HEC Lausanne - The Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne

- Teaching Assistant:

1. Organizational Behavior- Professors Antonakis, Bastardoz, Dietz
2. Managing People - Professor Dietz
3. Evidence Based Management - Professor Dietz

- Doctoral student representative for the department of Organizational Behavior.
- CBO for Quasi and Natural Methods Class (B stands for breaks)
- Department CFO (F stands for Fridge)

Graduate Research Assistant

Revista Vistazo

-The need for reforms in paternity leave (La necesidad de reformas en el permiso de paternidad)

-The Roldós Doctrine, Guillermo Lasso's golden opportunity to become a regional leader (La Doctrina Roldós, la oportunidad de oro de Guillermo Lasso para convertirse en un líder regional)

-Free Trade Agreements are convenient for Ecuador (Le convienen a Ecuador los Acuerdos de Libre Comercio)

Independent Investigative Journalist

Universidad Hemisferios

- Interviewed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauricio Montalvo, the Vice President, Otto Sonnenholzner, a fomer Ukranian Senator, Pavlo Rizanenko and the Minister of Finance Pablo Arosemena.

-Mentored several students about their professional journeys. Got several students internships and job interviews. 

- 2 international academic conferences. 3 academic papers.

- 10 classes taught: Clash of Civilizations, Political History, Political History of Latin America, Theory of International Relations, International Organizations, History of International Relations, Geopolitics, Regional Studies, Communication, Diplomacy.

- Management consultancy: led project to teach informatics in the jungle with the help of the national oil company.

Professor

Journalist, 7 investigative articles, more than 1000 shares:

- Bad data and bad distribution in ministries / Malos datos y mala distribución en los ministerios

- Is it convenient for Ecuador to be part of ICSID? / ¿Le conviene a Ecuador ser parte del Ciadi?

- Problems and benefits of Chinese loans in Ecuador / Las ventajas y problemas de los préstamos chinos

- Ecuador’s health care improvements / Lo logrado en Salud

- Lenin, what are you waiting for? / ¿Qué esperas, Lenin?

- The debt die has not yet been cast / Celebrar antes de hora

- Gender Equality in the Workplace: Reality or Fantasy? / Equidad de género laboral: ¿hechos o labia?

Dentons Paz Horowitz

-Preparation of a business guide for Ecuador in support of Paz & Horowitz law firm: “Trade and Enterprise in New Zealand's international business development agency.”

Independent Consultant

Universidad de Las Américas (EC)

-Methodology and Research
-World Political History
-International negotiation

As an applied political science professor at UDLA, I realized that there is a lack of political awareness and involvement in my country. Students are eager to contribute to Ecuador’s development, but underestimate the power they have in their own hands to do so.

Assistant Professor

Municipio de Quito

- Developed a city plan to improve conditions for small companies applying design thinking methodology. 

- Developed open data policy for the city.

- Managed negotiations with the European Union delegation to implement creative or orange economy incentives.

- Corrected different consulting projects given to the Municipality.

Head of Productive Development

Ministerio de Salud - Ecuador

-Coordination between different areas to design a portfolio for a USS 23 million loan with the Inter- American Development Bank after cost benefit analysis.

-Planning and execution of the national campaign to improve quality services.

-Statistical analysis to plan how many vaccines are necessary for the Ecuadorian population.

-Planning and execution of the national campaign: "Treatment for good treatment" including ghost customers, service rankings among the different districts of the country and reformulating the model for the management of citizen complaints to line 171.

-Medicine Supply Management Analysis to achieve control of medicine inventories.

 -Support to the General Directorate of the National Secretariat to improve document management in the Ministry.

 -Monitoring of different areas.

Asesor Ministerial

Cruz Roja Ecuatoriana

-Started a structural reform of the organization and an audit process with the help of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

-Coordination of different areas.

Chief Executive Officer

Ministerio de Producción, Comercio Exterior, Inversiones y Pesca

-Part of the country's brand management team: Ecuador love life to attract tourism and investments.

-Research for the creation of the national gastronomy development plan benchmarking on Peru 10-year cluster plan.

-Creation of the gastronomy universities association, and creation and participation in an inter-ministerial committee to organize all the necessary action points for the plan.

-Content manager of the nation brand website: http://ecuadoramalavida.com.ec.

Analista de Marketing Internacional

Carlos’s most prominent weakness is his inability to talk about his strengths, so I’m writing this for him. This is Tessi, Carlos's wife.

Carlos rarely acts in his own interest, focusing instead on helping others fulfill their dreams with his innovative ideas.

He is from Quito, Ecuador. As the firstborn to young parents, he faced complex situations in a crisis-ridden country, developing a resilience that keeps him steady, even in the most stressful situations.

He excelled in school across various countries.

Following his dad’s diplomatic career, he grew up in Uruguay, Switzerland and Argentina where he faced his father’s death.

But Carlos is strong, adapts, and overcomes.

We met when he was studying a double degree at LSE and Peking University, with an excellence scholarship from his home country.

He was a nerd in the class, but the good kind of nerd, getting excellent grades and prizes while helping others along the way. That's how we met.

When he does something, he does it with more than 100% involvement, organizing people to learn from one another. This because Carlos embodies authenticity, excelling in emotional intelligence, social finesse, and street smarts.

His ability to see opportunities amid challenges and his love for people truly define his character.

Fast forward, we married and moved to Ecuador. There, he served his country by advising the Minister of Health, taking on the role of Red Cross CEO and finding his passion for education with his unique style, going the extra mile, getting internships, graduate programs and conferences for his students, doing a program at Harvard with Marshall Ganz, and supporting me advance in my career.

But, with Ecuador becoming unsafe, I wanted to return to Europe. After some thought, Carlos agreed. It meant the world to me, as I know how much Ecuador and its development mean to him.

On top, he started doing the Stanford LEAD program, which pointed more in the direction of us moving to the US.

But that showed me -once again- the power of his character, his values and his priorities.

Our faith and our family are paramount to him.

Despite the chaos of moving and a new pregnancy, Carlos excelled in the program, earning 7 Intellectual Contributions Awards, a record in Stanford Lead's history.

Currently, he pursues an OB PhD, supervised by one of top scholars in the field, while he supports & advises high officials in governments and international organizations informally.

If you connect with him, chances are you end up at our dinner table leaving it with a completely different outlook on life. 😊

Carlos E. Santos Saint Romain ✍🏼

5 moments that made my Birthday extremely Special!


1. The BestEST moment came right when I woke up.

I stepped out of the room and saw my wife and my oldest daughter waiting at the table, ready to sing to me “Happy Birthday.”


It wasn’t the song.


It was their joy, their pride, their pure excitement. 

It brought me right back to my own childhood:

To that tiny version of me who believed singing to my parents was the most important job in the world.

IT WAS!


The sort of joy that grounds you!

Maybe I’m reaching that age where the best gifts aren’t the ones we unwrap, but the ones we live.




2. I found myself in a film-analysis class on one of my teenage favorites, "The Devil’s Advocate": a masterclass in Cinema for my unethical decision-making class with Ulrich Hoffrage and Guido Palazzo.

Honestly, one of the best classes of my life: especially when you consider how complex corporate scandals feel while they’re unfolding, and how astonishingly simple their logic becomes once everything collapses into view.


Revisiting these themes now, through the lenses of Hegel, Adorno, Bandura, most recently Jennifer Freyd and so many others, gives it SUCH a different taste.

Rewatching the film felt like unlocking an old door and finding an entirely new room behind it: richer in the complexity of our mental tunnels, unmistakably darker, revealing the ethical blind spots any of us can slip into, and far more intricate than I ever remembered.





3. A round table with colleagues and later a private meeting with one of the WORLD's leading psychologists Elke Weber thanks to Isabelle Engeler and HEC Lausanne - The Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne.

Rare conversations that stretch your thinking, challenge your assumptions, and expand what you believe is possible. A total blessing!



4. Riding the bike to dinner!

Three simple elements, one perfect scene: fresh air in a freezing night, good company, and the sense that life is moving forward. Not always as I would wish. But definitely, forward.



5. The day still had one last surprise. 
The cherry on top.


Professor Weber told the waitress it was my birthday…

Suddenly the lights dimmed, the music changed, and an incredible dessert appeared at the table like a small miracle.

A gesture so simple, so unexpected, so human that it stayed with me.



Life isn’t only deadlines, duties, and decisions, but also laughter, surprise, and gratitude.



And yes, life is indeed full of uncertainties: 

Storms we weather, choices we carry, paths we question.



But what is the point of the journey if we don’t pause to savor the lights along the way?

Despite the struggles and the beautiful chaos of adulthood, I have three unshakeable reasons to be grateful:



Love, learning, and above all the people who make both possible.

And for all of these… 

GRACIAS...¡¡¡TOTALES!!!

What’s your purpose? PhD Candidate at HEC Lausanne Simplifying Complexity 2 Clarity 4 Change Leadership Development Proud Dad 🫶

C'EST TOUJOURS NON ✊

Plot twist of the day:

Walked into what I thought would be chaos protesters blocking the way to class, disruptions, the whole nine yards.

Instead? I got handed fresh Ovaltine bread and coffee.

By the protesters.

And this happily surprised me: 

These people are fighting for what they believe in, but they're not fighting us. 

They're inviting us in. 
Breaking bread. 

Starting conversations.

That takes guts. And grace.

We live in a world where "protest" has become synonymous with anger and division. But this? This was different.

This was people saying "we disagree with the system, not with you."

The most powerful movements don't push people away: they pull them closer.

Today reminded me that real change doesn't come from making enemies. 

It comes from building community, one Nutella-covered slice at a time.

Success Coach Ventures

Provide Life Coaching and Career Coaching services. Conduct executive trainings and Technology trainings.

Founder

AptCulture

Business Coaching for Small and Medium Enterprises, Life Coaching, Coaching  Executives in large Companies.

Consultant

Live a Life and Career of Freedom and Choice

Conduct a free bi-weekly webinar where you can learn how to live a life of freedom and choice

ESG Mantra

Providing consulting in matters related to ESG.

Co-Founder

Accenture

Played diverse roles in Delivery, Solutioning, Process, Acquisitions, Process Consulting, Mergers and Acquisitions, Automation.

Sr Manager

Citicorp Overseas Software Ltd

Sr Consultant

A high-performance life coach for Executives, Businesses and Entrepreneurs. Specialize in leadership development and performance improvement. 
 
Coach ambitious mid, senior level executives to accelerate their career growth and reach executive positions, with enhanced performance, while achieving a work life balance. 
Guide small and medium business owners to create and execute strategies to develop and operationalize plans to scale their business. Help early-stage entrepreneurs with innovative ideas to determine a product market fit. 
  
I help executives and businesses to:
- Do what they love, enjoy
- Be financially well off to live the experiences they wish
- Live a balanced life of freedom and choice in work, relationships, health
- Make a difference in the world
- Differentiate and stand out
 
Driven by my deep interest in helping others transform their lives. I have made mistakes and learnt from them in mid-career and business. Do not want others to go thru the same challenges. 
.   
Know the challenges mid and senior level executives and business owners face. Seen many careers and businesses start with great energy but ultimately face stagnant careers, burnout with poor results in relationships and health. Many clients feel overwhelmed and frustrated with their business and career.
 
Developed a process using a simple to use framework. Assess your current abilities and conduct a fit gap analysis. Offer a customized program with mindset, technology, leadership components, to create a sustained, resilient life and career. Mentor members thru a short 10 session program or a long 9-month program, with a roadmap for a thriving career and business. 
 
I bring to bear over 30 years' work experience in the field of Information Technology, with global Technology organizations and their clients. Managed global Information Technology programs and led initiatives in innovation, process excellence and quality improvement. Played Program Management Delivery roles, coordinated M&A programs and architected Solutions and Automations.  
 
Presented papers in International Conferences and hold 3 US patents as a co-inventor for applications in AI. Completed the Stanford GSB LEAD course on Corporate Innovation, a program on building accelerated and disruptive business practices. My hobbies include finance, travel reading, environment.
 
Contact me if you would love to invest your time to build resilience, skills, habits, for a thriving career and business, to lead a life freedom and choice. Contact me at shankar.mallapur@shankarmallapur.com for details.

Shankar Mallapur

Most mid-career professionals don’t get stuck because they lack talent. They get stuck because of perception.
  
They look like the person leaders rely on when something must get done. 
Not when something must be led. 
 
I’ve coached dozens of mid-career professionals who were quietly running the engine of their company… while someone else drove straight into the leadership roles they deserved.
 
You don’t get what you deserve.
 
 You get what you signal. Shift these signals and you change how senior leaders read you.

Mid-career stagnation rarely happens because you're not good enough.
 It happens because people think they already know what you’re good for.

If you always show up as the “reliable workhorse,” senior leaders will treat you like one.
And workhorses get tasks; not opportunities.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
 Perception moves faster than performance.
 It decides who gets high-visibility projects.


The moment they changed their signals, everything shifted.
 ▪️ Not more effort.
 ▪️ Not more hours.
 ▪️ Not more certifications.

 Just small, intentional signals that said one thing:
“I’m not just executing.
 I’m thinking, leading, shaping, and steering.”

Signals that move you out of the “dependable doer” box and into the “strategic leader” circle.

If you’ve been stuck despite hard work, this is your inflection point.

Because in modern corporate life,
 you’re not promoted for being essential, 
 you’re promoted for being undeniable.

Here’s how to shift the perception that’s been holding you back. These are the 3 perception shifts every mid-career professional should keep bookmarked.

Swipe through the carousel ⬇️ 
Inside the carousel: the exact 3 shifts I teach my clients to break out of the ‘workhorse trap’.

This is the playbook that changes how people see you - before your next performance review does.

+ Follow me for more insights on how to become irreplaceable and thrive in an AI-driven world, so your career becomes impossible to overlook.

High Performance Coach for Executives, Businesses and Entrepreneurs | Mentor | Life Coach | Stanford GSB LEAD

You dont get what you Deserve  You get what you Signal

AI isn’t replacing you; your habits are.
A daily tweak can save your next decade.

Most mid-level executives I meet are stressed about genAI like it’s a ticking bomb under their office chair.

I get it. I felt the same when I watched a no-code tool build a workflow in 2 hours that took my team over 2 weeks.

A few months ago, I tried stitching together a simple internal tracker. 

I clicked between six tabs, wrote half-baked formulas, and still ended up with a sheet that looked like a pothole. It felt never-ending and messy.
 
 
Then I saw a junior analyst build a similar tracker in a drag-and-drop tool, before a cake had even finish baking.

That’s when it finally clicked for me.
The threat isn’t genAI.

The threat is refusing to touch the tools everyone else is quietly mastering.

Here’s the part people miss:
 These no-code genAI tools don’t need a “tech person.”
 They need someone who understands the real work—like you.
 
Someone who knows why a process breaks, which fields matter, and what the CEO actually wants on that Friday report.

Once I started using simple no-code blocks - like automation triggers, smart prompts, data connectors - I cut 40 minutes from my daily status routine.
 
I used that time to finally prepare for more strategic tasks.

What this avoids is the silent slide into irrelevance.
 
The moment where someone half your age builds something twice as fast and leadership suddenly “rethinks responsibilities.”

Start small.
 
Pick one repetitive task you do every week—calendar updates, follow-up emails, status notes—and rebuild it using a no-code tool today.

You’ll free up time.
You’ll earn tech credibility. 
Most importantly, stay in the rooms where decisions are made.

Swipe through the carousel ⬇️ 
Inside the carousel: the steps I teach my clients to change some habits that disempower them.

This is the playbook that changes how people see you - before leadership starts “rethinking responsibilities”. 

+ Follow me for more practical, non-technical ways to become irreplaceable and thrive in an AI-driven world.

AI is not replacing you. Your habits are.

7 Counterintuitive Career Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

Most career advice is backwards.
Work harder. Stay humble. Wait your turn.

After three decades in technology and consulting — and now coaching professionals -  I’ve learned the opposite is true.

You learn fast in consulting.
You learn even faster coaching people who feel stuck.

The professionals who advance fastest, break the rules everyone else follows.

1. Become unreachable to become invaluable
Top performers weren’t always available. On purpose.
 ▪️ They declined most meetings
 ▪️ Focused on 2–3 high-impact projects
 ▪️ Became the go-to expert in their niche
 Guard your time and you elevate your value.

2. Advertise your failures, not just your wins
Everyone shares success. Few share the mistakes.
Talking openly about what didn’t work shows judgment, honesty, and real growth - traits leaders trust far more than “perfect” performers.
What you learned from them. 
How you applied the learnings. 

3. Stop solving problems. Start defining them.
Junior professionals solve the problems they’re given.
Senior professionals question which problems are worth solving in the first place.
That shift signals executive thinking.

4. Teach your competition to eliminate it
Your biggest threat isn’t outsiders — it’s colleagues at your level.
The counterintuitive move: make them better.
When peers succeed because of you, you become the leader people turn to. Their success becomes evidence of your leadership.

5. Visibility beats perfection every time
Quiet perfection loses to visible progress.
 ▪️ Being seen matters more than being flawless
 ▪️ Regular updates beat polished deliverables
Perception moves faster than performance — manage it.

6. The best networkers never network
They don’t collect business cards.
They solve real problems for real people.
When you make others’ jobs easier, your network builds itself.

7. Get fired from your current role
Not literally - but promote yourself out of your current responsibilities.
Train someone to replace you. Document everything. Build systems that don’t need you.
Leaders reward people who can step out of a role without creating chaos.

Most professionals cling to conventional wisdom. The ones who advance question everything.

Which lesson would have saved you years of frustration?

Save this post for your next career move.

+ Follow me for more insights on becoming irreplaceable in an AI-driven world.

7 Counter-Intuitive Career Lessons

Improving Emotional Intelligence in the Age of AI

AI just made your technical skills worth less.
 Here’s the one skill it can never replace.

“I don't understand what's happening,” Rahul told me in our first coaching session.

“I’ve implemented every framework. I respond to Slack instantly. My code reviews are flawless.
 But I just lost my third senior software engineer this quarter.”

Rahul was a brilliant 38-year-old CTO.
 He built his identity on being the smartest person in the room.

He could debug complex systems, almost in his sleep.
 But he couldn’t see what was right in front of him.

I joined one of his team meetings. Within 20 minutes, I watched him:
• Cut off his designer mid-sentence with “That won’t scale”
• Respond to a burnout concern with “We all work hard here”
• Miss the frustration on his PM’s face when he said “Just follow the sprint plan”

He wasn’t being cruel.
 He genuinely thought he was being efficient.

The data was perfect.
 The human beings were breaking.

Your technical edge is shrinking fast.
 Your emotional intelligence is now your biggest competitive advantage.
 Here’s why.

AI can out-think you.
 It can’t out-feel you.
 And that’s exactly where your leadership advantage begins.

After three months of focused emotional intelligence work, his team’s productivity increased substantially.

Retention improved.
 Innovation accelerated.
 People finally felt safe sharing “illogical” ideas.

Here’s the reality:
 As AI masters logical tasks, emotional intelligence becomes your most valuable career skill.

The research is clear *:
58% of job performance comes from emotional intelligence
90% of top performers have high EI
EI is one of the top 10 most in-demand skills globally

Technical skills get you to the table.
 Emotional intelligence gets you to the top.
 
Where AI falls short and humans excel:
• Reading unspoken dynamics
• Creating psychological safety
• Managing emotional energy
• Building genuine trust

Want to strengthen your emotional intelligence? Start here:
• Take 60 seconds to check your emotional state before your next meeting
• Ask one genuine question about a colleague’s perspective before sharing yours
• When receiving criticism, say “Tell me more” instead of defending
• Identify your emotional triggers and build a response plan for each

The leaders who thrive alongside AI aren’t the smartest.
 They’re the ones who master the most human skill of all: emotional intelligence.

The AI revolution isn’t coming. It’s here.
 
Which of these 4 emotional intelligence skills do you want to strengthen first?
 Let me know and I’ll share an exercise you can use today.
 
Save this post for your next career move.

+ Follow me for more insights on becoming irreplaceable in an AI-driven world.

* Source: 
Bradberry, Travis. "Why You Need Emotional Intelligence To Succeed." TalentSmartEQ, June, 2022.

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The Battle

Carlos E. Santos Saint Romain ✍🏼

Shankar Mallapur

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The Battle

Carlos E. Santos Saint Romain ✍🏼

Shankar Mallapur

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Carlos E. Santos Saint Romain ✍🏼's LinkedIn Performance

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