The Power of Words

But Flores isn't buying it -- not yet. "Let me challenge you," he says. "In my opinion, you are still complacent. You say you have the best people, and yet you are still losing the war. How is it possible that the best troops in the world are losing the war? That's not an interesting story. Winning the war with the worst troops, as in The Dirty Dozen, now that's an interesting story. One element is missing from all of your stories: You have to be willing to risk your identity for a bigger future than the present that you are living. Ten million dollars isn't that much. I think the real number to shoot for is $30 million. And I'm a conservative guy."

How conservative is Flores? He has put his own identity on the line with this turnaround effort: He has promised to restore this business division to profitability, and he will continue to work with this client until it is satisfied. That is an interesting story. That is a bold gesture. That is commitment.

Fernando the Magician

One of Flores's critics calls him "dangerous." There is, says this doubter, something unsettling about Flores. Flores reminds him of the magician in Thomas Mann's haunting story "Mario and the Magician." In that story, the magician has the power to transform people: He gets important men to double over and bray like donkeys; he gets stylish women to leave their seats, where they sit beside their loving husbands, and to rush onstage toward him. The magician does all of this not through magic but by knowing that his audience -- powerful men and women -- have a great capacity to be led.

Does Flores think he is dangerous? A philosopher who sets out to change people and companies is playing a risky game. But most of the people he works with are desperate for change, for adventure, for a bigger playing field. These are the same people who buy books about conquering Mt. Everest, who sail dangerous waters for vacation, who seek the magic that will help them break free of the tyrannies that bind their lives and make them feel small. As for Flores, he played for even higher stakes when his life and the lives of his family members hung in the balance in Pinochet's Chile.

Flores knows that freedom is worth the effort. "That critic who thinks I'm dangerous," Flores says, "tell him that I don't think I am dangerous enough."

Harriet Rubin (hrubin@aol.com) is a contributing editor at Fast Company and the author of The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women. You can reach Fernando Flores via the Web (www.bda.com).