Now that he has slipped into retirement, Shell’s vice president for retail for the East Eliseo Santiago’s colleagues will surely remember the nuggets of wisdom he shared during his 38-year stint with the British petroleum giant.

In a recent interview, the Mapua Institute of Technology alumnus said the wisdom he shares is for the future leaders of the company.

For Santiago, the most important is developing an aspiration for the business. After that, the next important is finding ways on how to become effective and successful in the company

“I had to change in order to be ‘heard’ in a big global organization, but I have not changed to a point where I am no longer me. You need to remain true and authentic to yourself and to others. And the third is around people development. As managers and leaders, growing the capabilities of our people is one of the most important aspects of our job, because at the end of the day we only win through the excellent execution by everybody in the team,” said Santiago.

It was a memorable journey for Santiago who started working at Shell as a mechanical engineer at the Tabangao refinery in 1971. Later, he was given assignments to develop business opportunities in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, North Pacific Islands, Thailand, Laos, Australia, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, as well as Indonesia and India.

Santiago also lent his expertise and support to the retail business in China. With his passion and talent, Santiago successfully built the retail network in Asia-Pacific with over 5,000 sites in 11 different countries and has experienced continuous growth over the past three years.

Santiago credits the success of his team in delivering outstanding growth in large part due to strong focus on operational excellence as clearly demonstrated by his division winning four of the five global awards during the company’s annual People Make the Difference Real awards ceremony. The global event, held this year in Istanbul, celebrates the achievements of Shell’s top performing retailers and sales staff around the world.

But for Santiago, being assigned to the Caribbean from 1990 to 1994 was one of his most memorable stints at Shell as he became the first non-British to handle the business involving 13 island countries. “I considered that assignment as my four-year MBA,” says Santiago.

Working with a British company, Santiago said the exposure has given him a different perspective on working in a global environment. “They’re very conscious of time,” Santiago noted.

For the rest of this year (he retired on Thursday), Santiago has promised his wife he will “do nothing.”             

However, he said it would be different beyond 2010 as he plans to use his expertise and experience to make a difference in the field of sustainability. In the meantime he is looking forward to spending more time with his family: his wife, three children and grandson.

Interestingly, his work philosophy is akin to any competitive athlete. “I have a job today and I have to give my best to finish it,” says Santiago.

Carrying on

Like his predecessor, Cesar Romero, 44, also started his career as a refinery engineer, joining the Tabangao refinery in 1987.

Perhaps it was fate that brought this Bulacan native to the oil company. Being part of the third generation of his clan to pursue mechanical engineering, Romero was following the footsteps of his father, who had worked for Esso. Even as a young boy, Romero recalls he always had a passion for machines and was eager to work, completing his engineering degree at University of the Philippines in Diliman in four-and-a-half years, not the normal five.

Although he has been away for some time holding various posts in supply, lubricants, strategy, planning and consulting, Romero, who was formerly Shell’s vice president for supply, sees his new role as “returning home” to retail. His first retail job involved managing 25 stations in his home country. Later, he went on to become the retail general manager for Shell Philippines and the North Pacific cluster.

According to Romero, his posting at the Shell Centre in London is one of the highlights in his career.  There he had the opportunity to work with some of the “best brains” in Shell. When he was brought into the team, he was able to bring an Asian perspective to the team, which was hugely important at the time as Shell was reshaping its portfolio to focus on the burgeoning markets in the Asia-Pacific.

He also cherishes the time when he worked as business assistant to former executive director for downstream, Rob Routs. In this job, he had the opportunity to see first-hand how leaders think and act, and how they make decisions, an experience, he said, that prepared him well for his new challenge.

Looking ahead, Romero is excited about stepping into Santiago’s shoes understanding that he has a Herculean challenge ahead. Right now, his priorities are to grow the business and maintain a robust business in established countries.

“I am looking forward to the new challenge,” he said. n