- Engineering & Construction
- Environment
- Telecommunications
- Renewable energies
- Ventures
- Real estate
Respect. (from the lat. respectu) n. 1. respect; 2. consideration; high regard; 3. deference; compliance; veneration; 4. honour; worship; 5. relation; refererence...
We believe that everyone should be respected for their work, for their attitudes, opinions and options.
Rigor. (from the lat. rigore) n. 1. harshness; strength; 2.fig., severity; punctuality; accuracy.
There is no "more or less levelled", "more or less upright”, "more or less clean" or "more or less safe", but rather “levelled”, "upright”, "clean” and “safe". The rigour is reflected in our procedures, in time and in the rules to follow. In the light of moral and principles, being severe means being rigorous.
Passion. (from the lat. passione) n. 1. intense and usually violent feeling (affection, joy, hate, etc.) which hinders the exercise of impartial logic; 2. derived from a feeling; 3. great predilection; 4. partiality; 5. great grief; immense suffering...
Under the sign of passion – a text of the Portuguese poet Regina Guimarães – is our icon. Passion is to reveal great enthusiasm for something, favourable encouragement or opposite to something.
It is the sensibility transmitted by an architect or engineer through work.
Passion is the dedication to a project. Passion is a state of warm soul.
Loyalty. (from the lat. legalitate) n. the quality of being loyal; fidelity; sincerity.
Respect for the principles and rules that guide the honour and probity. Faithfulness to commitments and agreements undertaken, staunch character.
To remain loyal to the business partners because we depend on them and they depend on us.
Being trustworthy for being loyal.
Solidarity. (from the lat. solidare) n. 1. the quality of being solidary; 2. reciprocal responsibility among the members of a group, namely social, professional, etc.; 3. sense of sharing another’s suffering.
Being solidary is being a friend, offering our hand with genuine generosity and bringing joy and human warmth to those who, somehow, are marginalized. Being solidary is being more human. A solidary company is recognized as a fair and non-selfish company. A solidary company is a preferred choice in business. It is a more competitive company. Volunteering is a vehicle to solidarity. It is modern, fair, cultured, friend, it is a noble gesture of moral elevation.
Courage. (from the lat. coraticum) n. 1. bravery facing danger; intrepidity; to have audacity; 2. moral force before a suffering or setback; 3. [fig.] to input energy when performing a difficult task; perseverance...
Courage is essential in our life. Courage to face less pleasant situations when complex issues come up, not expecting random resolutions.
It is a value that we must highlight as opposed to the fearful, cowardly and laziness.
The courage to react to criticism not with an attitude of demotivation or sadness, but rather to search for the means and the action to overcome its own reason. This kind of courage, which is also an intellectual courage, is highly recommended.
Ambition. (from the lat. ambitione) n. 1. vehement desire of wealth, honours or glories; 2. expectation about the future; aspiration; 3. lust; greed…
Vehement desire to achieve a particular goal. Ambition not to resign ourselves. Ambition to take the best potential from ourselves. Ambition to deserve ourselves. Ambition to be athletes in our top-level competitive jobs. Ambition to beat our brands. Ambition to get the best deals with the maximum value, due to the high levels of proficiency and efficiency.
Esthetics. ESTHETICS (from the Greek aisthetiké, "sensitive") n.f. 1. Philosophy branch of philosophy that studies the beauty and nature of artistic phenomena; 2. author's own style, time, etc.; 3. harmony of shapes and colors, beauty; 4. set of techniques and treatments that aim to beautify the body.
We decided to build the company's economic foundations under a cultured, cosmopolitan and cool image. Because it is a charming state of being. Good taste because we are sustainable and we respect the planet. Good taste because we are sensitive. Good taste just because.
Responsibility. (from the lat respondere) n. the trait of being answerable to someone for something or being responsible for one's conduct; a form of trustworthiness.
We must be certain that, before a choice, we chose what is best for both of us and not just the best for each one. Each employee is responsible for his negotiated activity and co-responsible if the co-worker does not fulfil his own task, thus preventing the common goal. A team is a set of individuals - is a whole. In the business game, as in social or family contexts, everyone must comply with their own relative position and we shall not permit that one of ours fails to be in our team.
VER
By integrating Spirituality, Ethics and Aesthetics into daily management, José Teixeira proposes a leadership vision that goes beyond efficiency to reclaim the humanistic dimension of the company. In this conversation, the DST Group emerges as an example of an organisation incorporating beauty, art and philosophy within its culture
BY RAQUEL CAMPOS FRANCO and SUSANA MAGALHÃES
“We also need, in our daily lives, in managing our day-to-day operations and in our companies, to integrate elements of Spirituality, Ethics, and Aesthetics (Truth, Goodness, and Beauty) to build a shared community history”
José Teixeira
Preliminary note: “In Conversation with José Teixeira” (À Conversa com José Teixeira), CEO of the DST Group and “curator of people”, was the second part of the inspiring session “Leading with Art and Philosophy” (recording available here) by the keynote speaker at the 2025 Ethics Forum’s Annual Conference, dedicated to the theme of Ethical Leadership, which formed the inspiration for this Ethics Special.”
The conversation with José Teixeira was an inspiring dialogue that led with a motto that we believe lies at the heart of DST: Making it Happen, Knowing How to Be and Knowing How to Be Present.
To talk about DST is to talk about the Polis, about a space that fosters encounters among equals in terms of opportunities and exposure to Beauty and Goodness. DST is more than a work space; it’s a space for leisure and art. DST is theatre both in the literal sense – the employees can practise theatre – and in the metaphorical sense of Catharsis through Pathos, in the light of Greek tragedy, which only the Arts and Humanities can enable.
The DST space is also libraries and works of art, invoking key quotes for an age averse to failure, to open dialogue about our vulnerabilities and mistakes:
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better”[i] | “Tenta. Fracassa. Não importa. Tenta outra vez. Fracassa de novo. Fracassa melhor.” Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho (1983)
José Teixeira’s speech constantly echoes a word that is essential to his management and leadership style: Who? People are particularly significant when treated as individuals rather than a collective. They are individual and unique. And these people, to whom Respect is due, relate to each other in a Space that becomes a Place through the triad of the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. The workplace and its beauty matter. The DST space is identity-driven, relational and historical.
Through our conversation with José Teixeira, we were able to grasp the importance of co-responsibility in building an interdisciplinary, goal-oriented world, yet without trampling on core values, which are consensualised in the light of a minimal ethics.
We are struck by Beauty’s power when integrated as a structuring element of an ethical organisational climate and culture.
We wondered whether it would be possible to replicate this impact in other workplaces, amid generational diversity and evident persistent inequalities.
We ask ourselves how we can persist in valuing the Arts, Humanities and Philosophy to elevate the lives of the most fragile and vulnerable, without yielding to temptations to abandon innovation, investment and risk.
We are compelled to question the meaning and foundation of democracy (of the Polis) and the criteria used to justify various forms of resource distribution, opportunities and well-being.
We are invited to remind ourselves at every step that companies must honour their social contract and contribute to building the community as a space of Goodness, Beauty, and Truth.
We are invited to stop resisting a meaningful human Being, including time to look, see and notice within technology’s accelerated pace:
“There are principles and values
There are dreams and there are loves
That will always clear a path
And whoever lives embraced
To life that’s right beside them
Will not die alone” — What a Man Can Do (Do que um Homem é capaz) José Mário Branco — one of the musicians quoted by José Teixeira)