Newton Queiroz, an experiment CEO (currently leading the Europ Assistance Operations in Brazil), is a multi-faceted professional with over 25 years of experience in the corporate life, especially insurance industry, worldwide. He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration Fundamentals from the Schulich School of Business (Toronto, Canada), MBA in Economic Business Management from Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil, an Honours BA in Business from York University and pursued Executive Leadership & Innovation specialization, via courses in renown centres such as Harvard Business School, MIT, NOVA and other entities.
With a very diverse work background, having worked as an insurer, reinsurer, insurance and reinsurance broker, entrepreneur, assistance and others; and having held C level positions at national and regional level for more than 12 years, Newton Queiroz became well known in the market as a turn-around and transformational leader and CEO. Speaking about his entrepreneurial experience (supported the opening of companies in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico), Newton said, “Each entrepreneur’s journey and motivations are unique, and these reasons vary significantly from person to person, but in my case, it has been the passion to improve the social safety net via protection products and the possibility to share my knowledge with others, as well as learn from others via networking and other experiences.”
Throughout his career, Newton has developed strategies to maximize professional development, brand positioning and financial results; always stimulating the use of innovation, corporate futurism analysis, cultural awareness, and strategy execution. All with the aim to have the best work environment for the team, to deliver the best experience to clients.
The Journey So Far
The journey involves navigating the sinuous path of improvisations, hardships and coping with uncertainties. For Newton, the challenges were many. But the most significant, has been to better understand how to effectively deal with his own emotions, while staying focused, consistent in deliver and resilient during all moments.
Over the years in the business, Newton has identified his strengths and areas of improvements, acquired concrete skills and knowledge via different methods, but had clear that constant learning, self-development, and analysis, are key to deliver his full potential. In his view “full potential is not something one should seek, with the idea that it will reach it and stop, instead it should be seemed as parts of a marathon, where you achieve and celebrate each mark, but continues to push forward since the road is huge and presents new opportunities by the second.”
Leader with a Vision
Newton believes that leadership is not based on ranks or titles, instead is based on attitude. Leaders need not to be an entrepreneur or a high rank professional, especially as leadership comes in all shapes and forms, and can be found in all places. It doesn’t necessarily take a specific set of skills and competence to steer the journey. He believes, a leader is someone who has a vision and passion towards a goal (or set of goals), and is able to align others with similar vision, but is able to inspire this group to change vision into passion and action despite the hurdles. An important point, which Newton highlights, is the skill of adaptability, which has become a crucial trait in today’s world, especially for leaders. Adaptability, should not be confused with the action to learn to live within change (survive); instead is to learn how to life and new environments, possess a strong sense of what is needed, and quickly learn what it takes to be relevant in this fast chaging world.
Leaders need not to be an entrepreneur or a high rank professional, especially as leadership comes in all shapes and forms, and can be found in all places.
Inclusive Work Culture
A diverse and inclusive work culture is essential to promote a supportive and respectful environment helping the company in terms of creativity and innovation. Newton values and appreciates colleagues coming from diverse backgrounds and considers inclusivity and equality at the same time.
However, he does acknowledge that to be achieve such goal is not easy, first ou need to understand where your company stands at the time and what has been done related to the topic (with the results), after such analysis, you can generate realistic goals (aligned with the culture of the company and resources at hand) and off-course never forgetting to include HR to be the main partner in developing and deploying such goals.
Driving Innovation
Business requires constant innovation to stay relevant on the value it delivers to clients, which needs change at high speed & in parallel, also address unmet needs and see how to develop and drive growth of new segments. Being an innovator himself, Newton tries to look at innovation as an action of transforming creative ideas into practical solutions to be implemented in the field, with the main goal of bringing a positive outcome. He stays focused on generating solutions that help people to adapt to change, grow and to increase the security system of the social safety net.
Leveraging Technologies
Implementing new technologies in business helps to streamline the process of operation. As technology continues to reshape business models, new solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) are already having an important impact in different industries & is expected to continue to have a significant impact on various aspects of business that focus on repetitive tasks which could be automated.
Nonetheless, is important to consider the strategic part of new technologies like AI, which can be of significant support for – improved decision making, improved cybersecurity and much more.
Newton said, “As an experienced entrepreneur with a passion for new technologies, I look to make the best use of technologies, to focus on developing and improving strategies, identifying opportunities, network and collaborate, adapt and innovate, lifelong learning and sharing knowledge. We must be well informed on all fronts to use the latest technology in the business to bring considerable benefits – which also include new jobs as some might become obsolete.”
The culture of entrepreneurship will continue to evolve in response to social, economic, and technological changes.
Awards and accolades
Newton has been conferred with several awards and recognitions (in different countries) over the years. Speaking about what those accolades mean to him, Newton said, “It is always a great honour since I view each award as a confirmation that the path, I am following is generating positive impact. These recognitions also reaffirm that the efforts I am taking towards leadership are set on the right direction.”
Evolution of entrepreneurial culture
While predicting the exact evolution of entrepreneurial culture is challenging, Newton identifies some emerging trends and factors that are likely to shape the future development, such as sustainability, diversity and inclusion, technological health advancements, remote work, digitalization, collaboration, entrepreneurship, lifelong learning, and others.
As an entrepreneur himself, Newton believes that the culture of entrepreneurship will continue to evolve in response to social, economic, and technological changes. By staying informed and adaptable, entrepreneurs can seize new opportunities and thrive in the future business landscape.
Regarding the role of CEO, with the business in constant change, this role has also evolved and will continue too, which will require extra efforts in terms of adaptability to new challenges, expectations from stakeholders and market opportunities analysis.
“I strongly believe that a professional career only ends when he/she decides too, as such for the near future, I want to be a fair leader and work hard to make a positive impact on the lives of others; while to talk about what I want to be remember for, is too early to define” said Newton with a positive smile.
