With a career spanning over 30 years, Miquel has primarily focused on collaborating with privately owned SMEs across diverse industries, including consumer goods, garments, and lighting. His roles within these organizations have encompassed pivotal positions such as CFO, Financial Controller, and CEO, providing him with invaluable insights into various facets of Business operations. This professional journey has taken him to different countries, enabling him to develop remarkable adaptability and a deep understanding of diverse business environments.

Even before remote work became a widely discussed topic, Miquel’s ability to lead and collaborate with teams, whether in remote or office-based settings, has been instrumental to his success. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Miquel’s multifaceted nature is evident in his diverse range of interests and motivations. His perpetual thirst for learning, pursuit of new experiences, and relentless drive to achieve new goals make him a dynamic individual.

Below are highlights of the interview conducted by World’s Leaders: 

Describe who you are as a person, inside and outside of the workplace. 

I am a person with many interests and many motivations. I have a constant urge to learn and do new things and to accomplish and reach new goals. I believe that the people in my circle find me to be trustworthy, to bring good value to their lives (whether on a personal or professional level), and to be a good resource and go-to person for good advice, help, interesting insights and stories, fun ideas, crazy adventures, or for whatever it may take.

Describe your background and what did you do before you started/joined the company? 

I went to business school in Barcelona (ESADE, one of the Main Business Schools in Europe) and later in life expanded on that business management education in the US at Columbia Business School and at IESE in NYC (two of the main business schools in the world). I started my professional career in Barcelona and worked in different industries (consumer goods, garments, real estate) and in different roles (CFO, Financial Controller), until I decided to test myself and my capabilities and expand my horizons and expertise by pursuing a CEO role in the United States that would allow me to have a bigger, broader role beyond the financial department, that would make me a more complete executive and professional, and that would allow me to gain personal and professional experience at an international level. I left my job and everything I had in Barcelona and put everything on the line by gambling on this role at Vibia. It was the best decision ever, and it has been a great success for both the company and me.

Tell us about the inception of the company. How did it all start?

Vibia started in the mid-80s in Barcelona. We operate in the high end, contemporary, decorative lighting Market. Soon it expanded internationally, and in the late 1990s it arrived in the US and Canadian markets, where we have a sales and distribution center. We do business in over 100 countries, while the US and Canada are our top markets. We are one of the top four companies in the world in this niche market. Right now, Vibia is a clear leader in the industry as far as innovative designs and strategies to approach the market.

What has made you successful? What do you value? 

Not considering the general rules of the industry as a given and immutable has been the foundation of all the new ideas that we have been able to experiment with and implement successfully. Not being afraid of breaking things and trying new things. Having the ability to bring together the right team and have them work and participate in every circumstance has also been a great value for me. Being able to see and understand how to connect the dots, see the big picture, and see what’s possible thanks to the learnings from previous experience in other industries, caring about the details and about the results, taking things seriously, and always trying to look long term. All these points have helped me and have been key to our success as a company in the US and Canadian markets.

Which are the major services of the company and how do the company to get ahead in the competition? What value-added services does the company provide?

Vibia provides a very hands-on approach to pre-sales project support, a very close project follow-up, and a very responsive and transparent post-sales support that has allowed us to build great relationships with some of our partners (rep agencies, specifiers, owners, electrical distributors, etc.). On the product side, the ability to personalize the characteristics of the product (both from a technical and a design point of view) via our digital platform offers our customers (architects, designers, and owners) the possibility of being able to work with our products to solve their design needs in their projects. Being able to offer a high level of technical information and performance for a decorative product has also allowed them to bridge the gap between decorative and technical and use beautiful designs with the confidence that they will perform and deliver the results they need.

What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture? What principles do you believe in and how do you build this culture?

The principles I have been following with our team have a lot to do with teamwork, team communication, transparency, sharing of information, and following a shared decision-making process. This has allowed us to develop a great sense of pride within the team and great team loyalty, as well as great results.

What are your responsibilities in your position? What is the happiest part of your daily routine?

In my role, I have been responsible for identifying the right strategies and policies to be successful in the US and Canadian markets and for putting together and leading a team that can execute and grow the brand. Together with the team we have designed, we are overseeing the different aspects of the business operation in this market, as well as sharing the new ideas and practices that we implement here with the rest of the markets that the brand does business with.

My happiest moments are when, together with the US/CAN team, we come up with new strategies and initiatives that prove to be successful and help grow the brand and our standing in the industry, where we have become a referent. Sharing these breakthroughs with the other international teams for their consideration and adoption is something that always makes our team happy and proud.

What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time? 

I believe it’s important to start humble and just try to listen, pay attention, learn, and draw your own conclusions eventually. I would say it’s important to have a good, varied background in business and management that will help you make sense of everything and understand what the potential opportunities and challenges are in every situation. It’s important to make a constant effort to learn. The moment you stop making that effort, you will start losing touch with the realities and trends in business. And, of course, try to build and rely on a good, solid team. Don’t try to do everything yourself. The ultimate goal should be to gather a team that will not need you. A team that will be able to make decisions and execute independently with minimum input on your end. Establish the direction, set the expectations, schedule the check-in points, communicate, and share thoughts and decisions with your team, and then let them do their job.

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