Corriere dello Sport CFO Ottavio Ottaviani Meets JCU Students for Career Advice

Ottavio Ottaviani meets students at JCU

John Cabot University welcomed Ottavio Ottaviani, Chief Financial Officer at Corriere dello Sport, to meet students of JCU’s Continuing Education courses and share a few tips on strategic business relationships on Friday, May 18. Ottaviani’s career started with a five-year-long experience as an intern in the financial department of Nissan. He later started working at Corriere dello Sport, one of Italy’s leading sports newspapers, where he was tasked to cover different roles. Ottaviani said that working in different aspects of the organization helped him develop his decision-making skills and reach top management.

The first part of the lecture focused on the dynamics inherent to the job market in Italy. Ottaviani explained the role of labor unions. As Corriere dello Sport CFO, one of  Ottaviani’s responsibilities is to represent the company in negotiations with labor unions, a sometimes challenging position. Throughout his career, he managed to establish a cooperative approach to fostering dialogue within the company as a strategic business relationship model. In 2008, when the Italian financial crisis undermined many organizations on the market, he implemented this mediation strategy and designed a back-up plan to reorganize and save the sustainability of the newspaper.

Ottaviani addressed the students’ concerns and doubts about the job market today. He believes that technological change is affecting all industries and markets, not just those that employ new digital tools and devices. While technical skills are usually taken for granted and can always be improved, Ottaviani stated that so-called soft skills make the difference. Empathy, availability, and problem solving are the top skills that will allow your colleagues to appreciate your work. He concluded by noting that “being able to meet students, listen to their questions, tell them about my professional experience and share my expertise with them, contributes to my personal and professional growth.”