# Voice Affairs — Voice Strategic Consulting > Voice Affairs is the monthly briefing of Voice Strategic Consulting: an editorial on how influence is built in Europe, a legislative radar on what is moving in Brussels and Rome, and the work behind it. Source: https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/ Voice Affairs — Monthly Briefing # Where influence begins What is moving in Brussels, and what it means for you ## The Briefing Once a month, we publish an editorial on how influence works in Europe today, a legislative radar on what is moving in Brussels, and a note on the work behind it. Written for the decision-maker’s chair, and for those who advise it. - [The new policy messengers have followers, not mandates](https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/issue-11/) - [Persuasion just became a commodity. Influence did not](https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/issue-10/) - [Does Europe deregulate by conviction, or by competitive pressure?](https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/issue-09/) - [From noise to influence: Building a strategic impact](https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/issue-08/) - [Where does influence actually sit in Europe today?](https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/issue-07/) - [Does Europe regulate by design or under pressure?](https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/issue-06/) - [When algorithms enter the lobby: What AI changes and what it doesn’t - part 2](https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/issue-05/) - [When policy becomes advertising: The new fault line in strategic influence](https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/issue-03/) - [The end of old-school influence: Why public affairs must leave the lobby](https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/issue-01/) - [Where influence begins](https://voice-sc.com/voice-affairs/issue-00/) BIO BUNKER IS READY. THE SUPPLY CHAIN IS THE TEST As International Maritime Organization targets push shipping emissions down towards 2030 and 2040, Adamant Group's Michele Rinaldi explains in a new video why marine biofuel is ready to play its part: it is already available and runs on existing engines and infrastructure. The open question is no longer the technology, but a supply chain able to deliver reliably and at scale. Operators that move early keep more control over how they manage the transition. [Watch the video](https://lnkd.in/p/dhJ5Rjyq) EIGHTY YEARS OF NOT FACING COMPLEXITY ALONE A.P.I. Associazione Piccole e Medie Industrie celebrated its 80th anniversary at Villa Clerici, with the Lombardy Region, the City of Milan, Confartigianato Imprese and SMEunited. Founded in 1946, the association now represents almost 2,000 companies and more than 39,000 employees across Milan, Monza Brianza, Pavia and Lodi. Director-General Stefano Valvason summed up its purpose in one line: "No entrepreneur should face this complexity alone." Voice is proud to be a member. [See the anniversary](https://lnkd.in/p/dywYZ2VE) 04 Leading lines By Stefano Musso, Senior Advisor, Voice Strategic Consulting A monthly column by Stefano Musso, Senior Advisor at Voice, on leadership as a form of strategic communication: what leaders say, and what their behaviour says for them. WHY IS SURFING BECOMING SO POPULAR? Over the last few years I have noticed an often illogical and unnecessary use of words and symbols borrowed from surfing: in advertising, on radio talk shows, on social media, in motivational posts. It makes me ask why surfing has become so fashionable, and whether it is being used in the right way. The surfing community is not a monolith. It is an archipelago of different worlds. There are the real surfers, who have watched decades, storms and trends pass along their own coastlines. There are those who started recently and mean to keep going, and those who spent a week at a surf camp for a change of scenery. Talking about surfers as if they were all the same is a bit like saying that everyone who eats pasta has the same taste. So how can a supermarket, a fashion label or an ice-cream brand be associated with a surfboard? A communication expert would call it nonsense, unless the campaign is carried out with intelligence, consistency and relevance. Before using surfing in advertising, you need to know the values of the community. That is the point. Connecting with it takes time, small steps and respect. Those who know surfers understand that surfing is rarely about a product or the status of owning it. The real values are different: social connection, simplicity, brotherhood and freedom. They are not values to put on display lightly, and they come with behaviours, skills and healthy attitudes. A bit like the inner world a leader should build over time. This is why I talk about leadership differently, through the metaphor of surfing: a sport that is growing in popularity, yet remains poorly understood for what it can teach, even to those who have never stood on a board. So why not learn a little about leadership from surfing? After all, a surfer can easily become a good leader, while the reverse is not always true. [Read the full piece on Substack](https://substack.com/@stefanomusso/note/p-205507766) Stefano's new book is out now. [Discover the book](https://amzn.eu/d/0ijbjyfp) If AI is changing how influence works, the real question is who is shaping the rules of visibility - and who is reacting too late. We will continue exploring this throughout the year. Enjoyed this edition? Forward it to a colleague or subscribe to receive future insights from Voice. BIOREFINERY: A STORY TO BE TRUSTED Our team spent a day at Xanthos , a biorefinery in the Adamant Group, developing content and shaping its communication strategy for the months ahead. The energy transition is as much a communication challenge as an industrial one: technical detail has to become something credible and clear to stakeholders with very different levels of knowledge. That translation is the work we do best. [See our day at Xanthos](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/voice-strategic-consulting_voicestrategicconsulting-energytransition-activity-7503751324887519233-xzvz?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAACpUjOEBoIsx54y7O-Oh9GBGWWdw3JNeVBM) 700 ALUMNI IN LONDON. NOW THEY HAVE A CHAPTER Our co-founder and Co-CEO Jacopo Garone has been appointed Head of the London Chapter of IULM Alumni, after two years on the association's Steering Committee. More than 700 Università IULM alumni work in London across finance, fashion, media, consulting and tech: a community that already exists but does not yet know itself. The first gathering is on 4 November in London. [Join the London Chapter](https://lnkd.in/p/euZFJKkK) 04 Leading lines A monthly column by Stefano Musso , Senior Advisor at Voice, on leadership as a form of strategic communication: what leaders say, and what their behaviour says for them. WHEN BEHAVIOUR SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS There is the leader who calls meetings to give orders, explain a strategy and motivate the team, and there is the leader who embodies all of that in how they act. The difference is one of substance, not form, and followers read it clearly. Leading by example is a communication strategy in itself. A leader's communication rests less on the rousing speech than on the quiet consistency of everyday conduct. A manager who keeps learning, studies the context before deciding, owns a mistake instead of passing it to the team, listens, and shares both responsibility and credit is already communicating a method, a set of values and a standard. Every action works twice: once through its direct effect, and again through how it is read and imitated by those watching. A curious leader breeds curiosity. A leader who takes responsibility in the storm builds trust. The same happens in the water. Surfers convince no one with words. They communicate through how they paddle out, how they fall and how they get back up. At sea, rank on land counts for nothing: what speaks for you is respecting priority, watching out for the person beside you and keeping calm when a bigger set rolls in. The experienced surfer who greets others with a smile, can ride any wave and still knows when to give way, teaches without saying a word. Leadership styles vary, and each can make sense in its context. Leading by example works in all of them: paddling out first, falling with the others, getting back up and helping them do the same, admitting fear in a rough sea while still setting the direction, and getting through it together with the people who follow. A provocation: a surfer can easily become a good leader; the reverse is far less true. To prove me wrong, those who lead might ask themselves not only what they communicate when they speak, but what they communicate when no one is asking them anything. [EXPLORE ON SUBSTACK](https://substack.com/@stefanomusso) If AI is changing how influence works, the real question is who is shaping the rules of visibility - and who is reacting too late. We will continue exploring this throughout the year. Enjoyed this edition? Forward it to a colleague or subscribe to receive future insights from Voice.