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is a Salesforce veteran. Regional Vice President for Spain and Portugal, he has been with the software giant since 2014. Over the last decade, he has held several roles in business development, product management and sales; a “fast evolution” within the organisation, he says, that has exposed him to a wealth of experience and geographies.

I’ve changed role no fewer than nine times in the 10-plus years I have been with the company, which points to the dynamism of the development journey that you start when you join an organisation like this. During my time here, I have been constantly challenged and stretched as the company has grown in scope and vision.

Alejandro’s journey with Salesforce began at a �鶹���� Career Forum in Budapest: a meeting with the hiring team that felt great, he says: the right fusion of values and expectations. As a �鶹����ie, he was clear from the start that he wanted to work in the fast-evolving tech space. And from then off, Salesforce felt like a fit.

The “glue” that has kept Alejandro with Salesforce since then is an admixture of trust and opportunity, but perhaps above all: people.

“In tech, things change fast, and opportunities emerge all the time—including opportunities to work with different organisations. But I have wanted to stay at Salesforce because I don’t stop growing in this environment, and that’s a function of the trust and belief that has been shown to me since I started out here. The company is great, yes, there are huge benefits and competitive salaries, but what has kept me here is working with people that have trusted me with opportunities and had real faith in my ability to rise to challenges.”

Alejandro comes from a region of Spain, he says, where trust and loyalty are core values. And in his organisation, he has given and experienced these values in equal measure.

“With each new role I have taken on at Salesforce, I’ve come in without a ton of experience, yet the company has always seen my potential and believed in me. People here really see you and listen to you and there’s a confidence and authority that grow because of this.

Developing culture carriers

As Regional VP, it falls to Alejandro to oversee business development, sales, product and marketing across Spain and Portugal. The daily work falls loosely into three categories, he says: business, team management and operations.

Days whizz by really fast in my role, and they tend to be split three ways. The business part is really about customers: speaking to CEOs, partners or other stakeholders who are maybe about to purchase or closing a big deal with us. And that’s around 20% of the working week really. Then there’s the operations part which is to do with analysing data and meeting with the different parts of the business be they finance or marketing, based in Europe or the US.”

Team leadership is a big part of the job, and Alejandro makes it a major priority: around 50% of his time is spent on one-to-ones, team management and forecast meetings with his different account executives. Again, it is the people that matter most in the business, he says, and being close to his team whether it’s with seasoned players or interns, is his primary concern as a leader.

If we have a new intern joining us, I make it a priority to meet with them and ensure that they feel that they can speak to me openly. I don’t want anyone to feel scared or intimidated. And I try to have lunch with different teams and team members every week to talk about life and the things that we find important as human beings.

For Alejandro, team members over time become “culture carriers:” those people who carry and automatically model the values of the organisation—collaboration, support, helping each other to overcome challenges. His role as a leader is to help each person develop and grow towards this kind of attitude and mindset; and it is a role he relishes. The key to this kind of leadership is open communication.

“Building other people’s competencies is about entrusting them with the autonomy to become culture carriers and knowing that they will perform well without direct input from you. Part of this is learning to step back. In this sense, over time you end up listening far more than talking.”

Salesforce is still a young company; and one that welcomes young people. As such, the organisation offers a dynamic graduate internship programme: a real chance to learn and grow, says Alejandro, but also an environment that respects your human and family priorities.

“For a lot of ambitious young people, �鶹����ies included, when you start your career it’s all ‘earn or learn.’ And Salesforce gives you both: you will find it intense and there will be times you are pushed way out of your comfort zone. You will also find excellent remuneration,” he says. “But this is a culture that also gives you the freedom and flexibility to slow down when you need to, and to take sabbaticals and parental leave to enjoy other parts of your life.”

Ask yourself how you can be of value to others

Reflecting on his own professional and personal trajectory, Alejandro looks back on his own time as a CEMsie as a “milestone:” a shift from the more academic context of his university background as an undergraduate in Salamanca to a way of thinking, studying, collaborating and working that has undergirded his career.

Following his Erasmus year in Dublin, Ireland, Alejandro worked for eight months to finance his �鶹���� studies—a decision that took a great deal of thought and commitment.

“I remember feeling like a bit of an imposter when I first started at �鶹����. I was learning so much, but what did I have to offer in return? Yet over time, I found how amazing it was to work in diverse teams with different people: working on common targets, dividing up tasks, managing each other's egos. All of this has been so useful to me and really prepared me for the challenges of working in a big organisation,” he says. “And I remain in touch with my �鶹���� peers to this day.”

And for young people coming into the world of work today, Alejandro has plenty of thoughtful insights and advice to share. Passion, he says, is a key driver of success: having “skin in the game” whether it’s a postgraduate degree, within a company or starting up, is critical, even if the path forward isn’t always obvious or clear.

“It’s good to feel intensity and even obsession about ideas, but I think you should also strive to remember that with ownership comes accountability, and with freedom, responsibility.

“In general, I’d say try not to be transactional. Don’t say to yourself: I deserve something because of what I’ve done or the effort I’ve made. The world owes you nothing. I think remaining humble and working on your emotional intelligence are really key. Instead of feeling entitled, ask yourself how you can be valuable to others, and that way the opportunities will come your way.”

For years, Alejandro has practiced journalling as a means of working on his mind, his humility and his emotional intelligence—but also his sense of resilience and adaptability. Journalling is a practice he recommends as a way to analyse the “small and the big thing;” to reflect on how and why he has made certain decisions, and as a process of finishing the working day.

Work consumes a lot of your life, especially if you are a Type A personality: it’s all too easy to drive yourself so hard you become obsessive or stressed. But writing it all down really helps you get perspective. And it’s incredibly therapeutic. Think of it like this: you are living your life all the time, so be your own coach. Understand yourself better and make it a habit.

Your working life will last a very long time. So find the ways to disconnect, to close the computer and to do nothing too!