{"id":2928,"date":"2021-03-10T09:49:50","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T09:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iese.edu\/standout\/?p=2928"},"modified":"2024-03-04T09:53:23","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T09:53:23","slug":"fuencisla-clemares-google-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iese.edu\/standout\/fuencisla-clemares-google-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuencisla Clemares. How to become a Google executive with an MBA. Success stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column]

Fuencisla Clemares is Google’s CEO for Spain and Portugal, a former McKinsey consultant, and mother of three.<\/blockquote><\/span><\/div>[vc_column_text css_animation=”bottom-to-top”]When we think of a professional like Fuencisla Clemares (MBA \u201900), one of the first questions that comes to mind is where does she get the time to do so many things and so well. It really seems like her days are longer than everyone else’s. Are they?<\/p>\n

Clemares explains that her days at Google are divided as follows<\/strong>: \u201c40% of my time is dedicated to business management, 30% to visiting clients and interacting with people to make sure that we have the visibility and the external impact that a company of these characteristics demands, and the rest of time is spent on strategy, trying to anticipate where the future is taking us (20%), and training (10%)\u201d.<\/p>\n

“My greatest managerial challenge,” she continues, “lies in mobilizing and coordinating professionals who are part of my team, but who don\u2019t report directly to me”<\/strong>. She knows that simply having earned her stripes isn\u2019t enough when it comes to having the people who don\u2019t work as closely with her give it their best.<\/p>\n

Personal interactions, she clarifies, are what \u201cmake the difference\u201d. You have to spread enthusiasm as if it were an electric current, get them involved in the project, remind them of its importance and encourage them to step outside their comfort zone, even if doing so prompts them to make mistakes.<\/p>\n

And here leading by example is also essential. She doesn\u2019t hide her stumbles and stresses that at Google you\u2019re “allowed to make mistakes.” According to Clemares, this philosophy also offers a fundamental advantage: mistakes are not hidden, but are recognized and corrected as soon as possible<\/strong>. “Failures make you more human.” And being more human is key to engage your people emotionally.<\/p>\n

Equality as a mission<\/h3>\n

“In the tech industry, women are underrepresented<\/strong>, which means people remember your face more easily. I try to take advantage of this fact, but sometimes you feel alone” Clemares says. “Men,” she adds, “are curious as to whether I\u2019ll live up to the responsibility entrusted to me.” Her credentials speak by themselves. Clemares took over the helm of Google for Spain and Portugal in 2016, and her management of the company has proved to be a remarkable success.<\/p>\n

Clemares has defended for more than a decade not only gender equality, but also diversity in the top management team and board of directors<\/strong>. She acknowledges that her company is making an effort in this regard, despite the fact that the challenge is enormous. “Women engineers are scarce,” she warns, and these are precisely the profiles most in demand in the technology sector.<\/p>\n

Before joining Google, Clemares worked for McKinsey for six years as a consultant specialized in retail and marketing, where she also worked for greater equality and diversity. She helped organize networking breakfasts for high-level executives as well as training sessions for women, and planted the seeds for more structural changes: in 2000, the consulting company didn’t have a single female partner. Today there is even a specific policy in place to recruit female talent in positions of responsibility<\/strong> and women represent more than 40% of the company\u2019s employees and almost the same proportion in managerial tasks.[\/vc_column_text]

<\/div>