Diego Martinotti
General Counsel, Holcim (Argentina) S.A.
Cordoba, Argentina
6:00 am
The alarm goes off. Turn my phone and iPad on and do the first email check of the day, review the agenda and read the morning headlines.
7:00 am
The rest of the family sleeps and this is the only moment of quietness that I will have today. I enjoy it while sipping my capuccino with a piece of warm homemade bread (The bread is still warm! I cannot consider a place “home” if it does not have an expresso and a bread machine).
7:30 am
Wake up the family to kiss them goodbye. Drive to work. Depending on my mood, I might listen to music or have my phone read an article from The Economist. It’s better to read it but I never find time to and the magazines keep piling up.
8:00 am
Arrive at work. I sip my second coffee as I get a status update from my team.
9:00 am
Conference call with our IP expert regarding a recent patent claim. The call does not last long, which allows me to work on a memorandum for the Executive Committee.
10:00 am
Meet with a senior lawyer on my team to coordinate the upcoming board of directors meeting. We work on the agenda’s different topics and plan next steps, especially all communications to the stock exchange.
11:00 am
Conference call with the purchaser of a cement business unit. We go over the last draft of an agreement to settle his outstanding debt and all claims related with the business unit. Good news: His lawyer gives the green light to our proposed amendments; we have a deal!
12:00 pm
Meet with the CFO and his senior team to dive deep into a large corporate transaction that has been around for a while. It is now getting traction. I see an important workload heading to the legal department and start thinking about how we will tackle this one.
1:00 pm
Eat a chef’s salad at my desk reading the Corriere della Sera, Italy’s daily newspaper, online. Roma won yesterday’s derby match against Lazio. It’s a good excuse to congratulate my Roman friends via WhatsApp (and send another teasing message to Lazio’s fans).
1:30 pm
Finish the patent memorandum that I started earlier today and send it to the Executive Committee.
2:00 pm
Participate in the Executive Committee meeting where I am exposed to all the pressing matters; the big challenge is to take meaningful minutes after all the discussions!
4:15 pm
The Executive Committee meeting is over and I rush to another meeting where five key internal clients give feedback on our legal department. A lot of good stuff comes out and fortunately I record every single word. This will provide precious food for thought in our legal team building exercise next week, where we will discuss our priorities and goals.
5:00 pm
Start reviewing a contract with a slag provider (raw material for cement production). Got interrupted by the ringtone with this message “Tennis match tomorrow 20:30 @ the club.” Reply to my friend with a quick “OK” and go back to the contract.
7:15 pm
Leave the office and head to my oldest son’s soccer lesson. If I hurry up I will see him kick the penalties.
8:30 pm
Back home. After a quick bath, the kids are ready to have dinner. Listen to my son’s tale of the soccer match and try to guess what my two-year-old son is trying to say.
9:00 pm
Launch bed time proceedings for the kids that include toothbrushing and book reading.
9:20 pm
The house is quiet again and I can have a glass of Malbec with my wife.
10:00 pm
Look for my phone (would like to do a final email check) and find it in the hands of my eldest son, who used it to play his favorite game. No relevant emails, so I turn off the phone.
11:00 pm
As I go over the last pages of Una Notte Sbagliata, I understand why I never read thrillers... I simply can’t stop reading them!
11:40 pm
Lights off. Ooops... Forgot to set the alarm! Ready. Good night now!
