INTERVIEWER: Jonathan Bii
“In local Mexican companies, the human being who works there becomes more important because everything that the employee does or does not do, impacts directly on the company´s results…”
José Eduardo Martínez Fonseca
About the Interviewee
“I’m a passionate improvement seeker, always looking to learn the best practices to apply in my personal and professional life in order to positively impact my society. Besides business, football and traveling; theatre and photography are two activities I truly enjoy, because they help me to share my perspective of life to others. I’m sure that what this world needs is more affection and cooperation; the differences that separated us before, now must unite us.”
THE INTERVIEW
1- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Why study and pursue a career in International Business, is it something you wanted or stumbled upon?
José Eduardo: Since I started high school, I have always defined myself as a ¨business person¨. I studied International Business because of the variety of topics it involves, such as marketing, human resources, finance, etc. Nevertheless, through my academic and professional experiences, I identified the importance of human values like leadership, creativity and cultural awareness, as also needed to foster a professional career in business.
2- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: You are clearly well traveled, having had a semester in China, studied in Canada, United States, working in Mexico, Brazil and in Egypt, what observations have you made on their approach to business and employment and how has this influenced your thought process?
José Eduardo: It is amazing how, even though, we all come from different latitudes, cultural and educational backgrounds, we are still all humans so we share many common practices. While doing business, for example, I have found the importance of effective communication and always being aware of the kind of culture we are in. The differences between high and low context cultures, could create some confusions, but practicing tolerance and being as straight on your thoughts and necessities as possible helps to develop a project, no matter where your counterpart comes from. All these countries I’ve lived and worked in, are used to different business practices, but in all of them, to be honest, friendly and direct, works perfectly.
The level of demand and competitiveness increases as the development of a country increases, and this inertia drives society to surpass itself. Some countries are better in theoretical matters, some are better in practical issues, so you need to adapt very quickly to whatever is more important in each culture.
3- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Having worked as an Export Analyst at Reckitt Benckiser for the Latin American market in Mexico, what strategies did you have to put in place to have an edge over other massive exporters like China?
José Eduardo: In working for multinational companies, I have had the opportunity to interact with leaders that are already setting the processes for success in the different areas of business and in different countries. Furthermore, working on these big enterprises, you will always have the opportunity to witness the business trends and their application. A good method is following the activities that the current key players are directing so you can apply them and even improve the practices in your position.
4- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Your LinkedIn profile shows you went from being a Business Consultant to Exports Analyst to a Services Buyer and then volunteering as contributing photographer, those are very many hats to wear, why so much career diversity and do you view this as an asset or liability in your career progression?
José Eduardo: Since I was a teenager, one of my principles has been to learn from different contexts, industries, and study areas. For me, coming from a consultancy background, I’m always thinking on how to improve the practices of companies and projects, so in these jobs I have had, the main goal has been always to learn from my teammates, from my bosses and from the directors and leaders of the companies, because from them you learn what to do and what not to do in the future. Combining different majors is what makes my day to day more passionate and interesting.
5- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Can you tell us more about being a business consultant and trainer for Dale Carnegie Training Mexico and what motivated you to get involved?
José Eduardo: I can tell you Dale Carnegie is nowadays in my heart. It was my first formal job when I was 20 years old. I started there as a Junior Consultant for this new program that was coming to Mexico called “Generation Next”. Basically this new program was focused on human development training programs for kids and teenagers. So, the owner was looking for fresh people, eager to learn from the company and open to improve the project´s activities to be more efficient for our clients.
When I started taking the courses on human development (leadership, public speaking, interpersonal skills, etc) my mindset started to change and I started to see the personal and professional results in my life. When I saw the magic of being more aware of my environment, I started having a greater ability in creating a clearer vision for my future and in setting important goals. These things helped me to find my real passion which is to help people improve in their personal and professional lives.
6- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: The companies you’ve worked for are well established multinationals, have you noticed anything different about how they handle employees to local businesses in Mexico?
José Eduardo: Definitely. I have learned that as companies grow, they start losing the ability to really care about their employees. This dynamic has affected large companies worldwide, since they forget the importance of each of their employees. In local Mexican companies, the human being who works there becomes more important because everything that the employee does or does not do, impacts directly on the company´s results, so maintaining a sense of fellowship becomes more important. This is a remarkable practice that some modern companies are looking to set as their core practices.
7- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: During the briefing you pointed out about how being culturally aware is very important in International Business, can someone be culturally aware without travelling?
José Eduardo: I can tell you there are many activities we can follow in order to be more culturally aware as professionals in business or in any other field, and even if we don’t have the means or the possibilities to travel, we should keep our minds on the road of the international arena.
Reading contemporary authors, watching international movies, series and documentaries are important. Also, watching at least the highlights of international news and even listening to music from different countries and following on social media some international influencers helps to maintain our awareness, considering that whatever happens in the world it could somehow impact on our society, economy or politics.
8- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Let’s get personal; what’s your biggest regret in your career?
José Eduardo: Probably in a certain position I got, I committed the mistake of not asking deeply what my responsibilities were going to be. Also, I didn’t meet my direct boss before I started working, and basically took the job without any deep research of the company and the position.
I learned the importance of looking deeply into the companies before accepting any proposition, being sure that their practices and activities actually fit me.
Now, I’m pretty sure that deep research must be done before taking an important decision such as joining a new company, since the success and happiness of the work will directly depend on it. It is very important never to forget those two characteristics, passion and happiness.
9- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: You can only go up from here, so what’s the next step for you?
José Eduardo: The next step is to continue my graduate studies. As my country and region develop, the competitiveness rises, so being highly educated helps to stay active and keep promoting the development in my society. I will be starting my graduate double diploma on Administration and International Business, studying between Hanze University (Netherlands) and the Anglia Ruskin Institute of Cambridge (United Kingdom) which will help me to maximize my growth and my passions, keeping in mind that my professional goal is to improve business and social practices all around the world.