Author: Ekaitz Saies
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The fan in the stand: a lesson in leadership and loyalty
Football has a way of teaching you things that have nothing to do with football. Like my father did with me when we used to go to watch Real Sociedad play, I’ve made going to matches a tradition with my son. And over the past two weeks, we’ve been fortunate…
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The act of running, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the power of small actions
Today, I needed the pavement under my feet. Last night brought the sort of news that shakes one’s world: my cousin is in hospital, his condition critical. When life feels fractured, there is a particular, desperate clarity to be found in the steady thrum of a run, a way to…
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The Messi napkin: when leadership means acting before permission
In December 2000, Lionel Messi was 13 years old and on the brink of slipping through Barcelona’s fingers. The club wanted to sign him, but nothing was official. Paperwork stalled. Approvals lagged. His family, facing uncertainty over money, medical treatment and residency, was preparing to return to Argentina. So Barcelona’s…
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The Recovery Burger
This dish is a powerful Post-Training Refuel meal. After an intense session, your body enters a prime anabolic window where it actively seeks protein to repair muscle tissue and carbohydrates to restore depleted glycogen. By pairing lean 5% beef patties with ciabatta rolls and a sharp horseradish sauce, we create a…
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How great leaders make strategy feel personal
By the time a strategy reaches the middle of an organisation, it is often already in trouble. Not because it is flawed, but because it is abstract. It is expressed in language so polished that it no longer feels human. And people, it turns out, do not commit to abstractions.…
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What sport leaders can still learn from the Stoics
Sport, perhaps more than any other arena, strips leadership of its comforting myths. Talent does not guarantee victory. Preparation does not insure against bad refereeing, injury or a ball deflecting the wrong way in the final minute. In sport, control is always partial, and the margin between success and failure…
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The Restoration Toast
This dish is a great Post-Training Recovery meal. After a morning session, your body is in a state of high sensitivity; it is “hungry” to replenish glycogen and repair muscle fibers. By pan-toasting sourdough in olive oil and pairing it with poached eggs and avocado, we provide the perfect ratio…
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The Earth & Iron Carbonara
As part of my new project, The Champion’s Diary, I will share some exciting recipes designed for athletes. There’s a word from my mother tongue, Euskara—the oldest living language in Europe—that I’ve carried with me all my life.That word is sasoiko. It means two things at once: strong, full of…
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Auzolan: How a Basque tradition can shape team performance
Long before performance metrics and leadership frameworks, Basque communities had a simple principle that kept them alive and thriving: Auzolan. It was the act of coming together to repair, build, or improve what belonged to everyone, a practice grounded in responsibility, shared effort, and visible contribution. Today, that same principle…
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Unity over ego: what Arteta, Emery and the Basque Way teach us about high-performance sport
Mikel Arteta and I entered the world in the same year and the same month, our childhoods unfolding along the same streets of San Sebastián. We kicked balls across the same beach, and according to friends, we even played in the same youth league — though, truthfully, I don’t remember…
EKAITZ SAIES 