José Luis Langa : EEC Alumni Protagonist of the Month : November 2025

How do you get to coaching?
Coaching was on my mind because my wife is certified in the European School of Coaching, our CEO too, and our head of Human Resources. In a training plan of my company (Iberpay), I was offered the possibility and I had no doubts. I was surrounded, I was very curious and interested... and I went for it.

What did you see in them that made you interested in them as well?
The potential of conversation. An intelligent conversation has a brutal potential for connection. These are basic tools that we should all know, but we don't use them either professionally or personally. We take a lot of things for granted, we use over-understandings, but we don't have deep conversations with listening and empathy. It struck me from a personal and professional point of view.

What did you encounter when you started the training?
You think: "I'm giving up four Saturdays of my life, this is going to be hard for me". But every day I went I thought: "Is it over already? You focus so much on what you tell, how you tell it, how you experience it with your classmates... It was very intense and rewarding. You have it very well organised, with different teachers and different angles. I fit in with a great group, very varied and with a very nice connection.

What impact did you have at the end of Cycle I?
You start to see the real potential of a conversation. You turn everything outside off, and it's you and me talking about important things. And you do it with intelligence, empathy and caring. I was very struck by what you say about "seeing the coachee as someone perfect". Changing your gaze and seeing the other person as someone wonderful, and giving them all your attention, your time and your intelligence... that's brutal. When you see the other person like that, things happen.

What is important to you? What is your passion?
My family. It's what drives me, why I get up every day.

How do you recharge your batteries?
From a walk to doing nothing. We have forgotten to rest. Sleep should be basic. Going to the countryside, being in nature recharges me. I also travel a lot - for work or pleasure - and I have learned that all journeys are also inner journeys. I always make time to meditate, rest or learn, even on trips that might seem too demanding.

What has been your greatest achievement so far?
My family. When I was young, I was looking for that without knowing it. I created it, we created it. That is my greatest achievement.

And your biggest challenge?
Finding a balance. I need to work, I need to be passionate about it, but I am also passionate about my family and my hobbies. Finding that balance is the challenge. And maybe just looking for it is part of the achievement.

Where would you like to see yourself in 3 to 5 years?
I don't know and I don't care. Whatever comes, will come. I concentrate on the here and now. Thinking 3 or 5 years ahead is just another distraction. It gives you security, but it also detracts from your energy and I don't care. I focus on today and, hopefully, the weekend.

What news would you like to hear?
I am concerned about the polarisation of society. Points of confrontation are being sought, not of encounter. I would love to hear news that speaks of harmony, agreements, looking out for others, for the planet, for those who are not like me. We need to rise up and think more collectively.

Complete the sentence: "Through coaching I learned...".
...the value of conversation. Its importance and what it can generate if done with mindfulness, from other prisms. It has tremendous potential. We should all learn this, especially those of us who work in professions where human relations are key. We are taught many technical things, but not how to treat others well.

Listen to the full conversation on Spotify