Success Stories: Felisberto Bila

Managing Director, OPTIMIND Technologies

Can you tell us something about you? What do you do, what is your job, can you describe your career path in few sentences?

I am Felisberto Bila from Mozambique, and being a graduate in Mechancal & Transportation Engineering, I started my career in 2011 as Aluminum casting process engineer at Mozal/South32 smelter located in Mozambique. I have been exposed to technical, management and leadership activities at Mozal. In 2014, I co-founded a company (OPTIMIND Technologies), where I am the managing Director.

Why did you decide to study MBA?

My work at Mozal demanded leadership skills that I was short of and because I we launched start-up company, I needed to improve leadership and strategic thinking for increasing the odds of success.

“It widened and sharped my vision, my strategic thinking improved, I am equipped with a lot of tools I can choose to use for diverse and challenging situations.”

Do you consider it a good decision?

For sure. Best decision I made.

How did it – studying enrich you?

It widened and sharped my vision, my strategic thinking improved, I am equipped with a lot of tools I can choose to use for diverse and challenging situations.

Did you apply something to your job / practice?

I think my start-up could be closed by now. My influence in leadership improved significantly. Importantly I feel more confidence and control for shaping my career.

What course did you find most interesting and why?

Management, Marketing, Intercultural Communication, Strategic Management and Strategic Management of Sales. These courses helped me better understand the psychology of sales, sales & marketing strategies, my start-up has been making use of a lot many tools and models from those courses.

What course was the most helpful and applicable to your practice?

Management, Marketing, Intercultural Communication, Strategic Management and Strategic Management of Sales.

Is there something – a project for example, you realized based on the knowledge you gained from studying MBA?

Yes, I successfully modeled the sales process that we are using now at our start-up.

What was the hardest part/course of the MBA program?

Of all what seemed to be hard, I could realize that it was due to the gaps I had, indeed that got be an opportunity for improving my career.

Why do you think it is important to study also during/alongside your career?

First one will look for a course which will meet his current and future career goals, and second studying will turn into an exercise of testing and embedding learned models into the actual work of one’s job.