Tribute to Eugenio Viassa Monteiro

I met Eugénio when Sonae enrolled me in the AESE Top Management Program PADE. I have no doubt that the School must have thought twice about whether to accept a 28 year old for the program. Among CEOs, senior managers, and experienced managers, a newly appointed CEO of a company – prematurely without a shadow of a doubt – was the mascot of the group. With great benevolence and a smile on their lips, my classmates listened to my points of view, more filled with energy and illusion about the future than experience that I obviously did not have. It was an incredible experience, which was only possible due to AESE’s unique culture that promotes the best in each manager, sharing knowledge in a friendly environment that promotes friendship, companionship, and solidarity among the participants, who in many cases become friends for life.

Much of this atmosphere is due to the school’s first Director, exactly Eugénio Viassa Monteiro. It is true that it was José Ramalho Fontes who later invited me to teach there, but Eugénio’s presence was felt in every detail, especially in the school’s genetics. But one detail made me have a boundless admiration for him: having ceased to be the General Director of AESE, I couldn’t see any disenchantment in him going back to being just a professor. I never saw a sign of sadness or discomfort in him. On the contrary, the genuine smile never left his face. A genuinely altruistic attitude, showing neither humility nor conformism. Just knowing how to be and “to be”!

In the years we teached together I never heard Eugénio raise his voice.

Eugénio appeared next to us, without noise, as if floating gently. And his presence transmitted exactly that: softness! Softness in his words, in his manner, in the way he looked at things, which gave him a personal authority that is hard to equal. I am sure that many of the things he heard did not coincide with his opinion, nor would they be his point of view. But his gentle manner allowed him to disagree without you almost realizing it. He always had a suggestion, which reinforced an alternative that was beyond the eventual disagreement, without having to overtly make his point of view prevail. From the eventual disagreement he would find a way for both of us to benefit from the solution.

His Indian ancestry was not, and is not, unrelated to this wisdom.

Eugenio, years later, decided to move to his beloved India. But his intense presence is still felt today at AESE, even if he only returns sporadically.

A few years after he left for India, Eugénio sent me an invitation to teach at one of the Indian Institute of Management. In fact, a little reluctant, I accepted.

Without knowing it, I was accepting what would provide me with one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. But I will write about this another time.

I dedicate this tribute to Eugénio Viassa Monteiro. I believe that whoever reads it and knows Eugénio will not disagree about his exceptional character and his way of being in life and in the world, which will certainly mark many more than just me.

Wish you were here, but lucky India that got you there.

Thank you, Eugenio.