Arianne Rovira: "When a person leaves a company, they usually run away from their bosses."

BarcelonaThroughout her professional career, Arianne Rovira (Barcelona, ​​1966) has worked for several multinational companies and has held positions in marketing, sales, and general management departments. She has poured everything she has learned from her experience in the business world into this book. Mediocre bosses (Libros de Cabecera), which provides the keys to identifying a bad head and addressing job dissatisfaction.

Does a boss influence the relationship we end up having with our work?

— Yes, absolutely. When a person leaves a company, they usually flee from their bosses. When we say that 70% of job changes are due to a bad relationship with their bosses, that's what we're talking about. If you don't get along with your superior, you're uncomfortable, or they create a negative atmosphere, you end up making a decision, either to leave or to move within the company. And, in fact, we've seen many times that you can be doing very well in a company and have been there for several years, and then suddenly there's a change of management. And as a result of that change, you say, "How could I have been doing so well here and now I'm doing so badly?" Well, because companies are about people.

His book is called Mediocre bosses (Books of Reference). How would we define a mediocre head?

— The definition of mediocre is someone who doesn't excel, who falls short. When we think of mediocre leaders, each person can apply the term depending on their needs, but basically we're talking about leaders who have aged, who have stopped nurturing themselves. Because they've stopped nurturing themselves, they also fail to transfer knowledge to the teams. These leaders may be tired, who have reached a stage where, for whatever reason, they accumulate frustration and, therefore, adopt a survival strategy and close doors. In this way, teams lack the inspiration and support they need. Since they are no longer courageous, because they no longer want to take risks, they don't move forward or launch major projects, but rather manage the day-to-day and little else. Therefore, they are not very generous, which is one of the best qualities a leader can have. A mediocre leader is one who fails to fulfill the basic duties we would ask of a good leader: to be generous, to be risk-taking, and to be courageous.

In some cases of poor leadership, does ego come into play?

— Yes, it depends on the style. In the book, I talk about four management styles, but there's one that clearly answers this question. It's the manager who seems to know everything. This type of manager doesn't listen much because they believe they already know everything they need to know. Typically, this type of person ends up surrounding themselves with equally mediocre people who do nothing but say yes to everything. In other words, if you're someone who reacts aggressively every time a coworker gives you a negative opinion, what's going to happen? Well, in the end, no one's going to tell you anything.

Is the result that the company stagnates?

— Yes, it stagnates. That is, if the top executive of a company is affected by the virus, as I call this mediocrity, it will end up affecting the entire organization. It's very difficult to have a management team or a top leader like that and expect the rest of the organization to shine. Can this company survive? Well, for the short or medium term, yes, but in the long term, this person will obviously compromise the company's results.

We were talking about the characteristics of a mediocre head, but what is a good head like?

— It should be generous and it should be brave. And brave means taking controlled risks, but taking risks. In the end, great things don't happen if we just manage the day-to-day. It's true that mistakes are often overly punished, and many people don't take risks because doing nothing is punishable. Doing something and not having it go as planned is punishable. The concept of a leader is someone who believes in the purpose of what they're doing and, therefore, is capable of moving forward and transmitting the energy we ask of them. They must also be someone who integrates people. In companies, we still have a diversity problem: we tend to surround ourselves with people very similar to us, when in reality, it's very clear that if we integrate people from different backgrounds and with different visions, the project is enriched. They are also people who ask for opinions on their management, who are humble, because it's okay to say "I don't know this" and admit mistakes. In the end, we believe that to be a director of a company, you must already know everything, and that's not true; you don't have to know everything. You have to know what you know and you have to find out who knows what you don't know and you have to admit it.

The better the resume and the more degrees, the better none will be?

— There's no reason for that. I'm somewhat critical of how we select executives. When we have to bring a new executive into a company, we're still placing too much emphasis on what their LinkedIn profile says: how many companies they've worked for, whether they're fashion companies or large corporations. If you've worked abroad, it sounds great. If you're a man between 35 and 45, it also sounds great. This carries too much weight, and we don't look closely—and we should be—at the mark that person has left on the teams. This, in the end, is the key to success. Most problems with poor fit in a company stem from issues that don't appear on the resume. When conducting selection processes in large firms, it should go beyond professional achievements and look at the type of person they are, what they soft skills has.

What are the soft skills?

— These are the soft qualities. These are those that have nothing to do with your resume or whether you went to business school or not. It's about really seeing who that person is, not so much what they've done. These are essential qualities because they're what determine whether people approach you or not.

We've been awarding shark profiles for years. Perhaps it's time to value other qualities?

— These are qualities that have a very clear value because they are what determine whether people are happy or not at work. People typically leave a company because the environment, the relationship they have with their boss, or what they are getting from their boss isn't what they expected. These are all relationships.

When criticism of the leader is made in a repetitive manner, can it become an excuse for not working properly?

— One of the questions you should ask yourself if your mind is mediocre is whether this comes from the source or if it's made to be, because it's also true that there are structures that lead to this. If you truly have a mediocre mind, you must become aware of it. This means you have to stop and think about what's happening and how much time you can dedicate to it before it ends up harming your career and emotional stability. We have many people with mental health problems due to things that arise within the professional environment, and we must consider what we can do before we reach this situation. Asking yourself what you can do is important, because if you simply stay in the company saying, "Well, my mind is mediocre," you will end up becoming an undemanding professional. You must make the decisions about your professional career, because a very common mistake is for people to stay in places waiting for someone else to make decisions for them.

Therefore, your recommendation is that the worker periodically ask himself if he feels comfortable in the company?

— Yes, we must be aware of this. If you're clear about where you want to be in ten years, you have to talk to your head and work with it. Your head must support you on this path. Employees who have a boss who has dedicated himself to working with them on this career path are eternally grateful.

Does a woman lead very differently than a man?

— I don't know, I've had few female leaders and many male leaders. The career path to senior management is a competitive one, because there are few places at the top and many at the bottom. It requires a certain amount of ambition, and you have to start playing in your early 30s; you can't start at 50 because it will be difficult. There is discrimination simply because, as a general rule, women between 30 and 40 start families, focus elsewhere, and aren't as ambitious. During these years, many opportunities arise, and many women aren't willing to raise their hands. That's why there are fewer women than men. You find yourself in your 40s, when everything is more organized, and you see that your colleagues have been promoted. Also, sometimes HR doesn't do the screening they should, because if they did it properly, they should come and offer you things that might interest you. Do women have better emotional management skills? Perhaps so, but I wouldn't dare say that women are better at managing their emotions just because they're women. I think this is more about the person than the sex.

You've worked for multinationals. Does your approach change from one country to another?

— There are countries, like the United States, where what counts isn't the how, but the what. I started in American multinationals, and you have a lot of fun if you work well. Now, at the end of the year, show me the moneyWithin Europe, I've noticed that Latin American countries manage people better. In that sense, the toughest place was the Netherlands, because they have a much more direct attitude. They say they're honest, but there's a greater level of confrontation. I even told a colleague of mine that honesty was overrated. If you lie to me a little from time to time, nothing's going to happen, because it was really uncomfortable. We spend 73,000 hours of our lives working: that's too much time to not be happy. The three qualities an employee values most in their job are recognition, feeling part of the project, and, thirdly, salary. What we want is a receptive environment.