Growth and Positive Impact

Flash Interview with Helena Brígida

Helena Brígida: Meet the Celfie

C — How do you handle being in the spotlight during a crisis?

HB — I have learned to reframe my thinking to make the most out of the challenges presented by crises. I always pay attention to the choices I make and the way I handle myself during a crisis because it signals more information to the customer than what I do in meetings, speeches, reports, etc. Corporate reputations, as well as those of individuals, are viewed as trustworthy, trendy, or unethical. Celfocus, as any business, wants to score high at least in the important axes: in competence (reliable, high quality) as well as in empathy (trusted). When a crisis hits, everyone is paying attention and looking for the path forward offered by the leader (or not). I always take it as an opportunity to show what Celfocus cares about and stands for – we always deliver! So rather than being a deer caught in the headlights I aim to thrive in the spotlight.

C — In your perspective, is it almost always inevitable to turn to heroes in our professional activities?

HB — Heroes are flawed like us, make mistakes, and have weaknesses, they’re not perfect. But we turn to the heroes that talk the walk and show us how to do it. We need heroes in the sense that none of us can meet all the needs (delivering a project, assuring a service, executing an assessment, etc.) without significant help from others. At Celfocus we have heroes because we work with people whom we see as role models and we celebrate them for their positive impact on the growth of people around them. Our heroes do their best every day to overcome obstacles and save the day with simple actions that inspire you to refuse to give up, do the right thing, and not the easy thing, long-term mentoring less experienced colleagues. We need heroes to remember that the ethical choice is ALWAYS better than the unethical one.

C — What’s the motivation to keep going forward, even on the hard days?

HB — I work with cooperative colleagues who contribute to my smile daily. I work in an industry that interests me and inspires me to learn. I believe my work has a direct impact on the Celfocus transformation/evolution as a whole and my values are aligned with Celfocus’ ones. I can see a clear path ahead, with room for growth.

C — Is competition among colleagues something to avoid, or is it part of nature? How do you approach this in your professional life?

HB — I believe finding the right balance to keep a pulse on the competitive dynamics to incentivize the team to increase the quality of work and mitigate the anxiety and poor team morale is the key. Either way, according to the Harvard Business Review, the way the leader communicates about competition - making people feel anxiety or excitement - influences them to come up with creative solutions or sabotage one another. We all seek recognition, promotion, and bonuses, but the way we feel about what is proposed to us can cause different behaviours. Whatever we choose we must consider the behaviour we want to promote, creativity, or cut corners.

Cooperation instead of competition is my thing. The group above the individual, the team is greater than the sum of all members, all focused on the same goal, each one using their expertise/value. Fairness, balance, and well-defined roles and contributions promote the entire team each one a star within their circle of competencies and capacities. Like a soccer game!

C — Are there situations where resorting to force is truly necessary? Comment on that.

HB — Never! I can only conceive of forcing something or someone to remove myself or my team from situations where we are being abused, disrespected, or in self-defense.
When someone resorts to force to impose something it reveals that he/she exhausted their arguments and admits his/her defeat in convincing the other party in whatever intended to have the buy-in.

C — What would you recommend to an introverted colleague in a context where greater exposure in the project is needed?

HB — Introverts are not shy and quiet; they are valuable contributors that require less supervision from management. They have unique and lengthy approaches to people and tasks but are equally creative, passionate, energetic, and articulate as the rest of the world. My recommendation is planning and preparation, preparation, preparation! Preparation (rehearsal/repetition) promotes confidence in what must be done under the spotlight and helps mitigate the shyness of speaking with strangers. To anticipate what is required in content and communication so he/she has the time they need to process the information, assure availability from their team leader/manager to answer their questions, and provide as much detail as possible for the required tasks. Encourage them to get training/coaching about learning to work with different personalities, and public speaking/presentations.