Name: Marcus Silveira

Title: CFO Small Business BU

Organisation: Dell Technologies

Location: United States

Marcus Silveira, a seasoned executive in the global technology sector, brings over 15 years of expertise in driving multimillion-dollar revenue growth and business transformations.

Hailing from Brazil, Marcus is a devoted family man, married, and a father of two daughters. Beyond his corporate role, he enjoys cruising on his Harley and playing tennis.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Marcus' answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

It’s navigating moments of uncertainty, ambiguity and conflicting guidance and even with that being there to provide clarity, hope and a sense of better days are ahead of us.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I was doing an internship at a Telco company in Brazil and I presented a project to sell additional services for our customers. After my project was approved I was nominated to lead the execution of the project and to lead a group of people that would sell the services.

The most interesting thing was that I was at least 10/15 years younger than my team members and they were all employees while I was still an intern. Lots of learnings from that!

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

I start my day helping my daughters to get to school! Preparing their snacks, breakfast and making sure they are on time is my first activity!

Next, I need to get ready for my 7am meetings which are our normal schedules for weekdays. Trying to get a good balance between meetings, work time and keeping our Inbox under control is a daily challenge!

I’m also trying to balance my week between working from home while doing my Global meetings and being in the office to benefit from my colleagues' interactions. End of the day I need to exercise in the gym or play tennis to relax, shower, have a family dinner, read a book or watch one of my favorite TV shows and get ready for the next day!

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

I think since I went to Harvard 3 years ago I rediscovered the power of truly human connection. Having other people who are different from you with different perspectives, experiences and ways of living is one of the most exciting things that you can do to be a better person and consequently, a better professional.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

I’m still digesting the “Build the Life You Want” from Oprah Winfrey and Arthur Brooks. Understanding better how your brain works with the signals that we receive from our emotions and getting a life that is filled with two words: gratitude and purpose is something that will guide my daily decisions going forward.

 6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Truly Care about your team members. The magic really starts when people feel that you care about them, about their feelings and about what they value. Without knowing it you can’t bring your team to the next level. We always liked to say that as a team we always need to remember a simple math equation: we > myself.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

I always remember simple moments as: the pleasure of seeing a team member that is afraid of public speaking delivering a brilliant presentation or promoting someone that struggled at the beginning of that job and then figured out how to be successful. I think the joy of leadership is to feel better about others' success and to contribute to that. It’s more about them!