Mauro De Stefani and the values ​​of equality

We sit at the table, round, not a random choice. Let's start talking about the structure and philosophy that characterizes Banca Popolare di Sondrio (SUISSE) and the President himself ...

«It is no coincidence that I have a round table in the office, for me it is important that every interlocutor feels at ease, this in everyday working life, but also in private life. We think of the customer who enters the bank, he must be able to feel accepted and welcomed by professionals capable of creating an empathic relationship, this is the philosophy of our Bank ".

A personal philosophy that he also wanted to bring to the workplace ...

«Personally I share this philosophy, but I remember that Banca Popolare di Sondrio (SUISSE) was created to be close to people and small and medium-sized enterprises, therefore dialogue and trust are the basis of the values ​​that we have been pursuing for over two decades. I grew up in this bank, I made what is called "the mess", starting from the bottom and growing year after year. I therefore acquired these values ​​directly on my person, observing and learning from those who had more experience than me. As for my way of being, I like to look at people and analyze situations to understand the environment around me. We cannot close ourselves in our four walls and say that everything is fine ».

The "messaging", a path that characterizes many successful men, but today is it still possible to have this type of career?

«I think it is possible, but it must also be said that an ever higher and much higher level of education is required than when I started working. We must not forget that a good boss is the one who can really understand the work done by his employees, so having passed it undoubtedly has the advantages of him yesterday as today ".

I guess a child doesn't dream of getting to the top of a bank, what or who led her to choose this career?

(Smiles) «In fact, finance in general finds it difficult to move people's hearts, perhaps for this reason it is not very attractive to young people. If you work in an industry you create something, you can see it, quantify it, even the people next to you do it, while in our world it is more difficult, except for financing, for example, for a house; in this case you are interested in the customer, you help him to find the most suitable solution and when it comes to allocating a credit you feel a sort of satisfaction, even on a human level. Anyway, coming back to me, it's the bank that chose me (smiles). I was born in Valchiavenna, in San Giacomo Filippo, my parents worked in the Engadine and I studied accounting in Chiavenna. As soon as I finished my studies, they offered me a job in the bank, as the best students once did, and I accepted ».

He was already a very serious and disciplined boy ...

“If you mean I was a geek (laugh) not really. I was doing very well in school, yes, but I didn't study much, I also liked going out and when I found myself in busy Milan - believe me - it wasn't immediately evident, but I survived (smiles).

In Milan he began his career in the international office and after a few years he became the manager ...

«I do not deny that I liked the job very much and therefore I immediately committed myself to the bottom, moreover I continued to study until I said to myself: why not take advantage of my passion for books and enroll at the University? When I communicated this to my superiors and colleagues, they looked at me with a somewhat strange face, also because I already had an important position, for them it seemed that I was doing a madness. In the end I graduated in ordinary times and I have always rejoiced at this choice ».

So when in 1991 you were asked to go to Lugano what did you think?

«That I was fine in Milan (we laugh), but I couldn't say no! Also because I have always had an institutional vision and therefore I felt compelled to accept. The project, however, was really in its infancy: at the head of a representative office I had to study the market in view of the opening of our operational reality in Ticino. In the first six months I had several moments of discouragement, but I managed to remain positive and in 1995 Banca Popolare di Sondrio (SUISSE) SA was created in Lugano, with seven people, a start-up so to speak. At this point all my studies came in handy, I started from scratch alongside our first Director, Gianni Meregalli, analyzed everything, planned every detail and above all I was willing to question myself and learn from those who had more experience than me and who knew the local and Swiss market well. When Director Brunello Perucchi arrived from Credit Suisse in 1999, I have since become his replacement, we experienced a new turning point. Director Perucchi led the approach of the big bank and we all believed in it and followed him; when he retired in 2013 and became Vice President of the Board of Directors, I felt ready to chair the General Management. A funny anecdote is that maybe from birth I was predestined to be linked to Switzerland, since I was born on August XNUMXst (amused) ».

I guess her career was also a pleasure for those who believed in her right from the start ...

«Yes, also because the Sondrio parent company has always followed me, albeit at a distance, in particular the late President Piero Melazzini, who was able to transform a“ small ”bank into a relevant Group in the national banking scene. I remember that when I finished university I thought it would be appropriate to send him a copy of my degree thesis and the undoubtedly satisfied President Melazzini made a circular to communicate it to all employees with the title of the thesis on the "universal bank model in Swiss banking system ". I don't hide the fact that I felt embarrassed, because I didn't want to let everyone know, but he thought he would please me, because he had put his heart into that gesture. He was an important president for all of us, his employees were never numbers and I learned a lot from him ».

It is true that his career is linked to success, but I guess it was not easy initially as an Italian bank to find himself in Lugano ...

«I remember the inauguration of the Bank in 1996 as it was yesterday, once they were moved to the offices in via Maggio. As usual, we also invited all the representatives of the banks present in the area and at the end of the evening I must say that I felt a little betrayed ... many told me that we were unconscious to want to become a universal bank and that we should focus on Private Banking for best results. They were probably right, but challenges are part of the career path of each of us. We rolled up our sleeves, we understood that we had to be more open, keeping a low profile, but also involving the local population, it is not the Italians residing in Ticino or the frontier workers. Today we are present in eight Swiss cantons, as well as in the Principality of Monaco, and we mainly cater to local market customers. I'm not saying it was easy, but we managed to make ourselves appreciated for what we are: a bank close to the territory and sensitive to the needs of the people and the economy ».

But in Lugano he felt comfortable or experienced hostility during the first years ...

«I must say that I settled easily, also thanks to the presence of my wife, who accompanied me. Our son was born in Lugano twenty-one years ago, so I can say with serenity that we immediately felt at home, in the meantime we have acquired Swiss citizenship and both privately and professionally I have now lived more in Ticino than in Italy ".

I imagine you are a demanding person with yourself, and that your passion for work will not leave you much free time ...

“I can't hide the fact that I really enjoy working, but at the same time I don't allow myself to be totally absorbed by my role and I regularly cut out spaces that I dedicate above all to my wife and family. It is essential to find a balance between family and work, just as it is important to understand when productivity drops. It is useless, from my point of view, to stay in the office for twelve hours - unless there is an important delivery - and not be able to make the most of it, better stop, regenerate, and start over with the right energy and clarity the next day " .

Let's change the subject, free time, cooking, don't you miss the tasty dishes of Chiavenna?

«I still have a family bond in Chiavenna, where I regularly visit my mother and I must say that since I left all the typical foods have acquired value. When we are used to something we take everything for granted, for this reason it is important to continue to appreciate territorial riches. I remember with a smile a client of mine who, arriving in Lugano, told me: “Here you have everything close by, the mountains, the lake, it's incredible”. Indeed it is so, but how many of us realize it? ».

After a reflective pause, let's talk about the bank employees, how important it is for the local economy to have people who love their work.

«I think that the staff must feel they are an integral part of the Bank and share its philosophy in order to be able to give their best. The imprinting is given by all my employees, not just by me or by the directors, because it is above all they who meet customers or any partner: every activity is important and every figure within the company has a value. Those who work with us must be able to appreciate our vision of the world and the market, must be able to identify themselves in order to be credible towards customers ".

But do you find it difficult nowadays to convey these values ​​to young people?

"I think it is increasingly difficult to carry out effective job interviews, sometimes one gets the impression that it does not matter to be comfortable in the workplace, it is enough to have a salary at the end of the month, while instead" feeling close to your company "should be a requirement and not a compromise. I say this thinking of young people, of our future, I think it is important to give them new opportunities, but to do so we need to bring the new generation closer to banks, to offer them interesting and stimulating jobs. For our part, I say this with great satisfaction, we have many long-time collaborators and this is an important first sign for a bank, it means that they are doing well and that we are going in the right direction ».

Don't you think the banks have a marked future?

“From the point of view of aggregate numbers, we have remained the third largest financial center in Switzerland, but what we have lost, at least in part, and it is tangible, is the essence of the market, because the decision-making centers have decreased. But this does not mean that we must despair following the mergers, rationalizations and demobilizations, we still have a certain degree of independence and attractiveness (indeed there have also been "new entries") and we must maintain it, so as to enhance the peculiarities of the square Ticino ".

And what can we or should we do to defend our interests and the local economy?

"We have the economic and financial resources, we must invest them, the real problem is that we struggle to find qualified personnel, but this is a difficulty that unites all sectors and we must overcome it, managing to integrate young people, to keep them here, to train them in completely, so that they, with their innovative ideas and their technological capabilities, can dictate the future of the financial center. Furthermore, I would like to say, the customer who comes to the bank for a loan or an investment will always want to be able to interact with a competent and trustworthy person, and the "seniors" also play here. I understand that banking operations must become faster and faster, but otherwise the bank must continue to act as a qualified consultant. Human relationships, therefore, will remain important and we will have to continue to cultivate them, since they will be our strength and will guarantee our survival, even in a super-technological context ".

You just have to believe it ...

"Exactly, we have to believe it, exactly like a striker in a football match must believe until the end that his teammate passes him the ball where he should, so that he can score, doubts in this case are not allowed because they only lead to failure. Ticino is doing a lot for its inhabitants, let's think about schools and the health sector. It is important that something is also done for the banks, if only in terms of consideration. We must go back to believing that banks have prospects, that they can offer valid jobs, with the possibility of growth. We must and can attract new people, even if not having free access to foreign markets is a very big problem, without deluding ourselves because in the short term we defended ourselves quite well. The point is that you can't have everything at once, young people have to be willing to do a little bit of apprenticeship, some sacrifice, to become better than us and to do it you have to prepare them. For this reason, banks, just like the rest of companies and politics, must invest in education. The same thing naturally also applies to the "differently young", until the end of their career! As a bank we have created training and development groups at various levels in which we offer continuous training, including managerial ones, a project that is very close to my heart, also because, as I like to repeat, the world would go on even without us. even if we don't like it or we don't agree! ».

New challenges that our young people above all will be able to face and will have to do, so it becomes essential to trust them, to prepare them to be better than their predecessors, because evolving also means not making past mistakes.