Gerardo Montoya: leveraging his international career and leading with heart to support rapid transformation in the automotive industry.

In this episode we are celebrating the career to date of Gerardo Montoya.

Gerardo is the Managing Director of Automotive at Experian in the UK where his mission is to bring to market advanced digital products that support the rapid transformation of the industry.

With nearly three decades of international experience in the automotive and asset finance industries, Gerardo has accumulated a wealth of expertise working with OEMs, Retailers and Finance Companies across 3 continents.

Before joining Experian, he enjoyed a 23-year career at the Volvo Group where he held Senior Leadership roles in the areas of business development, strategy, and innovation.

In our conversation we talk about his childhood growing up in Peru, the different ways that he felt like an outsider and the happy coincidence that helped him envision an international career in business.

Gerardo talks openly of the sacrifices made by him and his family and shares the exact moment when he realised that his international journey must come to an end.

I loved getting to know more about Gerardo, his experiences and his leadership values during our conversation. I'm proud to be able to share his story and look forward to hearing what resonates with you.

If you're listening for the first time, hello, I'm Andy Follows. I'm a trusted advisor to senior leaders in the automotive industry. I work alongside them and their teams to enable Fulfilling Performance. If you'd like to know more about Fulfilling Performance, check out: Release the handbrake! - The Fulfilling Performance Hub on Substack.

Connect with Gerardo
LinkedIn: Gerardo Montoya

Thank you to our sponsors:
ASKE Consulting
Email: hello@askeconsulting.co.uk

Aquilae
Email: cvm@aquilae.co.uk

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Episode recorded on 3 May, 2024.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and childhood
• 9:56 Schooldays
• 14:54 His first computer and the impact it had on decisions post school
• 19:03 Starting work at Volvo
• 26:51 Highlights of 23 years with Volvo and an international career
• 30:57 Moving to the UK with Volvo
• 34:49 Covering for maternity leave puts him in a senior position at a young age
• 40:00 Returning to Brazil and a year in South Africa
• 43:56 And back to the UK
• 46:41 Reorganisation of the Group results in a period commuting to France before recalibrating on what is most important to him
• 52:20 Returning to a position in the UK, leaving Volvo and taking a sabatical
• 54:15 Joining Experian
• 1:00:51 Wrapping Up and Takeaways

Transcript

Gerado Montoya: 0:00

I mentioned before how you know, I felt different when I was a kid. I thought different when I was in my 20s and 30s. Now I'm being different. I am the person that is different.

Aquilae: 0:12

Welcome to CAREER-VIEW MIRROR the automotive podcast that goes behind the scenes with key players in the industry looking back over their careers to share insights to help you with your own journey. Here's your host, Andy Follows

Andy Follows: 0:44

Hello, listeners, Andy here. Thank you for tuning in. We appreciate that you do. We're also very grateful for our guests who generously joined me to create these episodes so that we can celebrate their careers, listen to their stories and learn from their experiences. In this episode, we're celebrating the career to date have Gerardo Montoya. Gerardo is the managing director of automotive at Experian in the UK, where his mission is to bring to market advanced digital products that support the rapid transformation of the industry. With nearly three decades of international experience in the automotive and asset finance industries, Gerardo has accumulated a wealth of expertise working with OEMs, retailers and finance companies across three continents. Before joining Experian, he enjoyed a 23 year career at the Volvo group where he held senior leadership roles in the areas of business development, strategy, and innovation. In our conversation, we talk about his childhood growing up in Peru, the different ways that he felt like an outsider and the happy coincidence that helped him envision an international career in business. Gerardo talks openly of the sacrifices made by him and his family and shares the exact moment when he realised that his international journey must come to an end. I loved getting to know more about Gerardo, his experiences and his leadership values during our conversation. I'm proud to be able to share his story and look forward to hearing what resonates with you. If you're listening for the first time. Hello, I'm Andy Follows, I'm a trusted adviser to senior leaders in the automotive industry. I work alongside them and their teams to enable Fulfilling Performance. If you'd like to know more about Fulfilling Performance, you can sign up for our weekly newsletter, and in it you'll find easily digestible ideas on how to increase levels of performance and fulfilment for yourself and those you lead and care about. Go to Andy follows.substack.com, or use the link in the show notes to this episode. Hello, Gerardo, and welcome and where are you coming to us from today?

Gerado Montoya: 2:42

Andy, I'm in a town in the Midlands in the UK called Warwick, just outside the town in a little village.

Andy Follows: 2:49

And Warwick, of course, a centre of automotive for the UK a lot of automotive talent in that area.

Gerado Montoya: 2:56

Absolutely. This is the heartland I would say of automotive in the UK

Andy Follows: 3:01

A good place for you to live. And where did your journey start, though? Where were you born?

Gerado Montoya: 3:06

I was born in Peru in Lima, the capital city. So yeah, a long way from home.

Andy Follows: 3:12

You are a long way from home. And can you tell us a little bit about the family that you were born into?

Gerado Montoya: 3:17

Yeah, absolutely. So my dad was a police officer. My mom was a stay at home mom. And I have four siblings. I am the second an older sister, a younger brother, who is a doctor who lives in in Spain, actually, a sister lives in America. And two more sisters are still in Peru. Right? So we're a little bit spread out.

Andy Follows: 3:42

You are

Gerado Montoya: 3:43

a very happy family, I would say very united. So my dad was a police officer. Right? So he worked for the government. He had a very long career with the police. And I could tell you more about you know how that helped me through my childhood. But it also impacted it somehow. So but yeah, I mean, I will say my upbringing was a happy one we did not have as much as perhaps others would have. But I will say to everyone that, you know, I had the time with my parents, which was the most important part for me. So

Andy Follows: 4:18

you said you could tell us a bit more about the impact of your father's career? I'd be curious about that.

Gerado Montoya: 4:24

I mean, you probably need to transport what you got to Peru in the 80s when I say I grew up right at least as a teenager at one point. Peru was a democracy, a very young democracy, it's just gone back to being democratic after many I mean, it was interesting, because obviously,

Andy Follows: 4:40

Interesting. years of military government. But it was also going through a very extreme period of not just poverty, but terrorism. And therefore, you know, being the son of a father who was on the, on the other side impacted in a good way because I could see My father, you know, doing his job and seeing him as a hero. But it also was terrifying somehow, right? At one point, things got really difficult in Peru. And there was no, no hope for many people, hyperinflation, terrorism, extreme poverty for many people, and not many opportunities for the youngster that were coming up, like me at that time. Right. So yeah, so it was a difficult period for the country. But at the same time, you know, formative year for me right, you know, dealing with crisis and resilience and, and seeing things that there is always a possibility to improve and to do something better. we weren't five at the start, we were only two and then three, and my dad was relocated to a smaller town in the Andes, right. So we did not, or at least I did, grew up in my teen years in the capital, but in another town, right. But you know, from the start, I will tell you that my childhood was full of contradictions somehow, and I explain why. And I'm very fond of those memories, again, when they look back and what they meant to who I am today, right? So number one, I went to a Protestant school, sponsored by the Church of Scotland. So it's a little bit of a, my future was somehow shaped by that moment, right. But at the same time, I was brought up as a Catholic. So that was one of the first things that I kind of had a conflict in my life, right? I mean, Catholic at home, Protestant school, different ideas, conflicting, sometimes, but it was what was. The second one was that, as I told you, before, you know, we didn't have a lot of money, well spare money, at least, but most of it went into education. And the school that I attended, was a public school, most of my classmates would come from, you know, richer families, let's say, so I was different. And, again, you know, it's the second part, that make me feel at the time always, as an outsider somehow. So Catholic in a Protestant school, poorer than the richer kids, you notice that right. As we move into this other town, I was somehow and I'm not saying discriminated but I was whiter than the other people. So it was always something that kind of create a at least a feeling for me of being different, right. And I could explain later how that has developed and served me really in my career. But at an early stage, it was that conflict for me. Now, as I said, Before, my dad was an officer, my mom was a stay at home, and my mom is a entrepreneurial soul, you know, to really start everything, you know, she will help every charity that she could find she will be involved with any activities at school, she would start businesses. extremely charismatic person, super energy. But she was terrible with business, you know. So the second part to make sure that she understood, you know, that all this was supposed to be making money perhaps she didn't have right, but definitely many lessons on leadership, I would say that also came from her side in a different way. Okay, do you want to share those now or as we go through?

Gerado Montoya: 8:33

Well, I can I have some stories one, especially where, we were caught in the middle of natural disaster in Peru, in the Andes, a landslide that trapped our vehicle our bus in between two massive landslides. And at that time, you know, I saw my mom, dad wasn't with us, it were just mom and three kids. And the way she dealt with the situation, the leadership that she took to take us to safety, getting dark at night, and her deciding to just walk and reach the next town, because that's where we're going to be saved. I just, I just find it as I grew up and look back, a very brave decision. Right? So I mean, there were so many lessons that I learned just from that situation, but there's so many others, right? I'm going into an extreme one where, yeah, it was a matter of life or death, really. And that's when you see what people are made up.

Andy Follows: 9:32

It's quite a story. And she sounds very inspiring, full of energy and with a big heart wanting to help lots of people.

Gerado Montoya: 9:40

And that's, you know, I was gonna leave that probably for later. But one of the beliefs that I have is this, leading with heart, right leadership with heart and I pretty much believe that is rooted in what I learned from her

Andy Follows: 9:55

Thank you, Gerado. Let's talk if we can a little bit about you at school. How would your Teachers have described you.

Gerado Montoya: 10:01

So my early years, I was telling you about how I was dealing with this way of feeling different, right. But achieving and performing for me was the way to kind of cope with some of the differences. I might not have the same beliefs or not gonna have the same resources that you but I could be better than anyone elses, right? And so I was at the top of my class, when I was very little. I learn to read a three, I was lucky enough that one of our neighbours worked at a Sheraton Hotel in Lima, right, and he was the porter, you know, the doorman, but he used to bring back Times magazine for me in English, right. And I could barely probably read in English. But it exposed me to many things, right, so many things that were happening in the world, and so many things that made me believe that I could become a businessman an international businessman at a very early age. And that was kind of my dream, right? And so I started to get very academic, I will say that very early stage, I have no problems, right? I have no issues with teachers when I was out of trouble, let's say when I was a kid, and very early, also into sport, right? My mom always tells me that there was a little bit of a hyperactive kid and I needed to, you know, kind of burn energy doing other things. And therefore, you know, sports has always been my, the way to do it right even now. So yeah, so I think it was a very, I wouldn't say easy period for me. But something that, especially there was subjects that I enjoy, I could perform well under.

Andy Follows: 11:44

It sounds like you had a challenge. But it's not overwhelming. So you felt challenged by you felt different. And your circumstances were different from the other kids, and some of your beliefs about how to deal with that then impacted your behaviour. And you'd really leaned in to being academic and this lovely story of the friend, the family friend from the hotel, giving you access to a whole international world through Time Magazine in English is a beautiful story. And it sounds like you were in a challenging situation. But you, you dealt with it, and it has served you well.

Gerado Montoya: 12:28

Andy I think we sometime spoke about these right? Our careers and our lives are always shaped by people that are important in certain moments of time. And sometimes you don't realise it right? Until you look back and think of how important that even that's in production of, hey, there's some used magazines there for you could start creating your purpose, your ambition and your drive.

Andy Follows: 12:52

Yeah. And so you had this idea that you could be an international businessman. And there were subjects that you like, which subjects did you prefer?

Gerado Montoya: 13:00

This, this has been throughout, not just in my school days, but always, there was stuff that when I found out pragmatic uses or something, I got into this, and I learned it without any difficulty. When I didn't find any connection to real life or anything that will be useful. I tend not to pay attention to it or to learn it. But just because I had to right. So I was good at math. I was good at pretty much. I mean, in primary school, as I said, I was normally the top of the class. So I would connect with anything, right? Secondary School was a little bit different, because I think I enjoy sports more than anything else. Still, academically I perform. But I didn't put all my energy on it. Right, I deviate in my attention. And, and this element of I pay attention to what I believe is important became a little more apparent for me as well. So yeah, but I mean, I could be good with numbers, but also with other related matters, let's say if there is a point to learning them

Andy Follows: 14:07

okay, so as long as you could see the point, as long as you could see a practical application, then that helped you to learn. some of my listeners are gonna wonder what sports were you into?

Gerado Montoya: 14:18

This is gonna sound like nerdy. But being from South America, football is always a sport you grew up with, right? Your first present is always a football normally, when you're little and that. So that's, that's a given. But also I played basketball, played a little bit of volleyball. Basketball was pretty much my competitive sport, right? I was the senior captain of the team at school and play at a university as well. But yeah, so basketball could be the main one.

Andy Follows: 14:47

And at what point then going through school did you start to have some ideas about what you might do after school and what direction you would go in?

Gerado Montoya: 14:55

Secondary School was a little bit different for me, right. As I said, we moved to this town, the situation in the country was so difficult and it didn't look as if it was going to improve soon that, you know, your options were quite limited too. So I was always attracted by business as I said, I wanted to study management and do something related to that. But I live in a small town, right. And there weren't many options there, I had to go back to Lima. And make sure that, you know, I follow a career there. But one thing that kind of changed my life again, is that when I was 13, my dad bought me a computer, like a personal, you know, Atari 130. Console. And that changed everything for me, right? Because I became addicted somehow to learning how to programme that computer. I self taught myself how to programme in basic as many people from my generation also did. And I became a little bit of a whiz kid with programming. till age 13 14, I started to get a few jobs, teaching people how to do things and for little money, right, but I think it was my first experience with you know, you can do something that you can get paid for. And you could be good at this. So that Kind of changed a little bit my mind about, I could just be on business, I could be doing something slightly different. So when I finished school, I actually applied for a career in systems development, informatics, it was in my mind, right. But there, you have to take a test to go into a university and I didn't get in, you know, I didn't get that place in the university. So I ended up studying business. And they will tell you a little bit more about that. Now, the reason why I'm postponing this is that as soon as I finished school, I continue with some sort of formal education in IT in software development. And as soon as I turned 18, I got my first job in a corporation as a software developer. So that was my first out of school straight into the workforce. At the same time in parallel, normally in Peru you finish school at 16. And you can go to uni at 17. So I started a uni 17 and attended university at night while I was working during the day. So I started my career in technology basically.

Andy Follows: 17:24

OK, and how did you find working and studying at the same time?

Gerado Montoya: 17:29

I must admit that there were two things. It was hard, right? It was hard, because it was full day, I will work a full day and go at uni at nights, late nights and so on. I found that for two reasons. If the main The first one is, I was getting paid good money, you know, I was 18 years old, and probably I was earning similar salary to my dad, who has been working for 25 years as a public officer, right? Wow, is it private sector work, you know, just gaming. So that's one. The second one is that the attractiveness of University started to decline for me as I'm doing what I could do now. And I'm learning a lot and I'm earning money for it, right. So the the theoretical aspects of things started to become not as interesting as I found it before and I pretty much in practice, dropped out. And I say in practice, because I continue going until pretty much the end, and one of the reasons for going is that my mom really wanted me to do it. Right. She said, You have to finish university, you have to do it, you have to do so I continue going and doing it, but I was completely disconnected from it. And at the end, I did not graduate. I decided that for me that was it right. At that time I have progressed in my career so much that it didn't really matter much. It didn't make any difference, other than you know, make my mom happy, of course.

Andy Follows: 18:58

Okay.

Gerado Montoya: 18:59

I mean, these are these, I come back to this right, because I went back to business school. So I say progress in my career. And you know, I finished working for this company, and there is a story there as well that they could tell you about it. And I started working for Volvo. I had an amazing career at Volvo right? And a relationship that was so strong that Volvo put me through all the education that I managed to achieve after that. And obviously, I gave 23 years of my life to Volvo right. But I went back to business school and went back to an MBA as well after that, and, you know, some further executive education at the very top universities following this right. So that wasn't the end of the point for me was I probably chose the wrong career at the start, or I probably didn't find the connection at the time when I have started this other project, right. But as I In Progress and learn, and I found, education for me always had to have a purpose. So I like learning something that I'm going to use, rather than just learning something that ok I'm going to get agree on something that I'm never going to put in practice.

Andy Follows: 20:15

yeah, and the timing is so important. In

Gerado Montoya: 20:19

sometimes Andy I think the reflection for me. So if you plan your life, your career, and you believe, okay, I'm going to finish school, go to college, or to uni, and then find a job and so on. Or it could be like, this is the direction and I'm gonna get there somehow, right. And you might have breaks or deviations from that path. But ultimately, arriving at where you want to be is important part,

Andy Follows: 20:44

I really appreciate you sharing that I think it's a really valuable message that we don't have to have it all figured out. And it doesn't have to always go with a timing that's predetermined, it's knowing where you're going or heading off in a direction that feels right and figuring out as you go, so how did you come to leave the software company and join Volvo? What was the story there?

Gerado Montoya: 21:07

So the company I joined was one of the largest conglomerates in the group owned by [name] and I worked for the company that managed pretty much all the companies right did all the management, back office, if you wish of every company in the group. And it was an excellent school for me, again, very important in this formative years, because being in that position in that company that had access to looking after mining companies and fishing companies and real estate and a create exposure, that was unbelievable, it couldn't have a better start in my career. The second part is that being in IT also give you a blueprint of how everything works, right you are understanding processes and the way things happen in a company, you can connect and you can create systems thinking that you are going to use at the later stage of your career if that's where you're going. So I was there for almost five years, I said, the way I left wasn't the best. This was another lesson an important lesson for me. We had some new members joining the team at the time. And at one point, there was a realisation that we're not being paid enough. So we need to go and ask for pay rise. And this is again another example of how I was feeling different. I was the youngest in our company, and I made a mistake, because I did agree that yeah, this could be better. But I delegated the authority to have this conversation from me to someone who was representing us. And that representation let's say took a negotiation style that wasn't appreciated by the company, a little bit of a an ultimatum kind of okay, it's this or we're gonna go right. And as you can probably imagine, any corporation will say, Okay, go. So I don't think it's a very effective negotiation, and, of course, a huge lesson for me. And yeah, it made me really sad, because I realised that, you know, there is stuff that you have to take control yourself, right, that you cannot delegate important conversations that you are the only person who could determine your fate, right and your life. So you cannot delegate things that are as important that is. But yeah, so I left and I took the opportunity to take a sabbatical at the time. And then I joined Volvo. So that was an important turn in the career, right. As I said, the exit wasn't as good. But if that didn't happen, I would have never joined Volvo. So I was headhunted by a software company. This time, it was a spinoff of Arthur Andersen at the time. And they were providing pretty much all the software services to Volvo. And I joined through them. And in I think it was in nine months Volvo asked me to join them, you know, but in a completely different role that at the time, Volvo was setting up a finance company in Peru. And they were going through the development of the systems that they needed and so on. And it happened that they wanted someone who could liaise between the business and the software development company. So they gave me that, and I came in to oversee the implementation of that project and how things work. And that was the beginning of my career at Volvo doing something but also the end of my career in IT. Right, so I close the door. And here is a very important point of also my career because I had to decide where is IT going to take me? Is it really gonna take me where I wanted to go, which was to manage a company and to lead a company? Or is it time to say goodbye? You know, it was hard, but I did say goodbye. And it was a very good decision, of course at the end, right? Because I joined Volvo. I wasn't any more a software developer, I move into the business. And with that, I started to look at other areas as well as I progress in that company. Right.

Andy Follows: 25:24

So you had a longer term vision of where you saw yourself. Are you able to say where that was coming from this idea of No, no, I want to lead a company. Do you know why you wanted to lead a company? What was behind that ambition?

Gerado Montoya: 25:40

Yeah, I think, you know, you should go back to the earlier as we were talking about, I think the drive comes from there the desire to succeed, perhaps, and to demonstrate to myself, right, that you could get out of the difficult situation or context where we were, and to achieve whatever your dreams were Right? I think it can be traced back to early years, I would say

Andy Follows: 26:05

Yeah, so the same, the same motivation that saw you be top of the class?

Gerado Montoya: 26:11

Exactly, I think. I think so. But you know, the transition is that I went from feeling different, to start thinking differently. So I thought, I see things in a different way to many of the people I work with, I have a plan, I see thingsor ways I can execute them, you know, they might not be the conventional ones, you know, no going to finish uni or doing all these things. But here is a way that I could take the next steps. So feeling differently to thinking different now. And I believe that helped me with the next steps that I was taking in the career.

Andy Follows: 26:51

So 23 years with Volvo. How would you like to talk us through your time at Volvo? What were the highlights for you?

Gerado Montoya: 26:59

There's many, there's so many 23 years, but I guess there's some periods, two or three that are very important for me, right? The first one is obviously joining Volvo in Peru, which was a, an excellent school for me. Excellent colleagues, smaller company again, but exposed to everything from, you know, IT, where I started to the business itself, how the operations work. I managed the Treasury Department there for a while, I mentioned that I went back to business school. I did a diploma in corporate finance at one of the top business schools in Lima. So that was a little bit for me a, we're betting that, you know, you could be one of our guys for the future. Right. So I could feel it that way. The opportunities I was being given, and I was taking demonstrated that there was a path to follow, right. And there was a period to to follow that.

Andy Follows: 27:58

You've had an international career, you're in the middle of an international career. Now, how did that first come about for you?

Gerado Montoya: 28:07

Yes Andy so I was lucky enough to have a British boss when I was back in Peru. And he upon his return, asked me to join him. And I came to the UK for only one year as an exchange. That was the original idea. And for me, the important part was that, number one, I became an international businessman as the dream was in the past. But also, if we go back to my childhood and my years at school at the British school, we used to watch videos of Buckingham Palace and the change of guards and things like this. And it seemed as a reality was kind of going in completing the circle, quite a dream that will be coming true for someone in his mid 20s.

Andy Follows: 29:00

Yeah, before we move on, let's also go back and just talk a bit about how he was as a manager. And how actually being in Volvo was such a good school for you said it was a good school, it was small, and what you learned from that phase.

Gerado Montoya: 29:19

So I joined the newly created finance company, for Volvo. This is commercial vehicles. And for me it was a great school because we were setting things up. It was a startup, where you know you are defining how things work and how the vision could be made a reality. And we were lucky enough to have Pete as our boss, he came from Britain rest in peace now, but he was a great guy. He was in his early 30s great energy, great vision. And he made us believe that we could achieve everything that we wanted to achieve in a context that was In the most favourable for business, right? So very important lessons for me, I mean, from a leadership perspective, but also from a understanding how to set up a business and how to make it work. I was very lucky to be there, right? Because, obviously, I used those lessons later in my life to

Andy Follows: 30:19

there's a great opportunity to be in a huge business multinational company, in a smaller, smaller a particular startup within that way you, you have the security of being part of something big, and you have all of the opportunity and exposure and challenge and autonomy to a degree to try and build something new. And it sounds like it would really appeal to your pragmatism. You know, Pete's approach was okay, this is not textbook This is not theory. How do we make this work in a context that is not the most favourable, so I can see it being a good fit and a great opportunity. So you went to London? How did it compare to the videos, you'd seen the movie footage? What was your real experience? You'd felt like an outsider other times in your life? How did you feel when you arrived in London?

Gerado Montoya: 31:10

Even more of an outsider right. There was another example of you know, moving to an environment that wasn't mine. And therefore yeah, I was a real outsider this time, not only because of the language, but everything else, right. But it was good I mean, initially, as you expected, everything is different, right? The weather, the people, the culture, and it takes a period of adaptation. But that's been another of my is a superpowers. So what is helping me to? Yeah, you might feel that you're different or think differently, but how do you adapt to get succeed and thrive in these environments? Using what you have or who you are?

Andy Follows: 31:55

And whereabouts in the UK were you?

Gerado Montoya: 31:57

Warwick

Andy Follows: 31:59

In Warwick? Oh, right. and you said that some other highlights are significant moments say the moments that challenged you or that you look back on now and realise were pivotal, either in your career journey or in you becoming who you are?

Gerado Montoya: 32:18

I mean, I was in the UK for about eight years before I moved to a another country.

Andy Follows: 32:26

Okay, so the one year the one year became eight

Gerado Montoya: 32:29

Yeah, so one year was the original idea, right? He didn't tell me this when we were in Peru. But, you know, the year I was here, he said, Hey, don't go back. And I think he was right, right. I think there was a lot in front of me here and globally. Right. So I believe I did the right

Andy Follows: 32:49

Let me take a moment to tell you about our thing. sponsor. This episode is brought to you by Aske Consulting who are experts in executive search, resourcing solutions and talent management across all sectors of the automotive industry in the UK and Europe. I've known them for almost 20 years, and I can think of no more fitting sponsor for CAREER-VIEW MIRROR. They're the business we go to at Aquilae When we're looking for talent for our clients and for projects that we're working on. ASKE was founded by Andrew McMillan, whose own automotive career includes board level positions with car brands and leasing companies, all ASKE consultants have extensive client side experience, which means they bring valuable insight and perspective for both their employer and candidate customers. My earliest experience of working with Andrew was back in 2004, when he helped me hire regional managers for my leasing Sales Team at Alphabet. More recently, when Aquilae was helping a US client to establish a car subscription business, ASKE Consulting was alongside us helping us to develop our people strategy, and to identify and bring onboard suitable talent. Clients we've referred to ASKE have had an equally positive experience. Andrew and the team at ASKE are genuinely interested in the long term outcomes for you and the people they place with you. They even offer the reassurance of a two year performance guarantee, which means they have skin in the game when working with you. If you're keen to secure the most talented and high potential people to accelerate your business and gain competitive advantage, do get in touch with them and let them know I sent you. You can email Andrew the team at Hello@askeconsulting.co.uk or check out their website for more details and more client feedback at www.askeconsulting.co.uk ASKE is spelt A S K E. You'll find these contact details in the show notes for this episode. Okay, let's get back to our episode.

Gerado Montoya: 34:48

So, eight years and during those eight years, I kind of move from the finance company with Volvo to the OEM. The actually manufacturers of trucks this was Volvo Trucks where I worked for the used trucks division, right? So that was my safe first managerial role, where I looked after the operations, I had the opportunity to implement a few processes and systems as well. And he put me in the place where my next big break was going to happen. And this came in the way that my boss went on maternity leave. And in my very early 30s, I was promoted to be a director, this was for 18 months until she came back. But she was great, right? So she won't she, again, another great boss, who saw the opportunity or the potential for me to take over from her and to look after the business while she was in there. And that gave me exposure, being in front of a Executive Board and management meetings regularly gave me more visibility of what was going on learning about the business from a different perspective. And also, you know, gaining exposure for myself, right. As a member of the team

Andy Follows: 36:12

What were some of the behaviours that you had demonstrated prior to her going on maternity leave that you believe helped her make the decision and the business make the decision that you would be ready for that?

Gerado Montoya: 36:26

One of them is obviously understanding of, of the business, right, and I guess that's a given. But execution, very important for me, here are the plans, here's what we're going to do and, and deliver what you promise what you're going to do, creativity to create solutions of problems that have been there for a while, and the thinking differently, will allow you to bring in alternatives, leadership in general and leadership that start to shape into what I mentioned earlier. Right. They brought a lot of people caring and heart into it. I think there were a few things, a few things that, you know, at least show some glimmer that something could be there, potentially to continue to develop.

Andy Follows: 37:12

I imagine that wasn't her decision alone, to make, but that there would have been a few people consulted and had to agree whether you should step into that director roll at such a young age. Would you agree?

Gerado Montoya: 37:26

Definitely. I mean, definitely. Obviously, you know, she was very well respected team member right. And her opinion will be very much considered. But yeah, I mean, even the fact that she because, you know, gradually, she allowed me to get exposed to these things so that other people could see me too, right. So it wasn't just her saying, Okay, this guy would take over, I was part of the transition, right?

Andy Follows: 37:51

Yeah. And the reason I pointed that out was because I think it's so important for us to realise that when it comes to situations like that, it won't just be one person's decision, we sometimes think our boss has got lots of power, and it can make these decisions. But it's very rarely down to one person. And the easier we can make it for the other people involved, to know who we are, and be able to make a decision. We need to do that in the months, and years, maybe that precede the opportunity. We can't be a stranger to all these people. So for her to give you the opportunity, the exposure, it's helped, but then we have to take those opportunities, and we have to shine when we get them.

Gerado Montoya: 38:36

Absolutely. One more thing that helped, I guess is that just before I took that job, I started my MBA, but it was an executive MBA, so I could work and study at the same time. It took me three years. And I believe I finished just before she was going on. So it was another stepping stone somehow, right? I became an MBA and here is an opportunity for you to put in practice where you learn, right. So no. And then and then that was that was, as I said, a crucial moment for me, right, because I became more senior than I expected at an early age. I mean, it was my plan, of course. Right. But it was accelerating very quickly.

Andy Follows: 39:20

Yeah. And how did you handle then presumably managing people who were older than you.

Gerado Montoya: 39:26

I don't think it was ever a challenge. I always treat everyone the same way. Right. And being a people's person. I believe that connection that respect is is always there, doesn't matter who it is, right? We're all the same when we bring ideas to the table with if we listen to them and so on. It doesn't matter really. So I don't think it was a challenge for me

Andy Follows: 39:48

Okay, so it sounds like it went well. And what happened when she came back from maternity leave. Did she come back?

Gerado Montoya: 39:53

She did. Yeah, she did. And here is another example of being in the right place again. When I came to the UK, there was a Brazilian guy who has arrived pretty much at the same time. And it happened that he went back to Brazil. At a later stage he became VP of the company. But he had a VP position at the time. And he was being promoted. This was his promotion, actually, and his role became available. And I call him and he said, yes is available, why don't you talk to some of the executives that are recruiting, those executives were in London at the time, and I had dinner with them. And this was pretty much the next step in my career, right. So my boss came back, and I left for Brazil, where I spent the next three years,

Andy Follows: 40:46

right.

Gerado Montoya: 40:48

So it was a another stepping stone right into my plan. Somehow, I became a VP, again, a very young age, and I was in charge of business development for Latin America. And what it meant is I had to open up new finance companies around Latin America. So we opened operations in Chile. And I spent a lot of time in Chile working basically, we did some studies in Argentina, we had a company in Mexico already. Proceed, obviously, which is huge. Peru, we tried to reopen Peru because the company closed after I left a few years later. We tried to reopen it, but it didn't work. And finally, we also looked at a project in South Africa. Right? So it was a little bit strange. South Africa was the closest point to Brazil lets say, compared to other headquarter offices, right. So we were looking after the country. So I spent some time in South Africa, once again, trying to open operations. And we ended up with a deal with an agreement with a local bank to represent us. And that took me to South Africa. Because as it happened, my boss asked me to move there and make sure that things work. Okay. And I spent almost a year in Johannasburg.

Andy Follows: 42:17

How was that? How did you find that?

Gerado Montoya: 42:19

I loved it. I loved it. I mean, for many reasons, right? Number one, I thought it was excellent. People were super friendly. Food was good, the weather was good. The World Cup was on this is 2010. So the world cup was on so that couldn't have been done in a better, a better time. But also, you know, you hear all these stories about, you know, Johannasburg and, and so on. But I don't have any bad story to tell. So for me, it was an excellent time, you know,

Andy Follows: 42:51

very good. And what came after that,

Gerado Montoya: 42:54

you know, in South Africa, although it was so interesting, I was struggling with my partner at the time, we were in Brazil, then you know, in South Africa, one of the conditions for me to go to South Africa was that they find me a safe place to live especially for her, somewhere she loves. So we found, we found a great place, a gated community, English pub in the middle, swimming pool and all the things that you can imagine, but pretty much a, you know, a prison for my partner, she was there all day, every day. And it was a bubble. Right. So went back home, when we gave you finished with assignment. And then we regroup, which we did. Went back to Brazil for a while. And then I was exploring my next opportunity. One of which was Mexico. She did not like the idea of going to Mexico City after in so many big cities. So it was time to come back home. And it happened that I was visiting the UK and had dinner with an ex colleague, and he said, Look we're looking for someone, why don't you come back here. And we came back to UK. And I took over as the director in charge of the medium networks, for Volvo Trucks for the UK and Ireland. So I rejoined the company, and now in a completely different position. I have never done this before. So a challenge for me professionally. An opportunity to I wouldn't say end my international career but settle a little bit you know? So yeah, so I took over the job and again, a big challenge, another learning opportunity. And I stay there for about five years I believe doing that.

Andy Follows: 44:49

I'm noticing you're clearly an adventurous guy. You're happy to go to different countries and move and and yet you're still finding enough Adventure within the world of Volvo. So you're still happy. So far each time you don't have to roam beyond Volvo Volvo is giving you enough space to get the sense of adventure that you need or to explore what you need to explore.

Gerado Montoya: 45:14

Yes, I think so. And many people always tell me, you know, how could you stay in the same company for 23 years, right. But I never stay either doing the same or the same place. And what was extremely important for me, there was always a feeling that I was growing professionally, that I was personally as well being exposed to, you know, different culture, different places, learning a lot. Every time I got a new challenge and a new job, you know, was I 100%, ready to do it? Probably not. But at that stage of my career, I always say yes, right? It's, you know, can you go to this place? Yep. Can you do it? Yes, I can do it. That changed a little bit later. But I always saw the opportunity, you know, and I always saw, going back to thinking differently. I never hesitated to say, look, you're taking too much risk, or you're taking, you're paying a price. Because you always every time you say yes to something, you say no to something else, there is a price to pay for it. But at the time, you know, my vision, my goal was always clear. And every time I was making one of these decisions, it was in that direction right, it was taking me closer to that direction

Andy Follows: 46:29

it sounds like you had a very clear direction that you were heading in and and so when these opportunities came up, it was not difficult to evaluate. Is this taking me closer to where I wanted to go yet? Okay, I'm in.

Gerado Montoya: 46:40

So at the time, the group, we have had the same CEO for about 15 years, and he decided to retire. And we got a new person who obviously came with new plans and, you know, reorganisation plans. And the group went through a period of I would say experimentation. But there were some ideas that were put in place that created opportunities for me, right. So I became now in charge of not only the Volvo Trucks network, but I was also in charge of their Renault trucks dealer network, because they were both part of the same group. And we, you know, went through a period of reorganising, unfortunately, we had to let some people go all the time, which is always difficult, of course, relocating offices, putting them in one place. It was tough, right? But it gave me an opportunity, because the person who has taken over regionally for the UK, France, Italy, Spain, we got to south Europe saw my work and pretty much invited me to join the senior team in Europe. So now I had four or five countries to look after. So it was another stepping stone for me. But the job was in France. So I spent just over a year, I think, commuting pretty much Monday to Friday to France, spending a lot of time there. Again, another very interesting experience, transitional years for the group. So, you know, the work of reorganising things hadn't finished yet, which was tough. But also, at this point, perhaps I could reflect on my personal life, right? Because my son was three at the time, I believe. And I pretty much spend most of my time travelling outside the country and doing other things, right. So things started to get a bit tougher, of course, at home, and unfortunately, you know, we ended up separating and terminating our relationship at the time. So things got a bit complicated, right? And another crucial point for me career wise, because it made me realise that, hey, you put all this energy and all this focus on achieving that dream, that goal that you always thought of the What about what is important, what is really important. And normally what is important is what is permanent, right? What is going to stay there forever. So So here, here's here's a, what happens. The group reorganises again, after I am there, they decide to revert some of the decisions and things changed again. And, you know, I'm no longer part of the plans of the organisation. And I'm left to assess all the options. And one of the options on the table was to once again move to the finance company within Volvo to head up the French operations. So I had an amazing dialogue with the person recruiting it. Perhaps the best contract I was ever offered within Volvo things were done. I remember Been in Sweden in the summer I believe And, yeah, it's all good. We're good to go. Right. This is a Friday afternoon. So I took my plane back. And, you know, for the first time, I think I managed to relax a little bit, and I thought, What am I doing? You know, my son live there, I don't see him, things at are home complicated now. How could I just live in France? In my head, I thought I could commute and I could do this Monday to Friday but I couldn't, the reality was that I couldn't. So I called him back on Monday and say, hey, you know what, I made a mistake, and I'm not gonna do it, I'm gonna stay in the UK. And that is a hugely important decision, right? Because that was the end of my international career. I knew it. I just couldn't do it anymore. Right. That was it. And so they were extremely respectful. I mean, again, the company and the culture of the companies, I couldn't have asked for something better for me with such a long career. But then I came back to UK and rejoined the management team here for two or three years, I think, working on innovation and digitalization of our products, and so on. But as I said, that was the perhaps end chapter you know final chapter in my career with Volvo. But again, a very important one, right? Because it started a new chapter in my personal life. That was extremely important.

Andy Follows: 51:35

Thank you for sharing that. I think it's amazing that you can pinpoint a specific flight, if you like, a meeting and, you know, a flight or a weekend, where you acknowledged the different priorities and the journey that you'd been on since school days of just Onwards, onwards onwards, you recalibrate

Gerado Montoya: 51:59

Definitely it was time for pause and change direction.

Andy Follows: 52:03

And so that meant a lot of other things. As you say, that meant the end of your international career, it meant a shift in focus onto things that are going to endure things that will be there forever. And this was your last role then within Volvo. So what happened there?

Gerado Montoya: 52:19

I came back to the UK and as I say I rejoined the management team here, but I was, you know, perhaps doing things that were not in the core operations. I mean, I was working on the strategy side working with our MD at the time, working on digitalizing some of the products that we wanted to take to the market, which was extremely important for me, right. And, and you find the link in a minute, of what I've been doing, but a strange period somehow, because I felt that, you know, my time there was over, right, I already felt that this was it, I couldn't find myself working here anymore on something that I'd already done. And I belong to a different page somehow. So it happened that, you know, there was another organisation, once again, as they say, they were quite strange years in the group at the time, but and there was an opportunity for me to leave right. And although there were some jobs there, that were presented as an opportunity for me, it was no longer something that I wanted. And somehow I was disillusioned with the corporate world, you know, for all the changes that we've been going through for, you know, all the things I've seen in, I just wanted a break, I think I had enough so I stopped working for Volvo at the end of 2018. And I took a sabbatical again. So about for about nine months, I dedicated my time to do some consulting, but really part time. But I studied, let's call it Micro Masters on digital product management. So I went back to the technology side of things, to try to reconnect that. And consider what I've been doing with Volvo in the last few years. So I just wanted to make sure that you know, I had the academic background to apply some of areas and those things in in a different way. So that was the end of that amazing story and a new one started. And here is where perhaps this is present day. So you know, I work for Experian, where I run the automotive business. It is a technology data company that works with dealers, but also with financial services companies, and we develop digital products, right? So if you think about it, it's just the convergence of everything I did before. And when this appeared on a period at the time, I say they didn't want to work again for a corporation, but it was so interesting that something so actually magical as it were is happening, right? That's something that's in front of you is you work with dealers before you were in a financial services company before you were with automatic before. Here is a, you know, an opportunity for you and you were in technology before you can put it all together and, you know, drive it so, you know, I couldn't have asked for a better outcome.

Andy Follows: 55:20

I love that. I love it when it happens to my guests. And I think surely we must all absolutely love that when we look at an opportunity and we think, Wait, I'm going to be able to use pretty much everything I've ever done. I'm going to be able to bring to this role, I'm going to have familiarity, and I'm gonna have some experience and it just feels great. So I can the word magical. It's like, You're kidding me, right? This is all the things in one job perfect.

Gerado Montoya: 55:55

I mean, to add to that. I wanted to somehow this is a second second month for me, right the second part of my life and you know, a second career somehow. And I wanted to have a career where I could see the future too right and being this a technology company and a data company. That's where I wanted to be this is what's going to continue to happen next. Probably 20 years. So 30 years, I'll be working right. So right place and right opportunity that, again, is another amazing company to work for. For me, it's been a fascinating journey that continues of course, right. But the second chapter has started, as a consequence, of course of everything that, you know, I've done before and the decisions I made, you know, good ones, bad ones they took me here, right, and the opportunities and the decisions I can make now, I think will be richer and more mature. That was it. So the challenge that she put in front of me was very attractive to somehow grow the business exponentially, which we are the way to doing, I don't think it's growing exponentially yet. But to transform it, I mean, we needed to transform that business, right, we had some legacy legacy technology that had to be changed, which is very difficult to acheive, we have to reconnect with the market, we have to you know, get closer to clients, especially changed the motivation and the attitude of the team behind it, you know, which I couldn't be happier with the results so far, you know, I could step away from this business now, I think, as a happy man. So So yeah, it happened over a cup of coffee. But I think the challenge attracted me very much and the people, right? I mean, the person, obviously, that you're going to work for. And it's been so important for me in the career, right? All the people that I work for, I mean, I have very challenging bosses sometimes. But I always learn something from them, right? Even from the bad bosses, you always learn something right, at least how not to do. But I've been lucky enough that they have always been very ambitious, very driven, and very fair as well. Right. With the opportunities being given to me.

Andy Follows: 58:12

You said a little bit about, you know, growing Experian exponentially. Are there other areas you'd like to share around what you're doing now and the direction your vision for the business or the direction you're going in that would be interesting to share.

Gerado Montoya: 58:26

Yeah so I believe the way we live today, within automotive, we're going through a huge transformation right? Not only the digitalization of especially the retailing, of automotive, but also the adoption of electric vehicles that, you know, we have mandatory targets now in the UK, not only the 2025 target levels but also yearly once now, right, that is accelerating, you know, we are right in the middle of transaction happening with the products that we provide. Either providing information on assets, or providing information on consumers or finance Experian is in a very advantageous kind of position of being probably the only company that can combine data from the three elements that are required to complete a transaction, a vehicle consumer and the money. So our mission of course in our purpose is to make sure that the financial well being of everyone is protected secure or improved. And the way we continue to do that is to make sure that people get into their cars with deals that they can afford with measured risk with assets that aren't going to be fraudulent or anything like that right. We're in a very good position to advise both lenders and consumers on the best deals that they can take to take advantage of this transition to our electric vehicles for example, right but in general, the The purpose of the company is to improve their well, financial well being of everyone. And the products that we develop within my division are also aligned to that. And the the easiness on the journey store, right? I mean, you buy things on Amazon with one click. I mean, there's no reason why we couldn't buy a car with one click with all the data that is available there with securing that there is trust in the system you're making the journey frictionless, right? If everybody trusts each other, then there's no reason why you couldn't just click and wait for your car to arrive.

Andy Follows: 1:00:37

Excellent. Is there anything I haven't asked you not not necessarily just about Experian now, but about any aspect of your journey, your career journey, your life journey that I've missed an opportunity, or there's anything else that you think has been important?

Gerado Montoya: 1:00:51

Well I think of my career as being one of reinvention. I think I had to reinvent myself many times, you know, from software developer to being in business to running dealer networks to being a chief product officer if you wish, so many opportunities for me to jump into something different, but change the way I look at things from different perspectives, learning new things. So that's, that's extremely important, I guess, for anyone who is starting in their career, to think that not everything is determined, right, they could shape it in the way they want, they could take risk and turns, as long as they have a clear vision of where they want to go. That's extremely important. The second point for me is, I said to you before, you know, the evolution of feeling that there was something different and feeling as an outsider. And taking that as a superpower, rather than as a disadvantage. It's been very important for me, from feeling it to thinking it to be in, it's good to be true, right? I'm very confident and very happy to be an outsider if I have to be, but at the same time, learning to adapt, right to respect where you are to learn from the places where you are, rather than holding on into where you're leaving, is very difficult. But you have to let go. That has been very important for me as as you move, you know, especially geographically, right. And the last one for me is that you always have to say that there is a price to pay. As I said, at the beginning, decisions are not free. You say yes, but you're saying no to something else, right. And it could be in my case that I left from more than 24 years ago now, leave my family behind. And it's not easy, but that was the price of a decision, right? And you have to accept it and keep going. It is a difficult one. I mean, I do I always think I lied to myself for many years that I don't miss anything, you know, I don't belong there anymore. But every time I go home and visit, there is a reminder of how much I missed and what I left behind. So but yeah, and then and then finally, I mean, what I said at the start going back in full circle to my parents, and my mom, and so on, right? leadership and leadership style. For me extremely important. I always talk about being a servant leader or providing a service to the people that work for us. We want high performance. Yes, we create a context we are there for our teams, we guide them, we listen to them, we give them heart as well, and we respect who they are as humans, but at the same time, clarity on the purpose where we want to achieve clarity and focus on the plans and full execution. But execution is probably the most important.

Andy Follows: 1:03:50

Thank you so much for joining me Gerado, it's been wonderful to hear your story. And you know, we could have spent so much longer you've been to so many places you've done so many things we could have really spent so much longer. So forgive me if I've had to condense the story, but thank you for sharing the key moments, both business decisions and personal decisions that I just think we have to look at the whole person. So thank you for being such a great example of that and sharing that so openly. And you know, decisions are not free, was a phrase you just used and that's gonna stick with me so wonderful. Thank you very much indeed.

Gerado Montoya: 1:04:31

Thank you for inviting me. It's just a pleasure to be in your programme and hopefully if we could help at least one person with this, I'll be very happy

Andy Follows: 1:04:46

you've been listening to CAREER-VIEW MIRROR with me, Andy follows depending on your unique life experience where you find yourself right now and your personal goals you'll have your own takeaways from Gerardo story, some elements that stood out for me were he experienced a few conflicts from an early age Catholic in a Protestant school, not as wealthy as his classmates and whiter to the friend who used to bring English language magazines from the hotel that opened his eyes to the idea of being an international businessman, his appetite to accept opportunities and put his career first, how he didn't complete his graduate studies. But later when the time was right went back into education, a reminder of the attraction of roles that allow us to use a high proportion of the skills and experience that we have accumulated. The moment he realised that maybe the great role he'd just been offered was not going to work and how that brought an end to his international career and paved the way for a second mountain. The idea of leading with heart and the acknowledgement that decisions are not free. When you say yes to one thing, you're saying no to another. If you'd like to connect with Gerado you'll find his contact details in the show notes to this episode. If you enjoy listening to my guest stories, please could you do me a favour and share an episode with someone you lead parent or mentor? Or perhaps a friend of yours who you think would also enjoy listening? Thank you to Gerardo, for joining me for our conversation. Thank you to our sponsors for this episode, ASKE Consulting and Aquilae and thank you to the CAREER-VIEW MIRROR team without whom we wouldn't be able to share our guests' life and career stories. And above all, thank you to you for listening