maze is a board game that breaks the mold, starting with its setting: 4 superheroes have lost their belongings and enter a shopping mall to steal them back. Once they have obtained them, they must escape without being seen. From there, the game mechanics continue to surprise us: it is played against the clock, each player can only make certain moves, as the game progresses the shopping mall is revealed, and there are significant communication limitations.
Magic Maze is a real-time cooperative game that poses a question: can one lead in an environment of chaos?
In 2017, Magic Maze was nominated for the Spiel des Jahres awards and for the best game in Spain, and it won the audience award at the International Games Festival of Córdoba and the award for the most innovative game in Germany (Innospiel).
Recommended ages: From 8 years
Participants: 1-8 players
Game duration: 15 minutes
Components
- 24 Shopping Mall tiles
- 4 hero pawns (barbarian, dwarf, elf, mage), each of a different color
- 12 Out of Service markers (crosses)
- 16 Action tiles (9 for games with 2-8 players and 7 for solo play)
- 1 3-minute Sand Timer
- 1 “Do something!” pawn
- 1 score sheet
- 1 Theft tile
- Rules
How it works
Game objective: The game is won if the 4 heroes manage to escape from the shopping mall with the stolen items. Otherwise, all players lose the game.
Basic operation
A game of Magic Maze unfolds according to this sequence:
- Explore the shopping mall, searching for the items to steal.
- Each hero must reach and position themselves on the tile where the item they need to steal is located.
- When all 4 heroes are in place simultaneously, they steal the items. The alarm is triggered, and they must escape from the shopping mall.
The game presents different scenarios – levels of difficulty – and the game elements used (shopping mall tiles and action tiles) are conditioned by the scenarios and the number of players.
Game setup (scenario 1 – initiation)
Select the action and shopping mall tiles that will be used during the game. Place the starting tile in the center of the table, face up, and the 4 hero pawns on the 4 central squares of the starting tile.
Distribute the action tiles among the players, who place them visible in front of them, with the same orientation (N ˄) as the starting tile.
Also place the timer, the out-of-service markers, and the theft tile on the table.
The action tiles indicate which movements a pawn can make for each player:
- up, down, right, left, one or as many squares as desired
- explore a new area (add a new shopping mall tile)
- go up the escalators
- or move a pawn to a vortex square of the same color
All players can move any pawns they want – regardless of color – but can only make the movement or movements that each player has on their action tile.
The shopping mall tiles contain squares that configure paths. Some squares have special properties:
- Exploration. When a pawn reaches an exploration square of its color, the player who can perform the exploration movement adds a new shopping mall tile.
- Vortex. The player with the ability to move pawns to the vortex can move a pawn to any visible vortex of the same color.
- Escalators, to overcome height differences. Only usable by pawns moved by the player who has this ability.
- Sand timer. Allows the sand timer to be flipped and continue playing.
- Items to steal. Each item has a specific square where the pawn of the corresponding color must be placed.
- Exit squares. Specific for each color, except in initial games where there is only one exit of purple color.
Let’s play!!!
The sand timer is flipped and the game begins. There are 3 minutes to play ahead. The players, without any order or turn, make the movement or movements they can execute, with any pawn they want.
If a pawn lands on a square with the sand timer, the timer is flipped, the square is disabled with an out-of-service marker, and the game continues. (Warning: it is important to measure whether this action is beneficial or not depending on the state of the timer).
As the pawns move, new areas can be explored by incorporating new shopping mall tiles. The tiles have a white arrow on a square indicating how they should be added to the game board.
When the 4 pawns are simultaneously placed on the square of their item, the theft occurs. At this moment, the theft card is flipped and the vortex squares are deactivated. The players must move the hero pawns towards the exit or their respective exits. In this phase of the game, the option to flip the timer when a pawn is placed on an active timer square remains valid.
End of the game
The game ends and all players win if the 4 pawns manage to escape. It also ends if at any point the sand in the timer runs out. In this case, the players have lost the game.
Communication
During the game, players cannot talk to each other. However, there are two exceptions where communication is allowed:
- Using the “Do something!” pawn. Any player at any time during the game can take this pawn and place it in front of another player, letting them know that they expect them to take some action. No words can be spoken, nor can the pawn that needs to be moved be pointed out.
- Players can talk to each other in the time interval between flipping the timer and when a pawn starts to move.
Working with the game
Magic Maze is a frantic game with rounds that generate a strong sense of disorder and chaos. In this context of chaos, we ask ourselves if any type of leadership is possible.
In the game, players must have a dual vision:
On one hand, be aware of the situation and the path each of the 4 pawns must take to see if they can move any with their abilities marked on the action tile.
On the other hand, detect the need for other movements and request collaboration from the indicated person through the “Do something!” pawn.
This combination is not easy and not everyone does it at the same speed. Leadership, therefore, is shared among all players, but it will likely fall more significantly on the person who can combine the two visions as quickly as possible.
The lack of verbal communication makes players rely on their ability to observe and interpret the movements of others, which enhances team cohesion and trust.
An interesting action is to play the “Do something!” pawn, as it allows indicating to a player that they have the possibility to execute one of their actions and that, therefore, it is expected of them to make an intervention. At the same time, however, the repetition of this action towards the same person can have a negative effect, as it may generate a feeling of discomfort or insecurity regarding their role in the game.
On the other hand, the time factor adds another level of stress that pressures players to make quick and effective decisions. This develops leadership skills under pressure, where it is essential to remain calm and ensure that actions are coherent and well-coordinated. Time management is key, and a good leader in the game will be the one who knows when to recharge the sand timer or efficiently give hints to others to do so.
Thus, leadership is possible in this chaos. Magic Maze allows us to work on leadership in an unconventional way, focusing on collaborative leadership, delegation, mutual trust, non-verbal communication, and quick decision-making under pressure.
More information and how to get it
https://2tomatoesgames.com/ca/magic-maze-catesp-8437022321318.html
Physical game stores / online game stores
