16/06/2026
Last night, many football fans (myself included) watched Roberto โPicoโ Lopes help Cape Verde, a country with around 530,000 population off the coast of West Africa, earn a remarkable draw against Spain on the worldโs biggest stage.
What makes the story even more fascinating is how it started.
โ Not in a stadium,
โ Not through an agent,
โ Not through a scouting network,
โ
But through a LinkedIn message.
A few years ago, Lopes who was born and raised in Ireland and having spent his entire professional career there, received an InMail message from the the head coach of Cape Verde national team inviting him to represent the country internationally.
The message was written in Portuguese.
Like many of us do when unfamiliar messages appear in our inboxes:
Lopes ignored it.
Around 9 months later, another message arrived. This time, it was written in English.
Lopes responded, joined the national team, and eventually found himself competing at a FIFA World Cup.
It is a wonderful football story, but I think it is also a fascinating communication story.
The invitation itself had never changed. What changed was the language the message was communicated.
As a leadership communication & executive presence coach, I often see organisations and individuals make similar mistake:
- We communicate in the language that is familiar to us rather than in the language that is meaningful to our audience.
- We focus on what we want to say rather than how others are likely to receive it.
Sometimes the smallest adjustment in communication can unlock entirely different outcomes.
There is another lesson we can learn from Lopesโ World Cup story too:
Many professionals still think of LinkedIn as an (online) CV or a place to occasionally update career milestones. Actually, it can be something much more powerful โ
Our LinkedIn profile is also a platform where opportunities, partnerships, speaking invitations, board appointments, clients, career transitions and unexpected connections begin.
While most of us will never receive an invitation to play in a World Cup, we all have career goals, aspirations and opportunities, right?
When you use LinkedIn strategically for your career development, who knows what conversation, connection or message might eventually open the door to your own version of a world stage?
thoughtfully & intentionally, stay visible, and donโt underestimate the opportunities that can emerge from a simple InMail messageโฆ
Sometimes, the message you nearly ignored changes not only your career but your life!
