Notícias Internacionais
Ex-executives launch new career as consultants
By Letícia Arcoverde | From São Paulo - Valor Econômico – April 9th, 2012
When the 55 year-old, Edson Grottoli was leaving as chair of the BSH group he sensed the opportunity to invest in starting his career as a management consultant. "I wanted to do something as Edson"
When Mabe bought the Brazilian operations of BSH, which owned brands of home appliances like Continental and Bosch, in 2009, Edson Grottoli seized the chance to reassess his own career since he was leaving the presidency of the group BSH. At 55 years of age, 39 of them accumulating experience in management, finance and human resources, he decided to reject proposals for other executive positions and invest in his career as a management consultant.
Besides the unwillingness to cope with the demand from the corporate world and the daily journeys of more than 14 hours, he found himself motivated by the desire to experience a new trail and disengage himself from the "company name" that graced his business card for decades. "I wanted to do something as Edison, not as a corporation," he says.
The management consultancy market attracts professionals from various fields seeking to remain active after finishing an executive career. The director of the outplacement division of Career Center, Claudia Monari, thinks the industry has everything to turn the choice even more attractive as time goes by. "There is a tendency for companies to seek expertise with people acting on high value added specific needs, but not an employee of the organization," she says. Still, the specialist in career transition counseling Mariá Giuliese of Lens & Minarelli, notes that starting this career demands to be aligned with what the person can really offer in this market. "He must desire this career and not get into it because of lack of choice," he says.
After leaving the presidency of the BHS, Grottoli spent several months talking with other management consultants, researching which clients he would target and the kind of service he would offer. Defined thus, his business model and began to make some consulting work using the network cultivated throughout his career - most common way to begin operations in this field. Today, he is the owner of Eksper, specializing in temporary placement of project leaders, where he works with 20 executive partners.
Having expertise in several areas, the consultant says the experience as an executive contributed to acquire a macro view of the business understanding various aspects of the corporate world. Still, he says the transition was difficult at first, because change involves dealing with a new way of life, a less stable life. Now, selling your own name is as important as the service. "Although I've suffered with anxiety at the beginning,
