Growing with joy: What I learned about leading with purpose, courage, and lightness.

I don't have all the answers.

But I wrote a book about my understanding of leadership because I grew up watching someone who spent decades trying to figure out what enables a person to lead truly: with purpose, courage, and joy.

That person is my father. Throughout my life, amidst moves to different countries, conversations around the dinner table, and early mornings watching him head out to train before sunrise, I absorbed a mindset that changed how I view everything. School, friendships, goals, mistakes, and, above all, who I want to be.

This book is about what I've learned (so far) in that process. Here, you'll find reflections on purpose, resilience, family, communication, identity, discipline, and potential. Beyond just grown-up topics, I see these as life themes. And I believe don't need to wait until you run a company or hold an executive role to start putting these ideas into practice.

I am 18 years old and still in the midst of this journey of becoming. But I've learned that the most important kind of leadership begins long before you step into a position of power; it starts with how you lead your own life.

If you are discovering who you are and where you're headed, this book was written for you.

Giovanna Portela