A speech aimed at uniting the team

01. The Fire Is Still Inside You

I don't know how you're going to do it. Do you hear me? I. Don't. Know. But you have to remember that smell. The smell of your spring. The smell of your youth. That time when you woke up in the morning and still didn't know what “too late” meant. When you had no guarantees. No connections. No twenty-year plan! But you had something else. You had FIRE. WHERE IS IT?! I'm asking you — WHERE IS IT?! Don't look around. Don't look for it in other people. Don't look for it in money. Don't look for it in the past. It's here. Inside you. It's been inside you this whole time. You just closed the door. Then another one. Then you put a lock on it. And one day, you actually convinced yourself there was nothing left behind those doors. NONSENSE! There are warehouses in there. Hangars! Entire vaults filled with your strength! Your rage! Your will! Your desire to LIVE! And do you know what opens those doors? A WORD. One right word, spoken at exactly the right second, can lift a man off the floor. One word can put him back in the fight. One word can wake a volcano! Yes! Volcanoes do not only exist inside the earth. They exist inside us. And some of them sleep for twenty years. Thirty. Fifty. But that doesn't mean they're dead! DO YOU HEAR ME?! THEY ARE NOT DEAD! So breathe. Come on. Breathe this air deep into your lungs. Swallow it! Let the wind of your youth hit you in the face again. Let it rip this exhaustion off you. This gloom. This habit of doubting yourself! Today, you're coming back. Not tomorrow. Not Monday. Not when things get easier. TODAY. Today, you are that young man again — the one with a thousand roads ahead of him. A burning heart. Bright eyes. And the sheer audacity to believe you can still win! Because there's a fight ahead. Of course there is! There will be struggle. There will be days when life grabs you by the throat and asks: “Well? Are you giving up?” And that's when... That's exactly when... You'll smile. And you'll say: “You picked the wrong guy.” Because you're awake now. The lights are on. The levers are engaged. The machine is running! And now the party begins. Yes. THE PARTY! Not the kind of party with music and fancy clothes. I'm talking about a real celebration. That moment when a person finally feels like himself again. When the blood runs faster. When the eyes burn. When you know: I'M STILL HERE. I CAN. I WILL. And if we have to bend the heavens to make it happen... We'll bend the heavens. With a word. If we have to break open the locked warehouses of our souls... We'll tear those locks apart. With a word. Because everything begins with a word. A word pulls the lever. A word pushes the button. A word wakes volcanoes. And today... today, I'm inviting you to a party. A party in honor of the right words. Precise words. Words spoken at the very moment when a person almost forgot who he was. My name is Jeremy Party. And today... we are not going to remember our youth. We're bringing it back. Today, we're going to throw a party so enormous... THE VOLCANOES WILL WAKE UP And here's another thing. Everyone has asked themselves questions at least once in their life. About life. About destiny. About themselves. And very often, the answers don't come right away. A period of silence sets in. A period of stillness. It can seem as if life itself has fallen silent. As if it doesn't want to answer. But that's not true. It's simply waiting for the moment when you're ready to listen. And one day comes when the silence ends. When the veil begins to lift. When what seemed like chaos begins to form a coherent picture. When questions finally meet their answers. And perhaps… Today is just such a day. A day when you will see what you previously didn't notice. A day when the secret becomes clear. When the incomprehensible begins to make sense. When the inner knots that have bound your life for years begin to unravel. And even if a knot cannot be untied, you may finally find the courage to loosen its grip. And perhaps… This very evening will be that evening for you.

02 Listen to me carefully… I'm one of those people who knows a thing or two about life. Not from books. Not from fancy speeches. And certainly not from cheap advice handed out by people who've never taken a real hit. I know what hard work means. I know what responsibility means. I know what it's like to wake up in the morning with such a heavy weight on your shoulders that you just want to close your eyes and say, "God, not today… Just give me one day. One damn day!" But you get up. Because there are people counting on you. Your family. Your children. Your teammates. People who depend on you. And you can't just disappear when things get tough. I know what it means to stay on your feet when one blow follows another. When life keeps hitting you like it's got a personal score to settle! You're staggering. You're gasping for air. You've got almost nothing left. Hope is somewhere far away, and despair is standing right in front of you, grinning in your face. And you know what it says? "Well, buddy? Is that it? Are you finished?" And slowly, you raise your head. You spit out the blood. You look it straight in the eyes and say: "No, pal… You've got the wrong guy!" BECAUSE I'M STILL IN THE GAME! I HAVEN'T TAKEN OFF MY GLOVES! I'M STILL STANDING IN THIS RING! I know what it means to sacrifice yourself for the people you love. To give up your own dreams and desires so your child can have a few more opportunities. So the people you love won't have to go through the same hell you've been through. Because love, ladies and gentlemen, isn't about beautiful words spoken around a dinner table. Love is when you can barely stand on your own two feet, but you still find the strength to offer someone else your shoulder. And if there are people in this room who know exactly what I'm talking about… If you've ever walked into work with a smile on your face while everything inside you was falling apart… If you've ever made the hard decisions when nobody else wanted to take responsibility… Then look at me! YOU AND I ARE CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH! WE'RE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT! And you know what amazes me the most? We live in a world where everybody wants to measure everything with numbers. Profits. Results. Percentages. Rankings. Performance indicators. But behind every number, there's a human being! Behind every mistake, there's somebody's pain! And behind every victory, there are years of invisible battles! And when you look at your colleague, you're not just looking at an employee. Not just another position on the company chart. You're looking at a human being who may have fought a battle yesterday that you know absolutely nothing about. And today, that person is here again. Right beside you. Standing shoulder to shoulder with you. So maybe it's time we stopped looking at each other as competitors! Maybe it's time we understood just how much we need one another! Because one day, ladies and gentlemen, the moment will come when you'll be reaching for a hand. A HUMAN HAND! The hand of someone you barely noticed yesterday. Someone you forgot to thank. Someone who quietly did their job while everybody else was busy making speeches. That's why a team isn't just a group of people working in the same building. A TEAM IS A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO LET EACH OTHER FALL! Maybe they haven't made a movie about us yet. Maybe the orchestra hasn't played our music yet. Maybe our names haven't appeared on giant posters. SO WHAT?! Tell me, since when did applause become the measure of a person's worth?! Since when did the absence of a reward mean the absence of victory?! You think great things begin with trumpets and fanfare? LIKE HELL THEY DO! They begin on an ordinary Monday morning! When the alarm goes off. When it's raining outside. When you're not in the mood. When every voice inside your head is telling you, "Stay home. Put it off. Start tomorrow." But you get up. You put on your shirt. And you go out there and do your job! Because it's right there, in those ordinary, unnoticed actions, that something is born which the world may one day call a great achievement. Yes, our moment in the spotlight is still ahead of us. And I don't know how far we still have to go. A hundred steps? A thousand? Ten thousand? Or maybe just one. The hardest step of them all. And then, suddenly… In the middle of an ordinary day, a door opens. A door you've been walking past for years. Someone appears in your life whom you've never met before. A few words are spoken, and nothing in your life will ever be quite the same again. And you'll realize that all those years, all those blows, all those sleepless nights didn't destroy you. THEY WERE PREPARING YOU FOR THIS MOMENT! But listen to me… There's something far more important I want to tell you. And I want you to remember this. Your life matters TODAY. Not when you become rich. Not when your boss finally recognizes your achievements, or when an entire room rises to give you a standing ovation. NO! RIGHT HERE! RIGHT NOW! Every morning you forced yourself to get out of bed. Every time you held back your tears because you didn't want your loved ones to worry. Every time you chose honesty over an easy advantage. Every time you helped another human being, even when you needed help yourself. ALL OF IT MATTERS! DO YOU HEAR ME?! NOT ONE OF THOSE BATTLES WAS FOUGHT IN VAIN! Look at the people sitting beside you. Maybe someone right next to you needs to hear just a few simple words today. "Hang in there, buddy. I'm right here with you." And maybe those few words will give that person the strength to make it through one more day. One more blow. ONE MORE ROUND! Because the true strength of a team isn't measured by how loudly it celebrates its victories. It's measured by what happens when one of its own goes down. Will the others turn their backs? Will they just walk away? Or will somebody stop, reach out a hand, and say: "GET UP, OLD FRIEND. WE'RE NOT FINISHED YET!" THAT'S THE KIND OF TEAM I WANT TO SEE!

03. The Power of Our Shared Experience Each of you has your own story. Your own path. Your own victories. Your own defeats. Your own scars—the ones no one else can see. And each of you has paid a price for the experience you possess today. When you join a team, you bring more than just a diploma, a r;sum;, or a set of professional skills. You bring an entire life: years of hard work, mistakes, discoveries, disappointments, and triumphs—everything that once forced you to grit your teeth and keep moving forward. And then, all of this comes together—in one room, at one table, for one shared goal. And do you know what happens then? Something incredible begins. Your experience meets the experience of others; your ideas collide with theirs; your knowledge merges with theirs. It all goes into a vast, seething cauldron—bubbling and churning. Sometimes sparks fly in every direction. Sometimes we argue, make mistakes, or feel discouraged—at times, it may even seem like nothing is working. Yet, it is precisely within this boiling crucible of human character, knowledge, and effort that something new is born—something powerful—something that none of us could ever have created on our own. Do not expect great things to emerge overnight; great results require time. Just look at life itself. Before a child is born, nature spends months carrying out its invisible work—and no one demands that the result appear by the next morning. A true outcome must ripen; it requires time, patience, and discipline. It demands our sleepless nights and our ordinary Mondays—those days when we return here and keep working, no matter what. And one day, that moment will come. Believe me, it will come! We will stop, look at what we've built together, and for a few seconds, the entire room will fall silent. Because what stands before us will be more than just the result of our work. It will be something far greater — living proof of what people can achieve when they believe in one another and refuse to give up. And then we'll remember everything. The sleepless nights. The mistakes. The arguments. Those damn Mondays when we wanted to tell the whole world to go to hell, but showed up again and did our jobs anyway. And you know what? At that moment, not one of us will want to change a single day of the past. Because every one of those days brought us here. To the top of this mountain! And when someone asks, "How the hell did you manage to pull off the impossible?" — we'll look at each other, smile, and say, "We did it together!" And on that day, let the whole world hear our names! Because we didn't just work side by side. We walked through fire. We took the hits. We became a team! And if they ever make a movie about us, I want us standing together in the final scene. Every single one of us. Because this victory won't belong to just one hero. **THIS VICTORY WILL BELONG TO THE ENTIRE TEAM!** 04. Until the Final Whistle Every morning, something much bigger happens than the start of the workday. A test begins. In the form of a phone call. One client. One decision. In the form of the last five minutes that most people have already crossed out. That's where everything is decided. Not when the boss is watching. Not when bonuses are announced. But then... When you can say to yourself: “That’s enough for today.” Or you can say “One more action.” Do you think the last minutes, or the last seconds, don’t change anything? Then remember the 2002 Olympics. The short track final. Everyone was looking at the leaders. Everyone was discussing the favorites. And the person who was last... Kept doing his job. The last lap. The last turn. The leaders collide. They fall. And the one almost no one noticed before Didn't stop. He simply kept moving. And became an Olympic champion. That's what's important. He didn't win because he was faster than everyone else. He won because... He was the only one still moving forward. There are no neutral minutes. Every minute builds something. Or destroys something. Every meeting. Every promise. Every detail. And one day... trust me... there will come a day that will be no different from all the previous ones. Same coffee. Same elevator. The same people. The same desk. But on this day, that very important phone call will ring. Or that very door will open. That very big opportunity will present itself. And fate won't look at your words. It will look at your habits. At who you've been every day up until this moment. So tomorrow... Don't come here just to sit through eight hours. Come as if a new chapter of your life is about to begin. Don't switch off five minutes before the end. Don't let your mind go home before you. Because no one... No one in this room... No one knows which minute will be that one. after which your life will be divided into "before" and "after." And when it comes... I want you to be different from those who have already buttoned up their jackets. But among those... Who are still standing. Still working. Still moving forward. Because victory... Always comes to those who stay in the game... Until the final whistle!

05. Your Best Work Is Still Ahead

Here we are standing. Some people think, “Well, the plan is accomplished. Now it's time to relax." But you know what I'll tell you? That's the most dangerous thought that comes after victory. Victory is not the end of the road. Victory is an invitation to become better. Each of you is like a diamond. From afar, people see the results: deals, numbers, projects. They say, "Great team." But I see something different. I see how many more facets are hidden within each of you. Because a true professional isn't someone who once accomplished the impossible. A true professional is someone who every day proves his worth again. Don't think that one successful presentation, one major client, gives you the right to lock yourself in your office, order pizza, scroll through your phone, and wait for the next success. Your best work is yet to come. Your best project hasn't been created yet. Your strongest decision hasn't been made yet. Take on challenging tasks. If you see an opportunity to make the company stronger, don't pass it up. If you can make a colleague more successful, do it. Because a real team is built on people who choose to give a little more than is expected. And do you know what happens to such people? People start to trust them. People start to seek them out. They are the ones entrusted with the most important projects. Doors open for them that remain closed to others. Don't be afraid to give it your all. Yes, it's hard. Yes, sometimes it feels like there's no more strength left. But great results never emerge from people working half-heartedly. Great results emerge when everyone says to themselves: "I can take one more step." And one day you'll look back and realize: What once seemed like the limit turned out to be just a warm-up. So today, I don't want to congratulate you on what you've already accomplished. I want to congratulate you on what you still have the opportunity to do. Because that's what's most valuable. We're just picking up speed. So hold your heads up. Move forward together. And ensure that one day... you become not just a team that is admired, but a benchmark against which everyone else measures themselves.

06. Discipline Is Freedom

Business isn't a buffet. It's a struggle. Every day, someone is trying to take a bite out of us. And if you show up out of shape, if you show up looking like yesterday’s scrambled eggs, you'll be eaten alive. Discipline is your weapon. The only thing that won't let you down in difficult times. If you spend your weekend running yourself into the ground, you are not simply tired. You gave up. You gave your opponent a step forward. You allowed them to get closer to your place, to your dream, to your victory. We move toward success together, with clear minds. Or we turn into a crowd of people who live from Friday to Friday. And those people don't win fights. They watch them on TV. But today is not that day. Today you step into the arena focused. Today you step into the arena disciplined. Today you step into the arena like a true fighter should be. And when we get out, the wolves will scatter, clearing the way. And the lions will lick our boots, because they sense the approach of larger predators. You keep your head cool. You keep your body in shape. You keep your spirit steady. And when you're like that, no one can break you. Because discipline isn't a limitation. It's freedom. Freedom to be stronger. Freedom to be faster. Freedom to be first. Business is a long game. It doesn't always favor those who can occasionally flare up. It favors those who can keep the fire going for a long time. Day after day. Week after week. Year after year. I've seen talented people... They were faster. Brighter. Smarter. But then they disappeared. Why? Because they lived as if there was an endless engine running inside them. A person cannot infinitely borrow energy from the body from future days. The body always presents a bill. And the mind, too. You can steal one night. You can steal two. You can steal a month. But one day the hour of reckoning will come. And the hour of reckoning steals your dream. Do you know when Monday really begins? Not Monday morning. Monday begins on Saturday evening. That's when no one is monitoring you. It's just you. And your discipline. Or lack thereof. It's very easy to be professional when you're being seen. It's very easy to focus when someone demands something from you. It's very easy to deliver when a salary, reputation, or bonus is on the line. But who are you when no one is watching? That's the real question. What do you do on Saturday evening? Are you truly recharging yourself? Or are you just trying to forget that you'll have to fight again soon? Understand one thing. Recovery is part of the job. A strong man knows when to step on the gas... and when to stop, recover, and prepare for the next round. Because you're not a machine. You're human. And if you constantly deprive yourself of sleep, energy, peace and time to recover, your body will eventually become exhausted. Don't expect a miracle on Monday morning. It won't happen. Energy doesn't appear out of nowhere. Clarity of thought doesn't magically appear. The morning always reveals the truth about the previous evening. If you spent the weekend destroying your own energy, Monday will simply show you the consequences. But if you used your weekend wisely—restored your energy, got enough sleep, spent time with loved ones, and disconnected from the noise— then you're not coming to Monday to survive. You come to work. You come to create. You come to win. And every new morning, life asks you the same question: "Were you prepared..." Or were you just hoping?" Remember this. Hope doesn't build a career. Hope can give you direction. But then you need action. You need discipline. You need preparation. You need a team you can rely on. And we need a person who can look in the mirror in the morning and say: "I did everything I could to be ready." That's professionalism. Understand the value of your energy. Conserve it. Restore it. And come back stronger. Monday is a new round. And your Sunday is a time to prepare. Don't destroy yourself before the start. Don't arrive on Monday already defeated. Because victory often doesn't begin when you open your laptop on Monday morning. It begins much earlier. In that moment when no one sees you... and you still choose discipline.

07. The Character Competitors Cannot Buy

Do you hear that silence? It's deceptive. Because right now... as we stand in this room... Beyond these walls... There's already a war going on, A war you can't see from a taxi window. Our competitors aren't sleeping. They're already moving. They're making plans. They're looking for that one opportunity to enter a door we'll one day forget to close. And you know what they want most? Not to become stronger than us. They're waiting... For us to become weaker. When we stop being hungry. When we wake up one morning and say: "We're already good enough." That's when... We lost. Not because they turned out to be great. But because we stopped being ourselves. Do you think they want our best people? They need one lazy day of ours. One meeting we half-prepared for. One important call we decided to make tomorrow. One client... Who felt they were no longer welcome. That's how empires collapse. Not from an explosion. But from thousands of small concessions to oneself. From a thousand quiet words... “Later.” “Not today.” “That’ll do.” Every day life or the market asks the same question. “Why you?” And every day... We are obliged to answer. Not with words. With work. We must respond with action. Do you think businesses are won by big budgets? No. I've seen companies that had it all. Money. Connections. The best consultants. And they fell apart. Because inside... People stopped fighting. And then I saw teams with strong spirit. And every time details decided everything, they pulled out that trump card... And this trump card is called “refusal to surrender.” And then the circumstances changed. And then the situation turned in their favor. Competitors can buy equipment. They can buy advertising. They can buy technology. But there's one thing... That can't be bought. Character. I want each of you to understand one thing. We don't compete only with other companies. That would be too easy. Every day... We compete with our own doubts. With our desire to take the easy way out. And if we overcome that... We will be almost unstoppable. Because a real team is made up of people... Who don't allow each other to become worse than they are capable of being. When one is tired... The second lifts him up. When the second doubts... The third reminds him who he is. When one falls... Everyone else becomes a wall around him. That's when... The company ceases to be a place of work. It becomes a place of power. And one day... Somewhere in another office... Our competitors will open the reports again. They will again search for the reason why we are ahead. They will study our numbers. Our processes. Our strategies. But they will never find the answer. Because the answer can't be written down in a spreadsheet. It's right here. In your character. In your choices. In your honest decisions.

09. The Decisive Centimeter

Listen to me carefully. In business, as in sports, victory is decided by the little things. One centimeter. One second. One decision. One call you made on time. One mistake you noticed before everyone else. One task you didn't put off until tomorrow. A long jumper flies eight or nine meters. Eight. Nine meters! But sometimes he's just one centimeter short. A long-distance runner runs five kilometers. Half an hour of pain. Half an hour of struggle. But at the finish line, a split second can decide everything. A football player approaches the ball. The stadium is silent. He knows: everything is at stake now. A kick. A goalpost. And the team is eliminated. One centimeter. Or even less. That's the price of tiny little things! And now I want to ask you: How many centimeters are you giving up today? How many seconds are you throwing away? How many times do you open your phone instead of finishing a task? How many times do you check a message that could have easily waited? How much energy do you devote to conversations that don't bring you any closer to results? Don't get me wrong. I'm not telling you to stop talking. I'm saying: know the value of your concentration. When you come here, you come to create results. And in that moment, your phone shouldn't control you. Messenger shouldn't control you. Other people's noise shouldn't control you. Your attention is your capital. And if you give it away to every notification, every idle conversation, every random thought— don't be surprised when, at the end of the month, you discover you've worked hard... and made little progress. Because time doesn't come back. Never. Every second that passes is gone forever. Here it is. Gone. And this one. Also. And one more. You can spend them. Or you can invest. In your results. In your career. In your income. In your reputation. In the future of this team. Because a team isn't just people sitting in the same office. A team is people who understand: My results affect your results. My mistake can be your problem. My focus can be your victory. My laziness can steal our chance. And my discipline can give us that one centimeter we were missing yesterday. And you know what's the scariest thing? Sometimes a person understands the value of time only when there's almost no time left. Then they start looking back. And they say: "I wanted to do this." "I wanted to try." "I wanted to call." "I wanted to start." "I thought I'd have time." Imagine your whole life is a small suitcase. And you want to fit everything in there. All your dreams. All your plans. All your victories. All the things you hold dear. But the suitcase won't close anymore. There's no more room. And then you have to choose. That's what life is. Choice. And the same thing happens at work. You have a limited number of hours. A limited amount of energy. A limited amount of attention. And every day you decide where to put it all. So today I'm not asking you to perform a miracle. I'm asking you to do something much more difficult. Don't lose your centimeter. Finish the task five minutes earlier. Check the document again. Make one more call. Suggest one more idea. Help the person next to you. Correct a mistake that doesn't have to be corrected tomorrow. Because that's how great victories are built. Not with one giant leap. But with thousands of small decisions. Centimeter by centimeter. Day by day. And one day you turn around... And you realize: we're no longer where we were. We're ahead. Because while others were wasting their seconds on noise, we were turning ours into results. So today, when you walk into this office, leave all unnecessary things at the door. Gather your attention. And work as if this day matters. Because it does. This hour matters. This task matters. This conversation matters. And this little centimeter... matters too. Because sometimes the difference between victory and defeat really is just one centimeter, or one second. And today I want that centimeter and that second to be in our favor.

10. A Team That Creates Its Own Heights

Look at each other. This is our team. Not perfect. Not without mistakes. Not without weaknesses. But right here, in this room, is what can change everything. There is a choice. Either we become a team of hawks—rising higher, seeing further, noticing what others don't see, and claiming our space. Or we stay grounded. In the dust. Among those who spent their lives saying: "Someday." "It's too hard." Yesterday is over. All the mistakes of yesterday are over. All the failures are over. Yesterday no longer has power over you. It has no hands to stop you. No voice to command you to give up. No right to decide who you will become today. There is only this moment. When we put everything on the line. All of our abilities. All of our experience. We play for high stakes. So Life becomes more interesting. And a new leg of the journey begins. Gold nuggets don't fall from the sky. They are found where others have grown tired of digging. They are found by people who keep working when boredom sets in. In those moments when you are alone with your task. I don't need people who are afraid to make mistakes. I need people who are afraid to go a day without doing something meaningful. And stop thinking like everyone else. Please. Enough. How many times have you heard: "We don't do it that way." "Don't make it complicated." You know where great ideas go to die? Not in the cemetery. They're killed with words like: “We’ve never done it that way before.” And I say: “That’s exactly why we have to try.” Look deeper. If the problem is obvious, then people have already seen it. If the solution is obvious, your competitors have already found it. Our job is to go where others haven't. Look where others haven't. Ask the question others were afraid to ask. Don't just see a wall. Understand why it's there. Don't just see a problem. Understand who created it and why it persists. Don't just fix the symptom. Get to the root cause. That's when an employee turns into a professional. And professionals turn into a team. And when a team starts thinking this way... That's when something incredible happens. We become dangerous. Not to people. To mediocrity. To routine. To old rules. To those limitations that for years have told us: "You can't go any further." You can. You can go further. You can go higher. You can go faster. You can grow stronger. But only if each of you stops waiting for someone else to make the first move. Don't wait for the boss. Don't wait for the perfect moment. Don't wait for Monday. Don't wait for someone to come along and save the project. You are the person you've been waiting for. That's why we're here. Not for a pretty picture. We're here for results. We want to create work that's impossible to ignore. A product that's impossible to forget. A team that's impossible to break. A reputation that can't be bought in a day, because it's built over years. This is where we're heading. Towards the moment when quality stands behind our name. And remember: Going beyond is no longer a buzzword. It's a necessity. The world doesn't stand still. Competitors don't sleep. Technology changes. People change. The market changes. And if you work today the same way you worked yesterday, tomorrow you could be left behind. Therefore, we must move. Constantly. Change what's stopped working. Break down your own limitations before the market does. And when others say, "We've done enough," we must ask, "Is this really the best we can do?" Because enough is a word for those who simply want to survive. But we want to live. Create. Grow. Win. We want to leave a mark. We will never be on the sidelines. We will be those who rise above. We will be the ones who look further. To those who aren't afraid of the hard questions. Because I want one day, when we look back, we can say: "This is where everything changed." This is where we stopped waiting. This is where we stopped being afraid. This is where we stopped being just employees. This is where we became a true team. A team that doesn't ask the world for permission to win. A team that creates its own heights. And when we rise... Let them look up. Let their necks ache. Because we're just getting started. We didn't come here to play a small role. We came here to do something big. So spread your wings. Look ahead. And take the next step. Together.

11. The Impossible Creates You

Look at me... Every person at least once in his life says these words: "It's impossible." It's impossible to win. It's impossible to endure. It's impossible to get back up after what happened. It's impossible to become who I dreamed of being. And you know what? This word... "Impossible"... It was invented by a frightened man. A man who one day stopped... and decided never to take the next step. Because the impossible isn't a wall. It's simply the distance between who you are today... And who you are capable of becoming. We say our goal is to make the impossible possible. But I'll tell you something that only a few understand. The most valuable thing isn't the victory itself. The most valuable thing is the person you become while you're working towards it. Because you can have everything... And feel nothing inside. You can earn money. Get a position. Applause. Recognition. And still look in the mirror with empty eyes. That's not victory. That's the surrender of the soul. I don't want to see empty eyes. I want to see fire. That same fire... Can't be played with. The fire of a person who chooses their path anew every morning. Even when it's hard. Even when it's scary. Take care of that fire. Take care of your body. Your mind. Your strength. Because great battles are not won by those who can burn once. They are won by those... Who can burn for a long time. And one day... You'll notice a strange thing. People will fall silent when you enter the room. Not because you're louder than everyone else. But because you’ll carry weight. The weight of hardship. The weight of discipline. The weight of character. People can sense someone who has conquered themselves. And it's precisely these people that people begin to listen to. True leaders recognize you immediately. They'll see in your eyes something that can't be faked. Experience. Courage. Quiet strength. But the most amazing thing will happen next. On the day you finally reach the summit… You'll stop. Look down. Look around. And suddenly you'll understand… The summit no longer has the same meaning for you. Because the person who once dreamed of climbing here… Is already gone. He remained somewhere out there— in those first early climbs, in thousands of difficult decisions, in thousands of days when you wanted to stop. He remained in the defeats, after which you still climbed up. In those moments when no one believed, but you kept going. And that man disappeared. Another appeared in his place. Stronger. Wiser. Calmer. And that's why you won't cling to that old dream anymore. Because a new mountain will rise before you. Higher. More dangerous. More difficult. More beautiful. And you will smile again. Because now you know the biggest secret. The impossible was never your goal. It was a test. A test that was supposed to break you... But instead, it created you. Every time a wall appeared before you, you found a way to rise higher. Your true victory is not in reaching the summit. But in who you became while climbing it. So don't be afraid of a new mountain. Don't be afraid of a new challenge. Don't be afraid of the word "impossible." Because now you know: “Impossible” is not the end of the road. It's an invitation to become stronger. It's a challenge. It's another mountain. And now... You know why you climbed it in the first place.

12. What Will Remain of Us

I want you to stop thinking about today for a minute. And come with me there... Thirty... forty years into the future. Imagine. One day you wake up. The house will be quiet. The laptop is no longer on the table. The phone is no longer ringing. No one is waiting for you to make a decision. No one says, "We need your help." You sit down in a chair. Look out the window. And suddenly... like a lightning strike. Your entire life will flash before your eyes. Not a vacation. Not an expensive car. Not another purchase. You will see this office. These walls. These faces. Those endless discussions. Cups of coffee that should have gone cold long ago. Evenings when you wanted to go home... But you stayed. Because the team wasn't finished yet. And then you'll understand... That was life. Not waiting for life. Not preparing for it. But life itself. Because a person doesn't live when it's easy. he lives when he creates. When he builds. When he looks for a solution where no one else can see it. When he takes on responsibility that could have been shifted to someone else... But he doesn’t. Because someone has to take that step. And that person is you. Yes... Sometimes it feels like you're pushing a boulder upward. Every day. And it feels like it's about to fall back down. But listen to me. Don't be afraid of hard work. Be afraid of something else. Realizing that nothing burns inside you anymore. That you've stopped being surprised. Stopped fighting. Stopped dreaming. That's the real catastrophe. Not defeat. Not the failure of a project. But the death of the desire to live a full life. Work... If you do it with your heart... It doesn't take your life. It fills it. It makes you stronger. It teaches patience. It turns individuals into a team. And one day... When all this is over... You'll look back. You'll remember the people. That colleague who laughed the loudest. The one who once covered for you. The one to whom you yourself extended a hand. You will remember sleepless evenings. Projects that seemed impossible. Moments when you wanted to give up... But someone stood nearby... And said: "Just a little longer." These moments... Will stay with you forever. They will become bronze monuments to your memory. And they will warm you then... When all around becomes too quiet. And then... The day will come. Your eightieth birthday. Children will gather around the table. Grandchildren. Friends. And someone will ask: "What are you most proud of?" You'll smile... And answer: "I was part of something bigger. I kept my word. I didn't run away when things got tough. I did everything I could. And I left behind people stronger than they were before they met me." And you know what happens next? They'll look at you... And they'll believe every word. Because you cannot fake a life of integrity. Just as it's impossible to fake true character. And that's why I ask you... Don't try to look great. Real greatness never shouts. It shows itself when... When you could pass by... But you stop. When you could remain silent... But you offer support. When you could think only about yourself... But you choose a team. A team is people... Who will one day remember you not for how much money you made. But for... How being around you made them feel better. Calmer. Stronger. Because everything in life should be for someone else, not for yourself. Only this story can be interesting and compelling, touching people's hearts, and maybe even melting them. That's it... Real victory. Not a bonus. Not a promotion. Not applause. But the moment... When people want to be around you... Because you made their lives better. That's what's worth working for. This is what's worth fighting for. This is what's worth coming here every morning for. And if we can give each other that... Then no crises... No competitors... No difficulties... They won't stop us. And as long as there are people in this room willing to move forward together... We have a future. And that means... We have everything.

13 Motivational Speeches • Edited English Edition

14. Find Another Pole

Burnout... You say that word so easily. "I'm burned out." But you know what I'll tell you? Burnout doesn't start when it's hard. It starts when you no longer understand why it's hard. Think of Arnold Schwarzenegger. If he'd once said: "I'm tired. That's it. I can't go on anymore." He wouldn't have become Mr. Olympia and a Hollywood star. But he'd come back to the gym. And put in another demanding workout. And complete each set with tremendous effort. Then another set. And another. Then he repeated. Then he would start all over again. Not because it wasn't hard. It was hard for him. Not because he wasn't tired. He was tired. But because he had a goal in front of him. And as long as you can see it, you're not broken. So I don't want to hear from you: "I can't take it anymore." I want to hear something else: “I’ll make one more attempt.” Because this very attempt... which today seems insignificant to you... that could be the one that takes you toward which you have been striving your whole life. Listen to me. There are moments in business… when it feels like everything has gone wrong. You work hard. You put in the effort. You pour your time, energy, and nerves into your team. But there are no results. The plan isn't met. The deal falls through. The client walks away. The project stalls. And a quiet voice rises up inside you: “That’s enough. I’m out.” But at that very moment, I want you to remember one story. My father also knew what it meant to start from scratch. The post-war years. Hunger. Poverty. No guarantees. No one standing by your side saying: "Don't worry. It’ll all work out." On the contrary, life seemed to be saying: you haven't got a chance. And then sport entered his life. Track and field. Decathlon. Ten disciplines. Two days of trials for body and soul. Running. Jumping. Throwing. And thousands of hours of work when no one is applauding. And one day, a person to whom life promised nothing becomes a member of the national team. He used to tell me: "Sport made me who I am." And do you know why? Because sport doesn't promise you victory. It promises you only one thing: the chance to test what you’re made of. Once, during a competition, his pole snapped. He fell from a height. He sustained a serious arm injury. Blood. Pain. The skin on his arm swelled up. And a few seconds when he could have said: "That’s it. I’m done." And no one would have blamed him. But he got up. Pressed down on the swollen skin He picked up another pole. And he kept going. That is what I want to tell you today. Not about sports. About you. About this team. Because you have your own pole, too. It just goes by a different name. A project. A client. Sales. Responsibility. Deadlines. Results. And sometimes, your "pole" breaks. Right in the middle of the competition. You prepared everything. You calculated everything. But the market changed. The client backed out. A partner let you down. Something didn't go according to plan. And you stand in the middle of your arena, thinking: "What now?" I’ll tell you what now. Lift your head. And find another pole. And remember: You aren't spectators. You are in the arena. And seeing your boldness and courage, new people will want to join your team. Yes, you will attract them with your inner strength. And together you will set new goals. And together you will face new challenges. You will go with your team into the thick of the battle, where the fight for the championship will unfold. And perhaps it won't be easy. And perhaps you will experience pain. And perhaps even defeat. And perhaps a critical moment will come, when the oxygen runs out and darkness descends. And you will sink to the very bottom, where there is no light and no hope. But in this dark depth, you will find pearls. Because to find treasure, you must descend to the very bottom. A miracle happens when everything becomes indifferent. And at that moment, something incredible happens. And so you rise to the surface, holding something precious in your hands. It's what you found at the most critical moment of your struggle. You've gained something. And you and your team, at that moment, realize you've achieved something incredible. Because you’ve come all this way. And even when your name was crossed off the list of contenders, you didn't give up and gave everything you had to win. And all the spotlights are now focused on you. And the name of the winning team lights up on the scoreboard. And it's your team! You've survived storm and wind. You've survived desert and helplessness, loss and defeat. And all of this has been taken into account by those who decide who will be first. And you are invited to the podium to receive awards for your work and your faith. And you hear this song, this celebratory anthem, performed in honor of those who have deservedly become champions. And this is for you and your team. In a difficult moment, you maintained your relationship and together made a decisive breakthrough. Ultimately, you achieved the desired result and forever inscribed your names in the book of victors.

15. The Angel in the Old Jacket

Sometimes, a test enters our lives—suddenly, without any warning. There are no formal announcements, no fanfare, and no committee will appear to evaluate your actions. It happens quite simply: you are walking down the street, absorbed in your own affairs—thinking about money, work, or what tomorrow might bring—when, suddenly, someone approaches you. An ordinary person, wearing a worn-out jacket and scuffed shoes, with a weary face, asks quietly: "Excuse me… could you buy me some food?" And in that very moment, the real test begins! For, perhaps, this is no ordinary person at all. It could be an angel—yes, an angel in human form! And they have come not to see how much money you have in your pocket, but to see what is in your heart. You may be a successful person—running a vast company, holding dozens of awards, taking pride in hundreds of achievements, with thousands of people shaking your hand. You might tell grand stories about your triumphs. But consider this: a single small act can reveal more about you than your entire biography! And now, you face a choice: to walk on by or to stop; to turn away or to reach out; to keep everything for yourself or to share what you have. And do not think this is only about money. Sometimes, it means setting aside your pride and taking the first step toward someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time. At other times, it means staying by the side of someone whom everyone else has turned away from. That is a true sacrifice! It is a sacrifice made in silence—without calculation, and without expecting anything in return. Here is what I want to tell you: if you dream of reaching a new level, if you aspire to become a truly great person, you must master something that is not taught in any business school. You must learn to give without any guarantee of a return! After all, not every investment is meant to yield a profit. Sometimes you give simply because the person standing before you is going through a harder time than you are—and that alone is reason enough. Character is not a medal you receive once and hang on a wall; character is a choice you make, over and over again! And perhaps the greatest test of all awaits you precisely when you are convinced that you have achieved everything—when you decide that you have nothing left to prove and begin to look down on others. And then, quite suddenly… someone will appear before you. An ordinary, inconspicuous, hungry person—asking you to buy them some food. You won’t even know who they are, or why your paths crossed on that particular day. You may never even discover the true meaning behind that encounter. Yet, it is precisely these moments that define the true stature of a person. It is measured not by the balance in one’s bank account, nor by one’s job title or the number of people under one’s command, but by how much humanity remains in one’s heart after all the battles one has fought. For the greatness of a person is measured not only by what they have managed to achieve, but also by what they have managed to share with others! And remember… sometimes angels do not arrive with wings, in radiant robes, or accompanied by heavenly trumpets. Sometimes, they appear in a worn-out jacket… and simply ask you to buy them some bread.