Guillaume Rose has spent his entire career working to improve his small but mighty country. Today the President of the Committee for Negotiations with the European Union, the former head of the Principality’s Tourism and Conventions Office makes some of the most important connections and decisions for the Principality. As part of the effort to improve the welcome offered in the Principality and its standing in the world, the Government is keen to set out a shared strategy applicable to everyone involved in projecting Monaco’s image beyond the country’s borders. Mr Guillaume Rose has recently been entrusted with improving coordination among these various stakeholders.
A man of few words, Mr Rose believes in action, getting things done, being good to one another and building people up. He loves his life and if he could do it all again, he wouldn’t change a thing. Mr Guillaume Rose sat with HelloMonaco to share his insights on what success is, how to find happiness, and how Prince Albert II ’s accession speech changed his life.
HelloMonaco: Is harmony important to you?
Guillaume Rose: I think that harmony is very important — we need harmony. I look forward to getting harmony as much as I can. For me, I think harmony is being balanced between well-being, which means being well in your own body, and of the soul. Being able to meet people, finding new people, finding new ways of thinking and bringing [harmony] back to your home and family.
HM: What is your purpose in life?
GR: I would say that my purpose in life is to be happy and make people happy. Giving them back the happiness that they give me. Because I am a builder — I don’t want to destroy things. And I am not someone who can watch things deteriorate. I want to bring equilibrium and happiness to people as much as I can.
HM: Wouldn’t you consider yourself a fighter?
GR: I am a fighter, but it takes more energy to bring people together than it does to divide them. It takes a lot of energy to make people be aware that we are all part of the same thing. That we all have the same interests, which is how to raise our children properly, how not to pollute the environment, how not to destroy each other’s efforts just to show that you’ve got more muscles than others. It’s very important to build and put your energy into positive things. You need more fighting spirit than if you just want to destroy everything.
HM: Do you believe that you cannot love others unless you love yourself?
GR: I really believe that you can’t love properly if you don’t think that you’ve got that sparkle of love in yourself. So, you can’t be too much in love with yourself, or else it’s destructive, but you’ve got to know very well who you are and you’ve got to be able to forgive yourself.
HM: What role does money play in your life?
GR: I would consider money to be a fate, meaning that to be happy, you have to get rid of it. That I know. But to get rid of it, you have to have it. So first, work to get enough money to be able not to think about money. That’s very important, because the less you get, the more you have to think about it. My philosophy is to work to get enough money to be able to get rid of it from your mind.
HM: Do you think money is an important criterion for success?
HM: What is luxury for you?
GR: Luxury is the very essence of Monte-Carlo, and I have promoted Monte-Carlo all my life. I would say that luxury is being able to live your dream. That is real luxury. You dream of a yacht? You’ve got a yacht. That’s absolute luxury. But if you dream of a garden, and you’ve got a garden, that is luxury too. Monaco specialises in making your dreams come true. Going to refined places with refined people, that’s absolute luxury. Why is our Grand Prix a luxury Grand Prix? Not because of the circuit itself — which is spectacular — but because the people you see the Grand Prix with are different. These are luxury people which means that these are people who came to see a refined atmosphere and enjoy it amongst other people who look for the same.
HM: What is happiness for you?
HM: Do you have a moment that stands out as complete happiness?
GR: When I saw my children for the first time, at their birth (they are twins), I felt absolute and pure happiness. That is really something that I will never forget.
HM: Do you have any secrets for moving from planning to action?
GR: I receive people in my professional life who have wonderful ideas. My job consists of picking the best ones and trying to make them happen. So I know exactly the difference between speaking and acting. My meetings never last more than one hour, because I prefer to speak less and act more. When we begin to act, we can speak about how to improve it, but I don’t like speaking about something I can’t do. Dreaming is a very good thing, but Monaco is the land of dreams, and Monaco exists. I don’t see why dreams can’t be something that we [actively] build.
HM: Is there a moment that changed your life?
GR: The 12th of July, 2005, our Prince sovereign came to power. He made a speech that day that literally changed my life. Before that day, I never knew that the Prince of Monaco could say such wonderful things about the environment, acting together, living together, tolerance, respect, future, building a better society, a better world. After that speech, I understood that what I felt in my heart could be valued. Which means, respecting each other, protecting the environment, being international, being completely focused about everything positive and not being closed to each other to protect what we have, but making us bigger. The speech completely changed my life.
HM: What do you think of our project? Do you think it is important to talk about these things?
GR: Monaco is such an international place and Monte-Carlo defines people who are successful. The fact that you ask them how they think they are successful is very interesting because there are a thousand ways to be successful. I think this project is very interesting for everybody.
See the full version of the interview go here.
