People sometimes ask me whether Xavier’s humility, approachability, attention are genuine or staged. My impressions are subjectives, but facts don’t lie, so let me tell you a true story, how it answers that question without a doubt and what lesson we can extract from that.
A pandemic ago, we flew with Xavier from Paris to San Francisco for a couple of days. I must admit that flying private from Europe to the United-States was very pleasant. We had different journeys and were supposed to meet at the airport the day after in the afternoon.
I arrived first and quickly made my way to the plane. There, I received a text from Xavier : “we’re going to In-N-Out, want something ?”
Half an hour later, when he arrived, he handed over to me a warm Double-Double. I noticed it was warm and made a comment about it like : “cool, it’s still warm !”
He didn’t say a word but the person who was with him told me “It is still warm because Xavier waited to finish his burger before lining up to get yours”
I think this short story says a lot about his genuine intentions. Beyond his attention, he delivered it in the most caring and humble way.
I like to remember this story, it reminds me how much humility and kindness are the currency of the greatest.
Our attitude determines our altitude :)
Sympa, Honnête, Efficace
Xavier Niel : La Voie Du Pirate
His humility and non-conventional thinking is who he is as a person.
Why? Because the moment you act as you “know it all” you start doing **unwise mistakes.
And he does not brag about his mistakes, but simply admits them.
Resent interviews are great.
Xavier Niel : les sujets autour de l'IA "sont tellement importants qu'ils doivent être ouverts"
& Intégrale Quelle Époque Léa Salamé
Great story, that says a lot! thanks for sharing