Gabriele Frediani’s professional path sits at the intersection of international finance, market infrastructure, and cross-border leadership. Over more than two decades (actually three and 3/4), he has advised global banks, market infrastructures, fintech platforms, and supranational institutions on how complex systems actually function under pressure—whether in fixed income markets, data and analytics platforms, or regulatory-driven operating models. Operating daily and seamlessly across English, French, Italian, Spanish, and other working languages, he experienced first-hand how authority, clarity, and decision-making can subtly erode when leaders are forced to perform outside their native language. This was not a question of vocabulary or technical competence, but of identity: the gap between who leaders are in their first language and who they become under pressure in another.
L2L1 emerged from a recurring pattern observed across individuals Gabriele worked with over the years when moving from French, Italian, or Spanish into English. There was the diplomat: impeccably polite and precise, yet stripped of impact once every sentence was filtered through caution. The chameleon adapted so well to English norms that their original authority and personality slowly disappeared. The translator remained trapped in their mother tongue, mentally converting every idea before speaking, losing speed, spontaneity, and presence. And the Eurovision presenter: fluent, confident, entertaining—yet performing a role rather than leading, mistaking fluency for authority. Each case pointed to the same root issue: not language proficiency, but the erosion or distortion of executive identity when operating in a second language. And all HR could offer were language courses...