Ricardo Pinto dos Santos, MDS Portugal CEO – "Opportunity often lies in adversity."

He is lively in his thinking, but advocates sustainable growth with purpose. Ricardo Pinto dos Santos, CEO of MDS Portugal, highlights the importance of nurturing the social capital of organisations and leaving a legacy of values such as professionalism and integrity. He spoke to Villas&Golfe about the more personal side of a CEO’s life and his bold taste... in belts.

When you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about work, what kind of things do you think about? 
I regularly wake up thinking about work. Obviously, this is a consequence of the responsibility I have, the complexity and quantity of issues involved; it’s inevitable. Normally, it’s about the day’s agenda and the challenge of delivering, of achieving the company’s goals. 

What moment in your career has challenged you the most as a leader? How did you convert that experience into an opportunity for learning and growth?
It’s difficult to single out just one moment when you look back over a career spanning 30 years. But there are clearly two moments that stand out: one at the company where I worked previously, also an insurance broker, which was the tragic death of a leader, following which I had to take on the informal position of guiding the team. It was an abrupt transition, in which there was a need to calm people’s concerns and, at the same time, maintain the stability of the team. At that moment, someone had to take on the role of unifier. This also allowed me to develop a more strategic thinking when face with more vulnerable moment for the company. It was a challenging, defining and pivotal phase in my career. In fact, whenever I have taken major strides in my career, they have all been associated with a disruptive moment. I would highlight another moment, also transformational, which was my arrival at MDS, years later, now in a leadership position. Joining MDS put me in a very different world: a company with more people, who were very competent, with a size that was much larger in size than I was used to leading, with all the good and complex aspects that this brings. It was a world that really changed me and clearly made a difference in my career. The greatest lesson I learned throughout my career is that opportunity often lies in adversity.

[…] whenever I have taken major strides in my career, they have all been associated with a disruptive moment.

Were there times when the demands of your role as leader of a multinational organisation had a greater impact on your family? How did you manage to strike a balance during those periods? 
Good management between personal and professional life can only be achieved with a great deal of patience and tolerance. You can’t simply switch off at the end of the week or in the evening, especially you work in a position of leadership. There are some behaviours typical to the work environment that inevitably carry over into the home. Emotional management will inevitably be reflected in the home environment. But I always try to listen to the warnings and take action, as I believe that it is vital to have a balances personal life to be able to perform well at work.

In which environments do you feel most creative: in a meeting room, on a plane or walking alone?
I tend to feel more stimulated in the context of meetings. I have a side to me that is relatively quick and perceptive in that regard. I don’t know if that would make me more creative or stimulated than when I am in a silent place. I think that both, with different stimuli, lead to different results. On a transatlantic flight, my thinking is more serene, more structured. But the thought of a meeting creates a buzz, and I prefer buzzing environments. 

Having a balanced personal life is essential to achieving balanced performance.

How is MDS incorporating artificial intelligence into its processes to remain competitive?
At MDS we have always invested in innovation and technology and there two central dimensions in which we have applied artificial intelligence. One lies clearly in the operational component. It is still a relatively new process for everyone, but at MDS we already have several areas where we are using AI to improve operational efficiency, whether when dealing with customer correspondence or processing data and files, for example. On the other hand, we are implementing AI in business development, in a more analytical component, through predictive models, that is say to predict purchasing behaviour.

Which item of clothing or accessory would you say is almost an extension of your identity? 
I would say shoes and belts. I tend to be a conservative and formal person, but ever since I was a child, I have always liked things that are different. As I’ve grown older, I’ve changed, but I like to have my own touch of personality, so my shoes tend to be very classic, while my belts are more flamboyant (some with beads, other with crochet, and lots of colour...). Wearing both at the same time is what characterises me. The belt reveals my more relaxed, daring, self-assured side.

Is there anything that is valued in the business world that you consider to be deeply overrated? 
Permanent and systematic growth and short-term focus. These days, companies find themselves hostage to constantly having to deliver results, which leads to cases of being «obsessed» with efficiency and distracts them from people and the importance of social capital for companies. Nowadays, it is quite clear that managers in companies have very little room for such things. Companies have lost what used to exist in the past, of contributing to the development of communities, for example, with the creation of canteens and crèches, or scholarships. Money is also there to do good for society. Growth and profit are important, but in balance with this social role. At MDS, despite the demands of growth, we are committed to this social dimension.

What legacy are you hoping to leave in the company and in your personal life?
From a personal perspective, I am concerned about my children’s education. The greatest legacy I would like to leave them is values. That, above all else, they are good people. If, beyond this, they are good students, excellent professionals, then all the better – but it is essential that they are good people. I would like to leave a mark based on values that are recognised by everyone – respect, professionalism, approachability, integrity – as much on personal level as a professional one. It is very pleasing to realise that our partners recognise these characteristics at MDS. Hearing someone say: «Do you remember that time when there was a group of people, who were all good professionals, all good people and all competent, who stood out and made their mark in the industry?» – that, for me, would be my greatest legacy.

At MDS, despite the demands of growth, we are committed to this social dimension.

What was the last book that you read that made you stop and think about your own life? 
There are books that impact me in different ways, but I will single out two that have also had an impact on my professional life: the book on Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, and the book on Tim Cook, his successor. I like to compare them with each other. On the one hand, Steve Jobs’ book makes you think about his scope of vision, about his courage and foolishness, about his ability to make such beautiful things, but in a management style that was not the best, but with the obsession of ensuring that people had the right conditions to perform. Tim Cook, on the other hand, brought balance to the teams, a tolerance for mistakes and adaptation, a sensitive and caring side, while not losing value in the stock markets. The ideal in a position of leadership is to have a combination of the two: to recognise that edginess and a «wilder» spirit that sees outside the box is key, but always in balance with sustainability and the stability of teams. 

Text: Carla Martins
Photos: Ana Nogueira