When I started this blog, I promised to present you the lives of some of the successful people in business. However, sometimes it is harder, not to reach them, but convince them to open up, as some of them are too humble and low-profile. One of them is Mr. Theodosiou, and I feel privileged to have him opening up to Bizandlove about his personal life, his family and his business successes and failures. Mr. Lefkios Theodosiou is the Regional director (GM) of ASBISc Enterprises PLC for the past 11 years; being an expert in ICT distribution.
ASBISc Enterprises PLC (WSE: ASB) is based in Cyprus and specializes in the distribution of Information and Communications Technology products and solutions from global suppliers including Apple, AMD, Acer, Dell, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Samsung, Seagate, Toshiba, WD.
The company has own subsidiaries all over the region of EMEA, more than 1,100 employees and 30,000 active customers in over 60 countries around the globe. So it would be useful to take some time and read what follows.
What has your journey been until now, to get where you are?
Well, how should I start my story…, I suggest you grab a coffee first because this may take a while…The truth is I am on a journey of self-actualization since birth. Things have happened and keep happening and that is the beauty of it, lots of great and bad things. We all journey through this life, we encounter the ups and downs and I was not an exception from this life rule. Each day has got its own challenges, losses, victories, disappointments. My life until now, has been just that a little bit of everything.
Tell me about yourself, you educational background.
I am a graduate of University of La Verne (ULV), where I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing. In 2001 I was accepted into the MBA degree program at ULV College of Business & Public Management, which I completed in 2003. I have completed several professional development trainings and certifications over the years related to e-Commerce, Consumer Behavior, Business Processes Re-engineering, Logistics, Fleet management, TQM and SIX sigma.
A bit more about your professional background?
For the past several years I have worked in multiple industries, from telemarketing and door-to-door sales to tourist escorting and hotels, to foreign exchange offices, to consulting and technology! The last 18 years I have been focused to technology business development and international business. Extensive experience from companies like SAP, Vodafone , CYTA and of course my final destination ASBISc Enterprises PLC.
Give me one word that describes you the best.
Persistent
What are your personal goals?
My goal is to build a life I will not need vacation from! And I strive towards that goal everyday.
What Are Your 3 Biggest Accomplishments?
The biggest “accomplishment” of all is my 8-year old daughter that makes me proud every day! Then on, I would say the opportunity to work for Vodafone Group some years back at the booming times of telecommunications industry in 2000, which was a dream job during my university years where I learned a lot and made good friends in the industry. Last but not least my current position as Regional Director of ASBIS Group. First of all, because I am thrilled with my company and proud of it as it started as a very small company of two persons from Cyprus and it evolved to the giant that it is today, to be one of the leading distributors of Information and Communications Technology products and solutions in EMEA Emerging Markets: Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East and Africa, combining a broad geographical reach with a wide range of products distributed on a “one-stop-shop” basis. Secondly, because it continues to nourish my inner motivation the sense that the best are yet to come.
Can you explain the rationale behind each of your career moves?
I would say, there has never been a rationale, but mere intuition! My personal mission statement has always been to build a life that I will not need vacation from; therefore, with that in mind I was always acting towards that goal. Undertaking anything that at the time was promising to be a step towards my goal and that by itself was making me happy and was giving me the sense of self-actualization.
What has been the biggest let down in your career so far?
The biggest let down in my career was the hard times we faced during the Cyprus-European economic crisis and the whole uncertainty we faced during that period, along with the painful decisions we had to make and the people we had to let go.
How do you see the company changing in the next two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
Our company is transforming every year. This is the nature of our industry. We are never relaxed we go around our core value of being a valuable partner and the number one stop-shop, for technology for our partners and customers. Our industry is reshaping the Enterprise Information technology; the 3 core beliefs are that: 1) the World will be Hybrid (shift of workloads in the cloud and explosion of storage and data) , 2)the Intelligent Edge is going to unleash IoT (Internet of Things) revolution (an on going expansion in mobility), and 3) Services are going to be even more critical (shift to solutions than to point products). Our company is one of the leading technology companies in Europe and we shall be there to shape once more the world, the way we know it best. Having in mind the famous quote, “In the new world, it is not the big fish which eats the small fish, it’s the fast fish which eats the slow fish”, we already expand our reach to competences and specialists that are aligned with the market transformations. Fasten your seat-belts, massive changes are coming!
Talk to me about when you were just a young kid. Who did you want to be? What was you biggest career dream in life?
When I was seven years old I was dreaming of playing basketball. That the day would never end and that I would continue to play with my friends in the neighborhood fields! The career dreams came long after. I was never attracted by the business world as such, the meetings, the corporate events, the typicalities and the protocols. What I was thrilled about, was the idea of making people lives better with new products and services, and creating more and more job positions!
What didn’t you get a chance to include on your résumé?
I don’t know how this would sound but I believe that I have come to have all that I dreamed for up to now! I surprised myself positively with all that is contained in my resume up to now.
On your very best day at work — the day you come home and think you have the best job in the world — what did you do that day?
These days are many, to be sincere! I will always be appreciating this fact and keep myself motivated to one thought, that ‘we can always do better’.
One last question. How do you relax after work?
Unfortunately, not much of a free time; however, I try to balance it by Relaxing after work either by walking or reading! And on other occasions, having drinks with friends!