Published: September 05, 2019
Published: September 05, 2019
’To Grow People Is the Best Reward for Any Manager’
Meet Chiara La Mancusa, PPG technical manager, decorative FCA, Automotive Coatings, Italy. She has recently been awarded the highest employee recognition in EMEA – 2019 Rainmaker Award for her incredible determination to encourage success.
Building a Career with Winning Technologies
Chiara has started her PPG journey in 2003 as a chemist where she soaked up knowledge like a sponge.
I had the opportunity to learn a lot about paint technologies, working on all sprayables technologies from waterbornes to solvenbornes, high bake, low bake, from primers to clear-coats.
Since then, she has been instrumental in some of the most high-profile technology launches in her field, including the world’s first low-bake paint technology developed with key automotive customer and world-renowned brand; Ferrari!
Staying Humble Despite the Success
Despite her amazing success, Chiara still couldn’t believe she’d been named as a Rainmaker:
I was shocked when my boss told me to join a call with our leaders who announced the nomination. Being named as a Rainmaker is an amazing honor, I didn’t expect it, not even in a million of years!
The Mark of a Great Manager
Chiara is a people person. She loves dealing with her own team and meeting and learning from her colleagues in different departments. She’s been successful in her career but takes the most satisfaction from seeing her team members grow as professionals, and as people:
I have the opportunity to grow people, that is by far the best reward for a manager, in my opinion.
‘Keep Cool, Stay Positive!’
Like every professional, Chiara has faced adversity but it’s her strength of character and resilience that’s allowed her to rise to the challenge:
I try to manage challenging situations through commitment and collaboration within the departments. Investing time in people and working together as a team is the most important factor for the success of a project.
In terms of advice for the Rainmakers of the future, she offered these gems:
Keep cool! A positive approach, even in hard circumstances, is always helpful.
‘We Were There, in Snow Shoes & Complete Darkness’
Chiara is an active member of her local community and supports local infant initiatives while also instilling culture where she lives. As a great team leader, one of her fondest memories was during a team building exercise with APAD EMEA, a team made up of technical and sales managers from each country.
Once a year, the team meets together to discuss important topics within the region and the theme for this workshop was to enhance the team building activities cross regions and cross departments.
At the end of a full day of exercises the group were surprised with a ‘walking by night’, activity. They wondered into the beautiful mountains just outside of Divonne, Switzerland: “We were there, in our snow shoes, in complete darkness admiring the charm of the snowy mountains.”
What Does the Future Hold?
In a fast-moving environment it’s hard to say what’s next for Chiara but we know she’ll keep innovating! “I cannot predict how will be my career path, things change continuously and so quickly.”