Equipped With Tenacity and Perseverance, Cristina Tackles the Energy Sector

“I did not have much time to decide what I wanted to do with my life: right after graduation, I inevitably found myself involved in the family business and here I remained. There is no point in wondering what paths I would have taken if it had not turned out this way; I still feel extremely fulfilled because I have had so many different experiences and challenges – all within the same context.” Owner and president of Enercom, Cristina Crotti thus reflects on the beginnings of her career. A recent Bocconi graduate with a degree in Financial Markets and Institutions, she worked alongside her father – Domenico, who was already ill – at just 23 years old in leading the Lombard utility company. “I insisted on applying to Bocconi because I wanted to breathe new air compared to that of Crema, where I was born and raised until high school. I was searching for new inspiration, and found it, but – above all – I was taught a new learning style, a useful model of reasoning for dealing with all challenges, even those of everyday life. My experience at university also strengthened me character-wise and gave me an awareness that was later instrumental in facing everything that followed.”

The beginnings in male-dominated fields – such as energy and, later, banking – were not easy. “My father wanted me to join the company starting from the lowest level, as a switchboard operator, then gradually taking on more responsibilities,” continues the businesswoman. “It was a really helpful, albeit short, internship that was managed wisely: my father followed me throughout, observing me at a distance and leaving me to make decisions on my own. It is an approach that I made mine even after he passed away, once I found myself having to lead the company and needing – first and foremost – to be accepted internally. When I find myself in such contexts, I adopt the same tactic as I did then: I observe, stay very quiet, and when the time seems right I express my opinion. Throughout the years I have realized that this way of presenting myself generates trust in counterparts and interlocutors; if you are able to make your case, it is easier to be considered for what you say – and not what you are – and to be respected accordingly. It was crucial for me to succeed in this goal because, at the beginning of my career, ours was a family business – one that was not very management-oriented – and I had to start a structuring process that would integrate internal forces with new skills.”

Listening to Cristina Crotti’s story, it sounds – first and foremost – like a great example of courage, but she herself would not put it that way: “If I think back to my younger years, I would not call myself courageous. Rather, I identify as someone with great tenacity, along with the merit of not being afraid even in the most difficult times. Some would classify me as stubborn; I prefer to call it dedicated. In part, a certain unawareness also helped me. For example, I had never questioned whether being a woman was an element of strength or weakness because I believed, and still do, that it is people – along with their skills and merit – who matter. This is why I am not a fan of female quotas, although I recognize that women would never have been able to prove themselves in certain roles without these types of obligations. However, they neither should be overused nor should they become a fashion statement.” It is a principle that, in reverse, also applies in family planning. “I never would have turned down starting a family and having children,” she concludes. “But it needs to be decided as a couple. In fact, as the children grow, they must become an active part of the household and understand that if their parents are working, they have to take on some autonomy before others.”