As Chief Executive Officer of Globe, he has been recognized as the best CEO in the Philippines by FinanceAsia. In this interview, we look in on the thoughts of one of the country's most powerful drivers of change.
Globe’s enigmatic Chief Executive musters a few moments from his whirlwind work and travel schedule to speak to Esquire—about loving work, about why happiness is a cycle, and about how powerful culture works as an enabling force in any organization, and in society. Mr. Cu also makes a powerful case for Purpose—with a strong capital P—and how it has paved the path to Globe’s leadership, and continues to provide a bold undercurrent for positive and profitable change.
ESQ: Everyone who works with you knows how intense you are in the professional environment. What about work-life balance?
Ernest Cu: I don’t really make a distinction between my work and my life. My life is my work and my work is my life. And I truly love the work that I do. I truly love pleasing my customers.
It’s hard to get your employees and your customers to love your company if you don’t love your work. This is why we compensate our employees really well, and we give them great workplaces to work in. This love for the company is something that turns into happiness, which in turn creates happiness in customers. And happy customers create happy shareholders. We call it the ‘circle of happiness.’ It’s a cycle that begins again and again—we call it ‘spinning the circle of happiness.’
ESQ: You’re one of the few CEOs we know whose personal principles cascade all the way down through their entire organization—and you seem to have put a lot of thought and hard work into accomplishing that.
EC: Culture enables execution. Without a strong culture, it’s very difficult to get things done. Our culture allows us to execute positive changes we always aim to make. This is especially important in an environment with constant change, and environment with a lot of movement and dynamism and heavy competition. Our customers’ habits are always changing, too.
ESQ: You’re always moving and dynamic as well—in fact, you’re one of the most travelled persons we know. Does fatigue ever set in?
EC: I still love traveling. I still do enjoy it. The restaurants, the cuisine, the wine. I’m a bit of a foodie. When my colleagues and I travel for work, we don’t try to hit too many things at one time. We like to kind of get a feel for the place—we don’t “line up” all the work. We enjoy the place, we enjoy the cuisine. That’s what we line up—the restaurants!
As for personal travel, my family and I do at least two big trips a year, including a two-week holiday at our home in Tuscany. It’s a place that the kids love—even if they’re in their twenties and thirties now.
Culture enables execution. Without a strong culture, it’s very difficult to get things done.
ESQ: Does your work culture seep into your family culture?
EC: My son seems more overworked than me! He runs a logistics outfit for a Singaporean startup. My daughter works on a couple of startups.My younger daughter, Arianna, is off to university at Northwestern in Chicago. They follow the same tenets I follow: you try to go and disrupt industries that have not evolved over time, seeking to solve problems in society. My wife and I are now empty-nesters, and can now focus on the things we love to do—like Arlene's dancing.
ESQ: You lived and worked in the US for a number of years. What made you choose to come back and work here?
EC: I belong more here. You weigh all the negatives and all the positives, and there are so many more positives about living in the Philippines.
One of the things I’m most proud of is my very first job here. We helped build the BPO industry in the Philippines. Our company was one of probably only two companies—it grew, and it helped spawn what is today the call center business. eTelecare was the first Filipino call center company and we were the very first to serve the US back in 1999.
ESQ: In your organization, you talk about “Purpose” a lot. In fact, you yourself do the voicing in your own corporate video—something very few CEOs have done.
EC: I really do believe that corporate objectives can lead to societal change and progress. When you create a successful company like Globe, you also have the ability to empower a nation digitally. So that purpose continues to be served. The first transformations we enabled back in the 90’s were digital voice and SMS. In the advent of mobile data, we enabled instant access to information. And the world of information just opened up to the common man: the Filipino suddenly turned global.
Thanks to the partnerships we’ve formed over the years, Filipinos can access entertainment on their phones. Now we’re also trying to change financial inclusion. With access to financial services, I think Filipinos’ lives will once again change and shift for the better.
That’s kind of a win-win situation: you build value for shareholders and they’re happy to invest in these things, and you serve your purpose—to serve Filipinos.
So it’s a nice kind of balance. Because if you’re constantly on one side of serving, you’re constantly begging for money somewhere. But if you can create profitability at the same time you’re building infrastructure and services that enable better Filipino lives, then I think you achieve a balance that’s sustainable into the future.
ESQ: Did you expect to be leading a company that would be responsible for so much technological and social change?
EC: I did not expect to stay in Globe for ten years. Let’s see where it ends up. Bottom line is, as long as things remain interesting and challenging, I’m happy. And I think I’m here to stay for a while!
ESQ: So you’ve always been one of those tech-savvy guys?
EC: Let’s put it this way: I’m always interested. I’m generally curious. I like to be on top of things. And if you’re in this business—you’ve got to have an “early read” into the future. I was streaming videos six years ago—
Let’s put it this way: I’m always interested. I’m generally curious. I like to be on top of things. And if you’re in this business—you’ve got to have an “early read” into the future.
ESQ: So you’re an early adopter?
EC: ...Of everything! Right now, we’re building a completely smart home. I love technology. I love applying it to daily life. I also like convincing people that this is a better way than what they’re used to. With some Filipinos it may be a bit of a challenge, in terms of changing whatever old habits they have. I think this is validated by my experience in Globe. We brought people to the smartphone era, the mobile data era, the social media era, and the streaming music and video era, and now we’re going into the era of the cashless society. All those have been big challenges. And you have to perfect the ability of changing people’s habits. And that’s the magic that one has to learn.
ESQ: Any predictions for the digital Filipino, then?
EC: Going digital is one of the best chances the Filipino has to improve their life. The connectivity and the computing power we have today will enable things to happen for them.
Take financial inclusion: it’s a chain of events that will give them access to services such as loans and investments. For example, we have a money market fund today that you can invest in for as low as fifty pesos—which has never been available to the Filipino before. Imagine a farmer who’s limited by his capital for seed and fertilizer to one crop a year. With a little loan, he can grow his business to three crops. He can increase that loan regularly as his credit score goes up, and soon he can buy another farm. Otherwise he has no chance of getting into the banking system.
That’s one example of the change I see in the future. It’s always great to see change. And to help be a catalyst of that change.
It’s always great to see change. And to help be a catalyst of that change.
In this story: Produced by Clifford Olanday • Photographs by Artu Nepomuceno assisted by JT Fernandez and Ignacio Gador • Grooming by Joan Teotico using NARS Cosmetics and Warren Manalad
