Fernando Montero Leiva

HEC Paris

“A kid hungry for success who grew up in a small, humble country and one day thought “You know? I think I could take on the world.”

Hometown: San Jose, Costa Rica

Fun Fact About Yourself: I can imitate a spitting cobra and the only person I’ve ever met who can do it too was a colleague in Poland whom I met during a business trip.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Costa Rica

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: McKinsey & Company, Knowledge Analyst (Knowledge consultant)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I lead a diagnostic to discover 26 percent automation potential of the corporate processes (reflected in FTE and cost reduction and relocation of labor) and supported building the automation strategy, roadmap, and design for the Automation Center of Excellence for a High-Tech client based in Silicon Valley. The client had recently hired a new head of IT in charge of bringing cutting edge technologies to back-office operations and hired our firm to guide the program. It was challenging as it was a small team made up of an engagement manager and two consultants (including me) and the timeline was one month with the deliverables. We experienced long working nights, several iterations after SteerCo meetings, and limited resources. However, I was able to discover capturable potential in different back office functions (e.g. marketing, finance, IT) and develop actionable automation use cases for them, as well as helped the partner and automation expert customize the design for the automation CoE, politics, vision, mission, procedures and approaches to escalate the use cases to all company.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? I’ve only been able to meet them virtually, but my first impression is that they are incredibly social, eager to bond with others and work together.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? I chose HEC Paris primarily because of the program’s design. I believe the length of the program allows it to be very complete, and I really liked that it provides structure in a core term and a customized term. The core subjects in the program included topics of my interest like management, sustainability, finance, and marketing. The customized structure would allow me to do a summer internship, choose electives, and learn a new language. I also consider its focus on leadership and boosting managerial skills very valuable.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? From professional clubs, I am interested in the Consulting Club. Among social clubs, it would be the Sports and Wellness Club.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? If tomorrow you were to get 100 million dollars, or just any number to live rich the rest of your life, not having to work again, would you still do an MBA?

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Since I started college, I had my life mapped out. I have always been open to changes, but I had a general idea of what I wanted to do. I also always wanted to discover opportunities beyond the ones my country can offer and an MBA fit this desire. Right now, I am young, experienced, eager to learn, ready for professional growth and with enough time and energy to focus on myself. I desire to enhance my career in the corporate world, working for companies focused on operational excellence and committed to quality, customers, the environment, and society. Though young, I have significant experience and desire to dedicate myself to my own growth. I am full of ambition to take on the business world and fulfill my professional goals. I want to do the MBA now as a career boost and I believe I have, at this time, the right motivation, ambition, energy, and excitement to do it. In addition, I have the proper experience to significantly contribute to the program and the people in it from both a professional and personal perspective.

What other MBA programs did you apply to?

• London Business School
• IESE
• ESADE

How did you determine your fit at various schools? My first step was deciding on the region – I could either go to the US or Europe. I had worked in the US for some months and had visited several times for pleasure. I had visited many states, so I know the country well. I had been in Europe (including Paris) for vacation a couple of times and visited different countries. I loved the cities, the culture, and how different it was from what I knew, so I decided to head there. Afterward, I wanted to go big and choose a top school, located in a country I’d like to start a life. This is how I came to several choices in France, England, and Spain.

I wanted my experience in the MBA to be very complete and lasting, so I looked for a program longer than a year. That is how I narrowed it down to four options. After being accepted, it was time to decide. So I balanced stats and reviews on international diversity, costs, length of the program, and content. The program’s content would need to fit my desire to work in consulting or advanced industries. That way, I would be able to specialize and deep dive in technology and help companies in their transformation, considering any social and environmental impact their operations would have.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Someone told me once that there are three things that can really change your life: having empty pockets, a heartbreak, and failure. In my case, I would say the latter shaped me into who I am. When I was 16 years old, I switched to a scientific school, where only the best students in Costa Rica could get in to study the last two years of high school (as part of a pre-college education system). Being used to always easily being the best, I realized there were many amazing, very smart people – even better than me in some subjects and that not everything is as easy as it seemed before. I had to work hard. I had my failures and moments of self-doubt, but my sister told me, “You are not ordinary. You are brilliant and I have known since you were born that you are made for greatness.” That phrase really stuck with me – words from someone who knew me best. Her words changed my attitude and ambition. Since then, I have never had doubts about myself again. I knew I was a big fish in a small pond. I might not always be the biggest fish, but I could work with everything I have to try to be. I went to college with this mindset, along with both of my jobs. I changed my lifestyle from being out of shape to being fit. I made plans for my future. I decided with each goal I set, I’d go for it and I would control my life. I decided to strive for greatness after the changing environment, the new people, and my parents’ efforts to give me the opportunities made me mature so much.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? I see myself working in an advanced industries company, such as automotive or technology. Ideally, it would be for a company dedicated to the production of complex and high-quality products or software. I’ve always been fascinated by processes requiring high technology, analysis, and innovation. I would be part of high management, working as the bridge between the production and the corporate side. In doing so, I would be managing the operations unit so I can support strategy and be involved in improving operations to achieve world class efficiency and quality, working with other corporate units and leaders and keeping environmental impact as a core axis of all process and products.