The road to success

Claudia Márquez

CEO and President

Hyundai Motor of México

“Every day is an opportunity to be better.”

The evolution of industries and the accelerated growth of society have caused a structural change in companies, which has generated a great openness to the diversity of talent regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation or nationality. I have been in the automotive world for more than 25 years, making my way as a woman in this industry has not been easy, however, commitment and determination have been fundamental factors for my professional and personal growth.

Stereotypes and labels have always been present, family ideology and social standards are catalogued as requirements that must be fulfilled in every decision we make in our lives.

Being Mexican, young and female were three important barriers that I faced, I grew up in a context in which the expectation of women was to be at home, the working world was for men and there was just beginning to be a little openness to diversity in this aspect. These facts were decisive in my career, because there were two ways to direct my future: to devote myself to my home or to seek professional success.

I decided to continue in my career, I never thought about my arrival in the automotive world, since it was circumstantial. I started at BMW Mexico when it opened its doors in 1995, and it was thanks to my skills and knowledge of the German language that I was able to enter within the profiles required at that time. At that time, the path showed me two possibilities: to grow within the automotive world or to stay where I was at that moment.

I never imagined that life and circumstances would lead me to this point. Nor did I believe that I could feel this great enthusiasm for an industry where I have faced the greatest battles and that sometimes the rival was myself. Much less did I imagine all the opportunities that I have had to this day.

It is curious how sometimes those thoughts and stigmas with which we are educated make us label ourselves in a position that does not correspond to us, because we all have the ability to go as far as we propose.

Since the beginning of my career, I understood that even if barriers are imposed by someone else, we can turn them into something positive for our growth, breaking paradigms and working on ourselves every day. Being part of different brands throughout my career and today positioning myself as the CEO and President of Hyundai Motor of México has taught me that we all have the same opportunity to achieve our goals, we just have to look for them and take the risk.

It is true that, with growth, responsibilities increase, and the weight of results falls even more on our side. As a leader, taking part of the skills and knowledge of the talent that is part of the work team is what leads you to achieve optimal results, translated into a solid company with a better positioning in the market.

To take part of this talent, the presence of a leader is essential, who focuses his or her objectives and permeates this experience and vision to everyone who is part of the team. Leadership is the ability to influence people, being an impulse to work towards a common goal. Leading implies setting a vision and determining the path to follow in order to achieve the goals set. Being a leader requires hard work, genuineness and enthusiasm, as well as a strong vision and values that help to create, develop and seek excellence at all times.

The importance of a firm and determined leadership lies in the results projected in each work team and in individual growth, since it is these experiences and this determination that form the character of the human being to achieve improvement and excellence.

From my point of view, there are factors that we must reinforce and encourage in this leadership process: collaborative relationships, sense of belonging, recognition, appreciation, communication and commitment to our work team.

That is why being an entity of leadership carries a great responsibility, since the road traveled will have as a foundation our values, character and personality. Today, and despite having had a path with important challenges, I know how to believe in myself at all costs and I seek excellence at all times, being factors that I consider build the path by itself.

Thanks to this, we function as a watershed of constant change and improvement in the situations that adversity presents us with. All this can be reflected in a professional or personal environment. Every action we propose, carry out or promote will be closely linked to a change, which can be minimal or major.

For this reason, the principles and values that govern our actions must be firm and we must never compromise the validity and importance of them, as our growth and improvement as human beings will depend on this.

Undoubtedly, the road to success is full of emotions and a lot of learning. There are ups as well as downs, good moments and not very pleasant moments, but it is not unbeatable. In the end, a project or a dream starts from scratch, with a small or big action. There is no magic recipe. Success is found in the determination and effort that we decide to put into our preparation. It is not a matter of luck, but of conviction. It requires courage, to be more than excellent at what we do. Ships cannot drift, they need a route, because setting a goal is the first step to reach the horizon.