Antonio Marsico is currently General Manager for Nordic Region and Country Manager for Sweden at Avanade. 

Tell us a little briefly about your background and the way to the role you now have. 
Originally, I trained as a software engineer, studying in Rome and got my first job thanks to my thesis on “hierarchical graph drawing”. I started my career as a telecommunications network engineer, involved in implementing the first SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) network for the Italian TV Broadcaster, RAI. Throughout my time at Digital Services (as a contractor), Compaq, Hewlett Packard and Avanade, I have transitioned through many roles; telecommunications network engineer, software developer, business analyst, database designer, project manager, IT security practice leader and offering portfolio lead. My work has allowed me to travel, with assignments all over Italy, in Brazil, in Turkey, and Dubai.

I joined Avanade because I was interested in discovering the world of Microsoft. In hindsight it was a great move, given Microsoft has become THE vendor in the IT space. I started as director for the public sector business; then for a number of years took on the role of sales & marketing manager. In October 2018, I started as country manager for Avanade in Sweden and in August 2019, finally left my travelling years (almost 25 of them) behind me and moved to Stockholm with my family; my wife, Haske, (who is Dutch) and my daughters Sara (aged 16) and Sophie (aged 14). Most recently, in September 2020, I was appointed general manager for the Avanade Nordic region on top of my role of Sweden country manager.

How would you describe your leadership and what is significant to you?
Above all, I put a lot of focus on the need to make myself available to others and take accountability in my role. I’m open, I ask for suggestions, I recognize the expertise around me and I’m ready to follow as well as lead. I’m firm in my decision, but not overly bullish and I have full respect for everyone around me. I’m a passionate person and I believe that this shines through. I’m confident and I have a competitive spirit, but one of my best characteristics is that I can recognize my mistakes, when I need to. I’m attentive to details but not obsessed by them and maintain the right balance between a short-term and long-term outlook.

Is there any difference in leadership in this role with the other roles you’ve had?
Not really, leading people in the IT industry is always a serious task. Fundamentally, a team needs a mission that they collectively work towards and it is the role of a leader to direct them to complete the mission successfully.

What 3 things do you take with you into this leadership that you see that you can contribute with?
Ultimately, my way of working and my leadership framework is built around these three principles:

• Clarifying mission, values and behaviors: managing means giving precise motivations to people, engaging them in order to have a creative and productive environment. 
• Leading by example: everything starts from me and my motivation.
• Guiding others and having an organized community: to deliver excellence and to raise standards you need a motivated team. I ensure that my teams are all aligned on the company and project goals.   

What do you see as your most important leadership challenge going forward?
In the IT industry, things can change in a blink of an eye. To thrive in this environment, it is crucial for leaders to remain passionate, calm, flexible as well as having the endurance and ability to make quick decisions. Above all, leaders, like myself, need to maintain a good connection with the company; keeping employees and other stakeholders fully abreast of developments, company and project priorities, to help them remain focused on producing the best results for clients.

How do you think others would describe you as a leader?
I think everyone recognizes me as an “inclusive leader”.

What has been your biggest challenge to date, as a leader, and what have you learned from it? 
One of today’s biggest challenges for a leader is the ability to communicate on multiple levels. From creating the vision to persuading the team to buy into that vision. Especially in these pandemic times, I have learned to connect with all levels of stakeholders; to connect on an individual level and inspire people, championing the “team” spirit, and building trust by making sure that my leadership approach is reinforced in both verbal and non-verbal communications. To effectively communicate a vision you need discipline, clarity of message, and consistency day after day.

Where do you get energy and inspiration from?
My family is my first source of inspiration and then I look at the perfect organization of St. Benedict, which gave us the Benedictines order. For tuition I had in leadership I am grateful for the wisdom and realism of St. Benedict, and for his emphasis on consultation, listening and speaking with humility: the perfect rules for a leader and a change agent.

I also remain inspired by the fact that we live in a culture where it’s possible to fail and learn from your mistakes. Lastly, but no less important, Avanade’s purpose: to make a genuine human impact. I am hugely proud to work for an organization that has formalized such a meaningful purpose. It is something that is both important to me and to the clients I work for. At Avanade we can deliver great technology and business transformation for our clients, but our purpose is bigger than that. It is what inspires all of us to look beyond the technology to the actual human impact of the work we do.

How do you inspire others?
First, to inspire others a leader must be a true believer in the mission. Their guidance will be invaluable to ensure the team is on the journey together, working towards common goals and values. The concept of the journey remains useful for a highly complex and varied society. In today’s world intuition, goodwill and experience are no longer enough, people want to also be guided and as such great leaders are needed. One of the best ways to inspire others is to do something great with your life. If you’re purpose-oriented; know what you want and are going after it; you should not waste time but work hard on what you believe in. Though it’s also important to have fun at the same time and remain grateful.

What are your most important values by far and how do you manifest them in everyday life? 
I’m fully guided by the Avanade values:

• We change things for the better.
• We innovate with passion and purpose.
• We deliver with excellence.
• We believe everyone counts.
• We act with integrity and respect.

My behaviors are always connected to those values and connecting everything we do to those will reinforce the belief in them.

What 4 pieces of advice would you have given yourself when you started your leadership career, which you, with your experience today, would have benefited from in the beginning? 

• Have passion in what you do, have it and spread it around you
• Have a bold ambition 
• Act with integrity
• Make decisions quickly 

But mostly be resilient. I experienced an earthquake when I was a child in 1980 that destroyed my village … What do you learn from a catastrophe? Nothing will be the same as before, you always need to look ahead.

Do you have a person who has meant a lot to your learning as a leader and what did you particularly learn from that person? 
The obsession for the results and the focus on people around me are the heritage of my best boss ever (she is now again my boss, and she will always be…).

If you had to choose a completely new course, what would it be? 
I would like to be a chef. I love cooking and creating tasty dishes for my family and friends.

What do you want people to remember from your leadership on the day you choose to perhaps do otherwise?
My legacy should be the systematic and extreme ownership, the obsession for the results, the orientation to a purpose, the hard work on what we believe in.