n the course of the interview, the Executive Director of Portugal Digital, Vanda de Jesus emphasises the importance of companies having teams "with a diversity of cultures and with different backgrounds", enriching the experience and strength of each one.
"Bringing more women into technology is something that also motivates me a lot.But this is all diversity, because another thing I have learned in life is that diversity of cultures, of backgrounds really makes us much stronger and I think we also have that in Portugal in a unique way," stresses the former Microsoft Portugal marketing director.
"We welcome others very well, we incorporate new cultures well and so in digital it is no different, quite the opposite, but making sure we keep our core and our essence," he adds.
Vanda de Jesus also recalls the focus on human resources: "There is a direct matrix between the pillars and the three engines of our economy, which are people, companies and the State. And as in everything, I am a people person, without people we will not be able to make any transformation in others. So, yes, that's a big bet."
"One of the things I have also felt in this work is the importance of leadership and I think that the moments we have also lived through, if anything positive has brought, is that leaders realise that they have to make a very deep change in what is their mindset, in the way they work, in the way they think about organisations, very purpose-oriented, with much more flexibility, the importance of empathy, even if it is not physical. I think all this, this pandemic and these moments we are living through have accelerated", he ends.
On the topic, the executive director of Portugal Digital also gave an online talk, focused on the Action Plan for Digital Transition, on January 21, as part of the 2nd edition of Webtalks. You can watch the complete live here.
This article is republished under the partnership between Nova SBE Executive Education and PME Magazine. Read the full interview.
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