Article for Human Resources | How is it to be a Country Manager?

Vânia Fiúza, Country Manager at Dr. Oetker and an alumna of The Lisbon MBA Católica|Nova, shared her unconventional leadership journey in an insightful article for Human Resources magazine.
Woman? Pregnant? With a two-year-old daughter? Looking young? Pursuing an Executive MBA? Taking on the role of Country Manager? Impossible. Or not…
“How is it to be a Country Manager?” I am often asked.
I could respond with a victim-heroic dichotomy and say that it tastes like the merit of 17 years immersed in a lot of sweat and tears, personal and financial investment, relational learning, and blah-blah-blah.
But those are outdated stories. It’s true that they all helped me build the skills for that castle of stones and take on the role of Country Manager for the first time at the age of 37. And by the way, I was pregnant with my second child and finishing my MBA with intensive study and group work at night and on weekends.
When I became a Country Manager, the feeling was that I had a mission to fulfill. No time to lose. I could only focus, quickly diagnose the business with a lynx eye, and design a strategic plan for the next five years. It was, in a way (although on a different scale), the same feeling I had when I became a Sales representative visiting supermarkets, or a sales assistant, or an account manager, or a commercial director, or a student again, or a mother.
The difference now was embracing various challenges in my life at the same time. And in the new role of being responsible for “everything” in a company, I had to take on several challenges at the same time. For me, it was very evident that significant change management was needed to reach the strategic plan I committed to.
Back to the conversation, the question explicitly comes up: “And how did you get that position?” in a friendly tone that hides curiosity about how many lunches I paid for and what my “factor C” might have been.
The answer? To counter the odds even more, I don’t rely on “a” factor C. I rely on “five” factor Cs. The same factor Cs that helped pave the way in my career.
Head (Cabeça). Courage (Coragem). Heart (Coração). Confidence (Confiança). Consistency (Consistência).
Head (Cabeça). The head to make rational choices with foresight about the impacts. In the head is the vision, and that vision must be holistic because in any decision, there are various natures of impact – operational, governance, financial (always financial!), human, and motivational.
Oh, the courage (Coragem). Courage to openly address topics that only 1% of the people in the room would. But it’s not enough to address them; we must also propose solutions, otherwise, it’s not courage, it’s just whistleblowing.
Heart (Coração). Heart to know that humanity lies in empathy. There’s content and there’s form. Here, it’s about the form and knowing that the receivers of our messages have their contexts, interpretations, and feelings.
Confiança (Confidence). Trust takes time to build, even in ourselves. I needed a series of validations to feel that I make secure decisions, the latest of them being an MBA, and the next one, perhaps my 40th birthday!
Consistency (Consistência). Consistency-consistency-consistency. In effort, in energy, in the joy with which we carry out any project in life, without giving up that sense of mission to make a difference.
“What will be your next career step now that you’ve reached the top?” We never truly reach the top as long as we feel our sense of mission boiling and can see how much there is to do.
The work never ends. And everything is done.
And the factor Cs? I nurture them by paying for lunches that repay the favor of advancing my career early. I feed the head with ‘al dente’ intuition. Courage, with three Michelin-star mentoring. I give the heart some ‘power distance’ to hold on. Confidence requires cold self-evaluation. And consistency takes experimentation for breakfast, testing new flavors and textures.
Vânia Fiúza, Country Manager at Dr. Oetker and an alumna of The Lisbon MBA Católica|Nova, shared her unconventional leadership journey in an insightful article for Human Resources magazine.
Woman? Pregnant? With a two-year-old daughter? Looking young? Pursuing an Executive MBA? Taking on the role of Country Manager? Impossible. Or not…
“How is it to be a Country Manager?” I am often asked.
I could respond with a victim-heroic dichotomy and say that it tastes like the merit of 17 years immersed in a lot of sweat and tears, personal and financial investment, relational learning, and blah-blah-blah.
But those are outdated stories. It’s true that they all helped me build the skills for that castle of stones and take on the role of Country Manager for the first time at the age of 37. And by the way, I was pregnant with my second child and finishing my MBA with intensive study and group work at night and on weekends.
When I became a Country Manager, the feeling was that I had a mission to fulfill. No time to lose. I could only focus, quickly diagnose the business with a lynx eye, and design a strategic plan for the next five years. It was, in a way (although on a different scale), the same feeling I had when I became a Sales representative visiting supermarkets, or a sales assistant, or an account manager, or a commercial director, or a student again, or a mother.
The difference now was embracing various challenges in my life at the same time. And in the new role of being responsible for “everything” in a company, I had to take on several challenges at the same time. For me, it was very evident that significant change management was needed to reach the strategic plan I committed to.
Back to the conversation, the question explicitly comes up: “And how did you get that position?” in a friendly tone that hides curiosity about how many lunches I paid for and what my “factor C” might have been.
The answer? To counter the odds even more, I don’t rely on “a” factor C. I rely on “five” factor Cs. The same factor Cs that helped pave the way in my career.
Head (Cabeça). Courage (Coragem). Heart (Coração). Confidence (Confiança). Consistency (Consistência).
Head (Cabeça). The head to make rational choices with foresight about the impacts. In the head is the vision, and that vision must be holistic because in any decision, there are various natures of impact – operational, governance, financial (always financial!), human, and motivational.
Oh, the courage (Coragem). Courage to openly address topics that only 1% of the people in the room would. But it’s not enough to address them; we must also propose solutions, otherwise, it’s not courage, it’s just whistleblowing.
Heart (Coração). Heart to know that humanity lies in empathy. There’s content and there’s form. Here, it’s about the form and knowing that the receivers of our messages have their contexts, interpretations, and feelings.
Confiança (Confidence). Trust takes time to build, even in ourselves. I needed a series of validations to feel that I make secure decisions, the latest of them being an MBA, and the next one, perhaps my 40th birthday!
Consistency (Consistência). Consistency-consistency-consistency. In effort, in energy, in the joy with which we carry out any project in life, without giving up that sense of mission to make a difference.
“What will be your next career step now that you’ve reached the top?” We never truly reach the top as long as we feel our sense of mission boiling and can see how much there is to do.
The work never ends. And everything is done.
And the factor Cs? I nurture them by paying for lunches that repay the favor of advancing my career early. I feed the head with ‘al dente’ intuition. Courage, with three Michelin-star mentoring. I give the heart some ‘power distance’ to hold on. Confidence requires cold self-evaluation. And consistency takes experimentation for breakfast, testing new flavors and textures.
Read the full article (original) in Portuguese here.
Source: Human Resources