Changing of the guard at Shell

MANILA, Philippines - There is one thing Eli Santiago will not miss after he retires on Oct. 1: “The frequent travel that my job required,” he says. As Shell’s vice president, Retail for the East, Santiago was responsible for maintaining growth and profitability in the established east markets comprising over 5,000 sites in 11 different countries, including Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and the North Pacific Islands, Thailand and Laos, Australia, New Zealand, Oman and Pakistan.

Santiago also managed new entries into the fast-growing markets of India and Indonesia and provided expert advice and support to the retail business in China. For the past three years, he was based in Singapore. “I was away from my family 75 percent of the time,” Santiago relates. “While we can conduct teleconferences, there is still the need to meet people. That is what the business is all about.”

Starting in 1971 as a mechanical engineer at Shell’s Tabangao refinery, Santiago’s career, which spanned 38 years, covered a broad range of roles in manufacturing, supply, trading, sales and general management in many parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, the Caribbean, Singapore, Thailand, as well as his home country, where he was chairman-CEO of the Shell Group of Companies in the Philippines. He remembers particularly his four-year stint in the early 1990s as the first non-British general manager in the Caribbean. Based in Barbados and covering 13 countries, he recalls the vast learning opportunity the experience provided.

Having worked in different countries with different cultures, Santiago is a strong advocate of diversity and inclusiveness. “I don’t try to change how the people do their job,” he says, “but instead try to understand their culture and build on what they have.” As a Filipino manager in the region, he has mentored and helped Asian men and women understand how they can succeed in a global company such as Shell without losing their authenticity. “You need to remain true to yourself and to others,” he says. “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.”

His successor, Cesar Romero, currently Shell’s vice president for Supply East, says that one of the many important lessons he learned from Santiago is “integrity of position.” He explains, “You can have different views and lengthy discussions, but once your position is clear, you can be sure you’ll have his full support. He encourages people to have the courage to do hard things.”

To lead effectively, Santiago says, “You need to be very clear about where you want to take the business and make sure that your team is fully aligned on how to get there.” Santiago attributes the success of his team in delivering outstanding growth in the region in large part due to the strong focus on operational excellence as demonstrated by its winning four of the five global awards during the annual People Make the Difference Real awards ceremony, where he was also given impromptu recognition by his peers. Held this year in Istanbul, the global event celebrates the achievements of Shell’s top-performing retailers and sales staff around he world.

This is what he will miss when he retires. “I will miss the people,” Santiago says. “They are amazing. They are dedicated to their work, and they understand their place in the organization.” To future managers and leaders, he says, “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.” Santiago is leaving behind not only a strong business but also a strong team.

Is he leaving behind any unfinished business? “No job is completely finished,” Santiago says. “There are the new markets in the region that still need to be developed, particularly in countries long dominated by national oil agencies such as China and India, while maintaining the established markets in the face of new independents coming in.”

The transition of a new leadership, which in this case was brought about by the mandatory retirement age of 60, brings with it an opportunity for the organization to renew itself, Santiago says. While a new leader many have a natural desire to make his unique contribution to the organization, Romero, who succeeds Santiago, believes in consistency of strategy. This is the first time that the head of Shell’s Retail East region is succeeded by a fellow countryman. Before Santiago, a Malaysian held the same post, and before that, an Australian. At present, Filipinos hold 90 percent of the highest ranks in the organization.

Like Santiago, Romero started his career in Shell fresh out of college as a mechanical engineer in the Tabangao refinery in 1987. He spent more years on the commercial side, working early on as a salesman, and then managing 25 stations in his home country. Later, he became retail general manager for Shell Philippines and the North Pacific cluster. He held other posts in Supply, Lubricants, Strategy, Planning and Consulting, and now he “returns home” to retail to hold the most senior post in the region, at a relatively young age of 44. His earlier postings, at the Shell Centre in London, where he worked in Shell’s Scenario Planning team in 1995, and another time as the business assistant to former executive director for Downstream, Rob Routs, gave him the opportunity to work with some of the best brains in Shell, and gain unique insight into the workings of a global multinational, which prepared him well for his new position.

Is he also prepared for the heavy demand his new position will bear on his time away from his family? Like his predecessor, Romero admits that anyone in his position undoubtedly needs a supportive wife. “It would be impossible without one,” he says.

“You cannot focus on your job if you are also worrying about who is managing your house and taking care of your kids.”

With his retirement, Santiago can now give back 75 percent of his time to his wife and family. He promised to “do nothing,” at least until the end of the year. Come 2010 and beyond, however, he hopes to use his expertise and experience to make a difference, notably in terms of sustainability. “Not only in the field of energy,” he explains, “but also sustainability in terms of leadership training and development.”