Eight years after starting to work at Sonae, I had done almost everything that could be done at the retailing branch. From a junior investment analyst to CEO of what would be called today a start-up, from opening the first Portuguese hypermarket without any support from the French team - that brought know-how to the firstContinente stores - to staff the McKinsey team that was auditing the strategy of every company of Sonae suffering from too much diversification, I had done it all.

 I was nolonger a trainee, all those eight intensive years had turned me prematurely into a seasoned, although young, manager. All that pre-historic period when Belmiro working closely with his people on the field had passed by. Now, he was at the centre of the holding, surrounded by good people but also by courtesans that filtered information as much as possible and tried to out-maneuver Belmiro as much as he managed them. One could go from heaven to hell - and be back -without understanding really why.

 I had been tempted many times by head-hunters to leave Sonae, but something got me emotionally attracted to the Group. Belmiro was a magnetic person and Sonae had a very high profile on the business landscape. Where others were conservative, Sonae was bold. Where others looked at the past, Belmiro was always looking ahead.

 I must confess, I was getting more and more excited with the idea of trying something else outside. Also, I was getting more and more convinced that Sonae was a good place to grow up, but not necessarily a good place to grow old. But leaving was no easy decision.

 I don’t remember exactly on which circumstances I met again José Santos, my teacher of management at University. His lectures were amazing, he had a very clear mind, a talent to turn any complex concept into a simple one. What I remember is that he didn’t remember me as a student. I had to recall him some episodes just to make him remember like: “...you marked me with a 18 out of 20, remember, thehighest mark at the University?” With a poker face he answered: “…I never gave 18 out of 20 to any student …”! And I replied: Yes, you did! You were going to mark me with 17 out of 20, but I presented you the investment analysis of the project with a Monte-Carlo simulation, and you gave me an extra point by that…“.

A big smile broke into his face: “…hey, I remember you now! Ive been talking about that reasoning of yours on analyzing investments, but I lost your simulation. Do you still have it?

I wasn’t sure where and if I had that piece of Basic program. But I told him “not sure, but I still remember how I’ve done it, so if you want, I can do it again for you.

 His suggestion was almost unexpected: “… hey, I’m looking for an assistant for my Catolica University degrees. How do you like to do it? Have you ever considered being a teacher?

My answer was an immediate yes! Not only I dreamed of being a teacher – my father and my sister were both teachers so it came as natural to me – I could do it with the teacher I liked the most at University. It was the Jose Santos lectures that made my mind to become a manager and abandon a chemical engineer career.

Being his assistant, I had the chance to get from the best master, the academic background on Marketing and Management I was lacking despite my precocious but intense real-life experience at Sonae.

 When I told Belmiro I wanted to conciliate working at Sonae with being José Santos assistant, I received a “no” an answer. I still don’t understand why...

As soon asJosé Santos new Belmiro answer he immediately invited me to start working with him at Segafredo Zanetti.

 At the very same day, I took the decision to leave Sonae and start working at two different jobs: as a teacher at Catolica and as a manager at Segafredo. A decision that made my life change forever and still I praise as the best I ever took.

I left Segafredo Zanetti some years later to follow an international career with hisfull support and although we don’t talk frequently, my dear professor José Santos is every day on my heart. A lot of his lessons still are some of my golden rules!

One particularly he used very often when analyzing a problem, and still proves to be of unquestionable value: “That is irrelevant, forget it! “ .

This is my tribute to Prof. José Santos, a brilliant person no matter in whatperspective we think of him. He is brilliant as an academic and a thinker as hewas as manager. As a teacher he is the best I ever had. Complex topics becomecrystal clear by his words. He has the talent to identify what is relevant ondecision making and focus on what matters the most.

When he was my teacher at the Chemical Engineer degree, we all called him “Engenheiro Zé Fernando”. I must confess I still struggle today not to call him affectionately by his nick name