how i manage/
i ta ly
Task force
Steering one of Italys largest
media companies is just a
part of Monica Mondardinis
job portfolio. The CEO
considers the steely resolve
that keeps her business
decisions on track.
By Laura Rysman
Photography Laura Sciacovelli
An earthquake strikes but Monica
Mondardini doesnt flinch. As the
earths plates shift beneath Rome,
causing everything in her 10th-floor
office to tremble, the unflappable
executive reassures all those in the
room. As the ceo of Compagnie
Industriali Riunite (cir) and its sub-
sidiary Gedi media holdings she has
dealt with her fair share of upheav-
als. Periods of change are the most
interesting. Demanding, yes, but also
interesting, she says, looking out over
the eastern edges of the Eternal City
beyond her orchid-lined window. By
her own definition Mondardini is cur-
rently enjoying a fascinating period as
she steers some of Italys most impor-
tant media businesses through the
challenges of the digital age towards
long-term survival and relevance.
The 56-year-old became ceo of
LEspresso Group in 2009 before
taking the helm of the publishers
parent company, cir, four years
later. It was from this position that
Mondardini negotiated a merger
between two of Italys most prominent
business dynasties in April. LEspresso
Group, which is part-owned by the
De Benedetti family, merged with the
Agnelli familys Itedi (publisher of the
countrys number-three newspaper
La Stampa) to create a new publish-
ing entity: Gedi Gruppo Editoriale.
Mondardini now heads a media behe-
moth with a stable of 22 publications,
including national newspapers La
Repubblica and La Stampa and weekly
magazine LEspresso, engaging close to
6 million readers nationally.
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Mondardinis record is one of clear-
eyed leadership. Since 2009 she has
restructured the many titles under her
supervision, upping their online offer-
ings without detriment to print edi-
tion sales. LEspresso Group was the
only Italian news publisher to main-
tain profitability between 2009 and
2016 amid economic crises and de-
clining advertising spending. These
are challenging times for the media,
she says. She cites a strange paradox
in the news business today: revenues
are decreasing even as audiences con-
tinue to grow. Online readership has
broadened the publishing workload
but it hasnt translated into more sub-
scriptions or advertising. Mondardini
isnt yet certain what the sustainable
economic model of the future will
look like but she is clear on one aspect
of the business: We have to have faith
in high-quality journalism and we be-
lieve that most readers will come to
the same conclusion.
The rise of fake news has been
felt particularly keenly in Italy where
the populist Five Star party has been
linked to websites that publish con-
spiracy theories, false reports and
pro-Kremlin editorials. In the face of
the worrying amount of misinforma-
tion freely available online Mondar-
dini remains bullish. It confirms how
necessary it is for a society to have
the kind of quality information that
comes from proper journalism and
fact-checking, she says.
Mondardini is practical, effi-
cient and polished (I dress like
Angela Merkel, she jokes). Her aver-
age workweek is split between the
LEspresso office in Rome and the
Milan headquarters of cir. On top of
steering the groups media brands her
role at cir includes managing Sogefi,
a global auto parts company, and the
healthcare business kos. And she still
finds time for a monthly stopover in
Paris, where she sits on the board of
the Crdit Agricole bank.
Her methods for tackling such a
gargantuan workload are simple. She
eats out just once or twice a month
when visitors necessitate the occa-
sion and professes to have neither
the time nor the inclination for hob-
bies. When it comes to managing her
team she favours face-to-face com-
munication and prefers advancing
internal staff rather than hiring exter-
nally. Choosing the right people is
one of the most difficult challenges,
she says but insists on a work envi-
ronment that is completely merito-
cratic, where recognition and approval
depend on performance and loyalty.
Mondardinis own career blos-
somed over two decades working
abroad at the Generali insurance
agency and at publishing houses
Fabbri and Hachette. These inter-
national forays exposed her to
These are challenging times
for the media. We have to
have faith in high-quality
journalism and we believe
that most readers will come
to the same conclusion
workplaces where the role of women
was more established than it was
in Italy at the time. In Spain and
France womens professional capac-
ity was already cemented in the 1980s
and 1990s. There were powerful
women who were visible emblems of
that shift, she says. For her part, she
asserts that, whether in Italy, Spain
or France (and she has held the ceo
position in each) she has never felt
discriminated against as a woman.
Im either very lucky or Ive worked of trust but you must also push them to
in very progressive environments, she
insists. In a country that traditionally
relies on a familial and favour-based
system of advancement, this is a radi-
cal philosophy.
Her success is still the exception:
only 7 per cent of Italys listed compa-
nies have female ceos (with its annual
revenue of 2.6bn, cir Group is the
biggest of these by some margin).
Nonetheless when it comes to advice
Mondardini has the same guidance
for both men and women should they
want to rise to her position: Study
hard, work hard and have courage.
As if to prove the point, she returns
to her desk unruffled as yet another
aftershock hits and the glasses on her
table quiver once again. (m)
The rules
1.
What time are you at your desk?
Between 09.00 and 09.30 but I never leave
before 21.00. Im more inclined to work in
the evening than in the morning, a habit Ive
remedied only slightly over the years.
2.
Describe your management style.
I say pane al pane e vino al vino [an Italian
idiom meaning call a spade a spade]. Im
very straightforward and very transparent.
3.
Are decisions best taken by one person?
Business decisions need to belong to a
single author otherwise successes have many
parents and failures are orphans, as they say.
4.
Do you want to be liked or respected?
Its much more important to be respected.
Management often needs to make unpopular
decisions and seeking consensus negatively
impacts these choices.
5.
What does your support team look like?
Just six or seven people at LEspresso Group.
Managing a company should be handled by
very few people who have a relationship of
trust between them.
6.
Do you read management books?
Like courses in management, I believe they
are the tiresome elaboration of obvious ideas.
7.
Whats your key management advice?
People only give their best in an environment
achieve more by setting challenging goals.
8.
What do you find the most difficult part
of your job?
Its easier to analyse the difficulties of others
rather than my own.
9.
How do you handle employees who
disagree with you?
Dissenting opinions dont bother me; I
actually find them very useful. Decisions
come from debate but once a decision is
made, thats it: everyone needs to get behind
it whether they agreed with it or not.
10.
If you could fix one thing about your
company today, what would it be?
Everything that I have identified as needing
improvement I have already tried to improve.
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