What is your favorite quote and what does it mean to you?
Paddy: 'Take the Hill'. It means to identify what is important for success in any issue and to concentrate single-mindedly on that and not to get distracted by side issues.
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What is your favorite book and why?
Paddy: Practically anything by John Le Carre, but his 'Spy Who Came in From the Cold' was particularly brilliant, the first of the species. As a young man I saw it being filmed in Dublin, a disused market was turned into 'Checkpoint Charlie'. Later in life I saw the real thing...
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Name one person that has singlehandedly influenced you most
Paddy: I'll cheat and name two (over and above my wife). Professor Ron Tagiuri of the Harvard Business School was enormously influential at a critical point in my business career. Adrian Hegarty (CEO of Friends First in Ireland) has been influential throughout.
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If there was one person, alive or dead, that you could spend a day with, who would it be? Why?
Paddy: Joan of Arc. Such courage.
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Who or what do you aspire to and why?
Paddy: I'd like to become a published author. Thrillers are my thing, I've great admiration for Michael Connolly of Harry Bosch fame. I've written one 'book' (as yet unpublished, check out www.thevirtualspy.com) and am halfway through number two. Trying to get published makes running your own business look like a cake walk.
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If you could give the world one piece of advice, what would it be?
Paddy: If Hannibal was concerned about the state of his elephants' feet he'd never have trudged them up and across the Alps, surprising the Romans and achieving an epic victory. The modern business world has many Hannibals (maybe it needs them). Most tend to be self-absorbed and self-interested to the exclusian of pretty well everyone else. My advice? If they don't care about their elephants' feet they'll hardly care about you. Best avoided I'd say.
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