"Enjoy the opportunity to get to know a great executive who is also a great entrepreneur. I was surprised to know all the qualities and humility of our lecturer today.”

Teacher Ricardo Mesquita Chioccarello's words are an excellent summary of the opportunity High School students had with the visit of the executive and entrepreneur Jorge Geras, in another lecture of the subject “Entrepreneurship and Life Project”.

Geras, an Electronic Engineer and Bachelor in Computer Science with Specialization in Administration and Marketing by Faculdade Getúlio Vargas (FGV) and Wharton University, in Philadelphia , has an impressive curriculum, with international experience as Director and Vice President of Multinational companies such as HP, Dupont and British Petroleum (BP); fluency in five languages; living experience in several countries in Latin America, North America and Europe; participation in Social programs with the NGO “Meninos do Morumbi”; and many other projects which have been implemented or are in implementation phase in a variety of areas, such as  construction, technology, geriatrics, innovation and sustainability, as is the case of the Centro de Referência e Integração em Sustentabilidade de São Paulo, institution which he founded and directs.

However, besides these qualities, the entrepreneur and executive really calls attention due to his desire to do things, create, learn, transform: he is married, the father of two children, has painted since he was 6 years old; was a surfer for  10 years and three times State Champion in Water Polo; he is a professional diver... “I am 49 years old but I snowboard and skate, that is, age is relative”, he joked, in the beginning of this stimulating lecture, whose principal moments we will reproduce below:

Relative Truth

I do not possess the truth; what I know and will pass on to you is simply my point of view and life experience. The worst thing for a person is to believe he knows everything

Desire
Nothing is impossible. Everything depends on desire. What really matters is what you expect from life, and I am sure that each of you has an unlimited capacity to do much more than I have already done

Money x Happiness
The question is: if you had all the money in the world, what would you do? You can buy everything, travel the world, but there comes a time when you notice that life must have a bigger meaning

Building your own road
Why do your best when studying? Why the effort in the profession you will follow, why work? There are several questions you should ask yourselves. Many of your parents already have companies and can buy Ferraris, bicycles... Why study, then, go to college? For several reasons: freedom and independence; respect and admiration; choice; possibility to participate in history and to be happy

Choice of profession
Your choice of profession will, somehow, define your lives. My wife is a Medical Doctor. Her profession requires her to do night shifts, once in a while. This consumes energy. What I mean with this is that your profession will somehow determine who you are in society

Three points
You should base your choice of profession on at least three points: interest, aptitudes and personality. Here is an example: I have to make a decision today and decide to be a professional soccer player and play for Barcelona. However, in truth, I am a lousy soccer player, I don't like soccer and I am 49 years old. That is, it is not compatible. Therefore, do not choose something which is not compatible with your interests and personality

Doing what you like
You will always be mediocre professionals and unhappy if you do something you dislike. You will be called cheats in the market. In this aspect, some have a choice others don't; we are privileged in being able to choose

Attitude
Now I will give you an example of attitude by telling you my father's story: he became an orphan at the age of 6 , when a criminal fire killed both his parents in the farm where he lived. He managed to run away, alone, without parents, with no relatives. He worked as a salesman, selling candy in bus stations, as a shoe polish, selling pastry, fruit, he slept on a shelf in a factory where he worked, became a jockey (because he did not eat enough he did not grow very much); he did everything. He could only study up to fifth grade. Then, when he was 14 years old and sold fruit in Porto Alegre in front of a store called Renner, he knocked at their door asking for a job. He did it for almost three months, until one day, the manager, grudgingly, decided to give him a chance. He started fanning shelves and 35 years later left as President of the company. He became chess champion, studying on his own, got a degree in Psychology on his own, studied in the USA and  Europe while working at  the company. He had nothing then except his desire, strength, and determination

Attitude II
I was president and vice president of multinational companies and hired and fired many people; trainees, managers, directors and I created an HR theory: 70% of the times, people were fired not because of lack of education, or specific knowledge. It happened due to their attitude: desire, motivation, passion, humility, respect, honesty, ethics, character, commitment, team spirit

Profile
It is important to value what you have, know your profile: in an analogy to soccer, it is like playing in the position in which you play best. That is where you should try to play, provoke your boss or yourselves to work where you can make a difference

Choices
Shakespeare wrote that you make your choices and they make you

Adapt to the profile of the company
Once I saw a lecture at Disney, in which they showed us a film with a guy full of piercings, who said: “if you like this style, do not come to work with us; if you like tattoos, do not come to work with us; if you like to oversleep and arrive late, do not come to work with us”. Some companies do not accept this style; however, others do. If you go to HP, in the Silicon Valley, you will see people with colored hair, piercings, homosexuals, Indians, Muslims, Orientals. It all depends on the career you choose

The end of formal employment
Some time ago I read a book which said, “jobs are likely to end ”. Nowadays, there are more people working independently,  liberal professionals, entrepreneurs with different connections, working on projects for several companies; this is already commonplace and will become even more from now on

Importance of knowing languages
English is becoming more and more essential; Spanish, essential plus one. I have already hired a person who spoke 7 languages. That is the demand in the market now. One language is little

Decide for yourselves
Never make a decision based on the opinion of others. Listen to advice, but the final decision must be yours. I know a girl who wanted to be a DJ, her parents were totally against it and today she earns 20 thousand reais. Even if she made 2 thousand- but if she were happy, that would be more important

Follow your dream
This question is important: you have your family, who could make your profession easier, but at the same time you have a dream. What should you do? Follow your dream

Focus on your talent
One Day my wife told me our daughter was having trouble in Math and that maybe we should hire a private tutor for her.I asked her what her best subject was, and it was Arts. I said, “hire a private Art teacher then”. Let’s reinforce what we are good at

Final Message
The final message I would like to give you is that you have unlimited capacity to do whatever you want. However, you must believe you have this capacity, have determination and really want it

New professions and areas with more possibilities of growth, according to Jorge Geras:
- Agro ecology
- Energy Engineering
- Economics
- Agro-industrial
- Medialogy
- Gerontology
- Virtual Community Administrator
- Internet Security Management
- Career Consultant
- Design
- Sponsorship Management
- Environment Specialist
- Genetic Engineering