With the eyes of the world on Italy for the 25th edition of the Winter Olympics, which events are you looking forward to? In the spirit of previous leadership series here on my blog, I've asked a dozen leadership and marketing experts to respond to five questions with the hope that both the questions and answers lead you to think about leadership, personal branding, and the Olympics in new and interesting ways.
For today's post, I'd like to introduce Elia Guardiola, based in Madrid, Spain. Elia has been an international speaker for 11 years for corporate training programs worldwide and is also a professor at international universities and business schools in Spain and Latin America. She is the Founder of the StoryEmotion School, and since 2021, has been an official speaker at the e-World Marketing Summit led by Professor Philip Kotler. Elia has developed her own methodology for creating impactful storytelling with powerful narratives that drive results for corporations and businesses of all sizes and industries. She is a co-author of several books on Marketing and Communications and is also the creator of the Four Pillars of Emotional Marketing, which are taught in programs at international universities.
QUESTION: What is your favorite WINTER Olympics sport, and why?
ELIA GUARDIOLA: Figure skating. There’s something hypnotic about it: strength and discipline disguised as elegance. It’s extreme technique presented as if it were effortless. And that’s exactly what we seek in leadership and communication: behind the complexity, a narrative that feels natural, light, almost magical.
QUESTION: What WINTER Olympics sport most “visually” demonstrates teamwork, and why?
ELIA GUARDIOLA: Curling. It might not be the most spectacular, but it’s the most transparent when it comes to collaboration. Every move matters, every team member has a precise, synergistic role. It’s the perfect metaphor for collective leadership: if one fails, the whole strategy falls apart.
QUESTION: According to Suzanne Robb, COO of Alloy, “Define what victory means to you, and keep that vision in mind. You’re the one who gets to determine when you’re making progress, what success means, and what your focus should be. When you get a win, take time to celebrate. In business as if life, you’ve got to run your own race.” With this quote in mind, which Winter Olympics event or result stands out in your memory, and why?
ELIA GUARDIOLA: I remember the victory of the French ice dance pair Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron. They didn’t just win medals; they achieved something bigger: the respect of the audience and the feeling of transcendence. Their story is proof that true success isn’t only on the podium — it’s in coherence with yourself, in the ability to turn effort into legacy.
QUESTION: During the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, entertainer and businessman Snoop Dogg used the hashtag #FollowTheDogg and shared his Olympic experiences on social media. My favorite story and related photos were when he and friend Martha Stewart dressed in equestrian clothing and attended the dressage competition. According to reports, Snoop’s involvement was intended to attract a new audience to the Olympics. If you were in charge of the Winter Olympics, who would you invite to attract a new audience, and why?
ELIA GUARDIOLA: I’d invite someone unexpected: an educational content creator who can translate what’s happening in each discipline into simple, emotional language. Today we don’t just need celebrities creating spectacle; we need storytellers creating meaning. Someone like Neil deGrasse Tyson, who turns science into poetry, could bring the Games closer to people who have never watched a skeleton or biathlon event.
SHARE THIS: Today we don’t just need celebrities creating spectacle; we need storytellers creating meaning. ~Elia Guardiola #OlympicsLeadershipSeries2026 #DebbieLaskeysBlog
QUESTION: The 2026 Winter Olympics will be the first Olympic Games under the leadership of International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry. She is a former Zimbabwean politician, sports administrator, and former Olympic swimmer and world record holder. She is also the first woman, first Zimbabwean, and the first African to serve as IOC President. According to Reuters, “Kirsty Coventry smashed through the IOC’s glass ceiling in March 2025 to become the organization’s first female President in its 130-year history.” What are your thoughts about this development for the world’s biggest multi-sport organization – and its future?
ELIA GUARDIOLA: It’s about time. And I don’t say this only from a gender perspective, but because sports need voices that truly represent diversity. Coventry is a woman, an African, and an Olympic athlete. Her arrival at the IOC breaks inertia and opens the door to a more plural future. The real challenge will be ensuring that this diversity doesn’t remain symbolic, but translates into decisions that make the Games more inclusive, accessible, and human.
SHARE THIS: The Olympic Games have the power to unite us because we can all find something inspirational or something we can relate to in each athlete’s story, whether it’s a story of success or of disappointment. –Tatjana Schoenmaker (South Africa’s most decorated Olympian) #OlympicsLeadershipSeries2026 #DebbieLaskeysBlog
Elia's two cents about that quote: I deeply believe in that statement. Athletes’ stories are living proof that failure also inspires — that vulnerability connects as much as glory. And in that sense, sport and life speak the same language: the human narrative that unites us all.
SHARE THIS: Athletes’ stories are living proof that failure also inspires — that vulnerability connects as much as glory. ~Elia Guardiola #OlympicsLeadershipSeries2026 #DebbieLaskeysBlog
A final reminder, as you watch the competitions, make a note on your calendar to swing by #DebbieLaskeysBlog each day through February 22nd for leadership and marketing inspiration. A small interruption to the series will take place on February 20th to celebrate "National Leadership Day," then the Olympics series returns on February 21st. A series recap will be featured on February 22nd. Enjoy the Olympics!
Image Credit: Olympics.
Read Elia's previous appearances here on my blog:
Let's Discuss Brand Storytelling to Celebrate World Marketing Day! (May 27, 2025)
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2025/05/lets-discuss-brand-storytelling-to.html
SPRING LEADERSHIP SERIES 2025 – Featuring Elia Guardiola (May 2, 2025)
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2025/05/spring-leadership-series-2025-featuring.html
Meet Elia at this link:
https://www.eliaguardiola.com/
Read about Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron:
Read about Neil deGrasse Tyson:
https://neildegrassetyson.com/profile/
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