By Ana Inés Montanari* for staffingamericalatina

By the beginning of this year I saw an announcement on the internet that invited candidates to apply for “CEO for One Month” in Adecco Argentina. The program “CEO for One Month” is one of the many initiatives carried out globally by Adecco Group to tackle youth unemployment. The experience consists on choosing a young person in every country where the company operates (more and more branches enter the program every year. On 2016 there were 50 countries participating). These youngsters have the unique opportunity to work side by side with the company’s country manager, learning about the employment industry, the operations of an international company and developing their leadership skills.

I found the program challenging and applied. After a few months I was elected to participate in an assessment center with the other finalist candidates. A few days after the assessment, I received a phone call. I was part of the shortlist of three candidates and would have a Skype interview with David Herranz, CEO of Adecco Argentina and Latin America, who would be the mentor of the elected candidate. The following Tuesday I found out I had won Argentina. I could not believe it.

In a matter of weeks, I packed my bags and departed from Rosario, my natal city, to Buenos Aires. For a month I put on hold my thesis for the degree of International Relations, and lived an extraordinary experience. I learnt about every area in the company; how a branch works; I traveled and learnt a lot. Having David as my mentor not only enabled me to understand how it is like to work on a national level, but also what it means to be in charge of a region. I have always thought that Latin America has great potential. However, the lack of resources limit and constrain its growth opportunities. Solving this is quite challenging. Generating positive synergies in every group of work in the different countries is the first key step to develop the existing potential.

But going back to the program, when I got involved with it I did not really know the specific level of participation I was going to have. When I told people that I was going to be working as a CEO, they used to ask me: but, what are you going to do? When David arrived I understood what my role was going to be. That very same day we went to a meeting that gathered together staff from different branches in Buenos Aires. Before going in he asked me: what are you planning to tell them? I looked at him in amazement. Was it really my turn to speak? Were my thoughts really going to be taken into account?

As days went by, I understood they were. Every project, every new idea, every activity demanded my full attention. I had to provide my perspective, asses, suggest alternative options I thought were better, lead the group, in other words… be a CEO. But not a conventional CEO, a CEO of what I believe is the “new paradigm”. The sort of leader who walks by the offices like any other employee, greeting everyone, listening, encouraging people to grow, acknowledging my own mistakes and asking feedback about my own performance. I found that fascinating and I am convinced that this new CEO paradigm will be the rule from now own. The boss you are afraid of, who reprimands unnecessarily, who does not accept other opinions than his own, and who does not relate smoothly with the employees, will tend to disappear.

Chatting with my friends I used to talk about what David was like in the company and everyone was fascinated. Young people need that sort of bosses. We want to grow in a company, we want our perspective to be appreciated, and we want to participate, to be challenged and to feel that they believe we can overcome those challenges.  We want them to believe in us. That is why we progressively look for an economic margin that enables us to flee from environments where we are not motivated or taken into account.

If I had to mention how the experience changed me, I would point out the fact that it transformed my attitude towards decision making. Once I got back to Rosario, I started working on my thesis again, and many of the doubts I used to have, vanished. Instead of asking my tutor to guide me in every step, when we met again I showed him a piece of work that was almost finished. I decided what authors to consider, what methodology to use, what I wanted to do, and trusted my own decisions. I had spent an entire month learning how to trust my decision making skills and that prompted me to move forward. I believe that the university does not encourage participation and that it is unidirectional. Students just have a few opportunities to create or take the initiative, and it all depends on the level of freedom the professor allows. For that reason, when we get to the thesis we find it really hard to develop it. You know how to do what other people told you to do, but you do not know how to decide things by and for yourself. My personal experience made me note this even more because I tend to be determined and resulting with what I want. But living this transition, which is a growing process, was complex, and I believe that if it had not been for my experience in Adecco, it would have taken me much longer.

As if everything I had lived was not enough, I was selected among the 10 national CEOs who would compete to become CEO for One Month of Adecco Group. I traveled to Holland to participate in the competition, where I had the chance of defending my innovation project, one of the key points on which we were evaluated. My project was a proposal to tackle a problem that affects the Latin American labour market: including disabled people in companies, a very urgent and pending matter in my opinion. On a global level, Adecco Foundation addresses inclusion in a holistic way. I think that it would be vital to have these kind of projects in Latin America.

After my performance in Holland, I made it to the top five finalists who traveled to Tokio for the last assessments. Being 23 years old, from the assessment center in June until today has been almost like living a dream for me. This week I presented my thesis and soon I will start working in Adecco. This last point is one of the most important aspect of the program. Once the cameras turn off and the events come to an end, the same people keep on supporting you and keep on committing with you so you can enter the labor market.

I thank Adecco Group for believing in youth and collaborating with our professional and personal growth. Young people need the commitment of institutions, companies and organizations so that our access to the labor market stops being a frustrating issue and becomes another phase of growing up.

*You can check Ana Inés Montanari’s Linkedin profile and follow her on Twitter: @aniimontanari