Jose Esfola is currently the CEO of Xerox Portugal, one of the best companies in terms of innovation and human resources management. In conversation with PME Magazine, he tells us the secrets to reach this level of productivity and employee commitment.
Jose Esfola (J.E) – Deep down I don’t think I have had a very clear or specific objective since I started working. Pretty much my first job was here at Xerox. Anyway, we have a lot of good examples of successful internal runs, and of course at one point I started managing a sales territory that became more relevant to our bottom line and that possibility began to materialize which materialized within a few years. back.
To what do you attribute your rise to success within Xerox?
Jose Esfola – There is a poem by Miguel Torga that will help me answer. It is the introduction that tells the fate of Siam and I have to do the rest. And this happened to me a lot. I come from a family very dedicated to business and commerce, I was born practically inside a grocery store and also a hardware and commerce store, which still exists today with another dimension, and I have always been there. I did street sales with my grandparents when I was about 6 or 7 years old, I would take a cardboard bag and go to the supermarket to buy some products to sell myself, because people thought it was fun and I ended up buying. All of this developed a viability, I think, of sales. Maybe also with some DNA here in the mix. I never lived with my father, but he always dedicated himself to work and had several companies. So I think all of that helped me create that spirit and passion for the business. I remember being a teenager and being in these stores and spending time scrolling through the yellow pages looking for companies, company activities and logos. Then I designed the logo of the company I work for. So, all this path that I have been following since I was very young (practically since I was born) has helped to build that passion for business.
Have you had this competition since childhood?
Jose Esfola – Yes, then I was lucky to join Xerox. I was looking for a sales job, because I really wanted to be a salesperson. Sometimes it amazes me when people find that offensive, but I really wanted to be a salesperson. I joined Xerox and Xerox was, at that time, the best sales school there, and since then, as Ronaldo said “it’s easy to have passion for what I do”, I do it better every day, and I think one thing is important , and that is not to stop learning or wanting to learn.