Jordi Mercader (MBA '69), Chairman of Grupo Aguas de Barcelona
Overcome Fear by Taking Risks

Jordi Mercader is Chairman of Miquel y Costas & Miquel, a leading company in the manufacture of different types of paper, and has also chaired the National Industrial Institute (INI), an umbrella organization for public companies in Spain. He is Vice-President of “la Caixa” and was recently named chairman of Aguas de Barcelona. He's also a director of Repsol YPF, Corporación Alimentaria Peñasanta, Abertis and Inmobiliaria Colonial. Where should we start?

You are President of Miquel y Costas & Miquel and play an active role in the company. However, tomorrow you have to go to a Repsol board meeting. On other days, you head to “la Caixa” or Aguas de Barcelona. How do you manage to fit everything in?
Hard work. Tomorrow it’s Repsol. That means examining the documents the company has sent me, over the weekend, tonight ... Tomorrow morning I’ll give them the final once over on the plane.

On Sundays I can take a walk, go for a beer, I do that too, of course. Or tonight, I could watch the TV. But I prefer to spend my time working, because it’s something I also enjoy. It’s not that I’m obsessed with work, but it’s possible to find time even when it seems in short supply, and this time can be put to good use for many things.

Of course, the experience gained during the course of my career helps. After a number of years managing organizations like the National Industrial Institute (INI), which brings together a highly diverse and complex group of companies, you accumulate knowledge that helps you to deal with different situations in a large number of businesses, and offer your point of view on the board.

You mention your presidency at the INI, which was part of your period working with public companies, first at Bazán and then within the institute's. What did you draw from that experience?
Firstly, I’ve always felt that working for a public company is a service. It also offered the opportunity to begin a new stage in my career in a business that was much bigger than the ones I had been working for. Nevertheless, I set myself a time limit for returning to the private sector, which I did once I had handed over the reins at the INI.

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