Valvanuz Serna Ruiz, managing partner of PROA Comunicación, has participated in an interview for the initiative #españanosepara promoted by GT Linkers. Through this interview, the voice and the optimistic messages of managers and businessmen are spread, who are a reference and an example, trying to launch a positive message about the situation in Spain and the world in general.
As a successful Managing Partner, I’m sure your opinion will permeate society. Can you send a message of optimism to the people who know and follow you?
My message of optimism is based on the recognition of all those who are working daily for all Spaniards in different places and positions. It is a message of optimism that does not want to forget each and every person who has suffered illness and death in solitude, with the added suffering of family and friends. Based on this, in the face of complicated situations I always think that time always plays a role. We are a society that does not handle the lack of control well and it is time not to become obsessed. We must know that we are going to get out of this and that is why we have to live day by day doing what we can. Time passes, always passes, and one day will come, faster than we think now, when we will look back and be able to draw great conclusions from analysis and reflection.
What would be your recommendation for the country not to stop from the economic point of view, so that we can in one way or another concentrate individually and do our bit in the face of the circumstances we are living through from the business point of view?
I think that what we have done in PROA Comunicación can serve as an example. Since the beginning of this great crisis, we have acted in a double way. Internally, we have bet on keeping all the staff teleworking and not leaving anyone out if we continue to maintain the necessary turnover level for this. We have also drawn up a contingency plan which we are analysing week by week to ensure that the decisions we have to take are the right ones in such a changing scenario. Externally, we have made ourselves available to all our clients and to companies in the market to advise them on crisis communication with the aim of minimising the negative impact of this complex situation and helping them, as far as possible, to overcome the situation.
What do you think we can learn and take away from the situation?
I think that this situation has shown how fragile and vulnerable we are, as well as putting us all on the same level. We are a generation that fortunately has not suffered like others and it is possible that we are facing the first great test of our lives. I sincerely hope that we can draw conclusions that will make us grow and strengthen us individually and as a society. On the positive side, I would say that we are learning to value not only the work of the various professionals who are standing up to us on the front line, which was so necessary, but also the world of small things. A hug to our parents and siblings, a meal in good company, a trip to the countryside or a walk by the sea, a simple dinner with friends, a morning of surfing or the smell of saltpeter. These are all everyday situations that I am sure will, at least for a while, take on a new dimension. Finally, the thousands of examples, mostly anonymous, of those who make solidarity, generosity and giving their flag. I am amazed to see how many are able to bring out the best in themselves in such difficult and complicated times.
And finally, from a personal point of view: what have you been able to do these days that you don’t usually do or can’t do normally?
There are two things I’m doing now that I didn’t do before. The first one is to reserve a moment every day to call people I haven’t talked to for a long time. A school teacher, some guy, a priest or a friend. And, secondly, I’m getting back to my childhood through the kitchen because I’m making recipes that were prepared at home when I was little. It’s funny how they come back from the world of memories to my memory and what I’m enjoying with them. I’d love to say that I’m reading like never before and that I have all the time in the world, but that’s not the case. My days fly by and, as is happening to many of us, I juggle home and work.
Access the original interview through this link.
