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"Great stories are written with values in the hearts of men"
Explore our values...
Photo by Luís Pinto, finalist of the Emergentes dst Award 2011.

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.

Photo by Mila Teshaieva, finalist of the Emergentes dst Award 2011.

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.

Photo by , finalist of the Emergentes dst Award 2012.

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.

Photo by Jakub Karwowski, finalist of the Emergentes dst Award 2012.

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.

Photo by Ian Lieske, finalist of the Emergentes dst Award 2011.

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.

Photo by Clarence Gorton, finalist of the Emergentes dst Award 2012.

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.

Photo by Filipa Alves, finalist of the Emergentes dst Award 2011.

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.

Photo by Scarlett Coten, finalist of the Emergentes dst Award 2011.

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.

Photo by Karl Erik Brondbo, finalist of the Emergentes dst Award 2011.

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.

1. podcast JT expresso 1 En
13/03/2023
José Teixeira, Chairman of the Board of DST Group: “I am a socially oriented leader. I was once a worker; I recognize the value of work”

Expresso

At the age of seven, he crushed rocks by hand to sell and help his mother. At 19, he would take the workers’ children to the theater “in a pickup truck”. Today he leads a construction group where reading, going to the theater or to exhibitions guarantees extra points in the evaluation of performance, philosophy classes are part of the training plan and there are mandatory breaks for reading during work hours. José Teixeira is this week's guest on the podcast "The CEO is the limit"

“Workers”. José Teixeira, chairman of the Board of Directors of the DST construction group from Braga, insists on the term. And explains the reasoning: “we do not have staff, we have workers. Staff is a designation that was invented to remove value from work”. A value he says “is the beginning of everything”. José knows this very well.

At the age of seven, with his father emigrating, he crushed rocks by hand to sell and thus help his mother and whenever he could, he ran three kilometers to find the gray Gulbenkian van and bring books to read. “The past cannot be erased. We are the product of our past”, he recalls. From his past, he drew the value of work and the "freedom of reading". He read to “escape poverty” and decades later admits it changed his course. “Freedom is dependent on what we read. Being an avid reader has given me great freedom,” he says.  Today, he returns to the 2,700 workers under his employ what he has achieved.

He says he doesn't force anyone to read, but, between laughs, he admits that “at the company we have a specific time per day for reading. It is part of the work day. So, if it is part of the work day and the worker does not do it, he is being absent from work”. Furthermore, DST Group's performance evaluation includes trips to the theater, exhibitions, reading. And it also includes classes in philosophy, rhetoric, history of art and other unusual subjects for a construction group, always during work hours.

“It is a part of the annual training plan”, explains José Teixeira, ensuring that it involves all workers, from the factory floor to the engineers. “The philosophy classes are the most popular, in the last one there were 480 workers online and in the end we always have to finish because there are many questions”, he emphasizes, adding that “the workers don't want bread and butter. They want things that are difficult”.

Do you get a return on this investment? José Teixeira guarantees that yes, “because there is an economic value to culture. A country without culture does not survive, an economy without culture does not progress”. But if there was no financial return, the social return is guaranteed. These seeds that he seeks to sow do not bear fruit in the same way for all workers, he recognizes. But some will, "and that's sufficient", outlines the chairman of DST. As they bore fruit with him in the past.

The CEO is the limit is Expresso's leadership and career podcast. Every week, the journalist Cátia Mateus shows you the Portuguese managers who marked the past, those who direct today and those who promise to shape the future, who they are, how they started and what they did to reach the top. Inspiring stories, told in the first person, by those who dare to make things happen.

 

https://expresso.pt/podcasts/o-ceo-e-o-limite/2023-03-13-Jose-Teixeira-presidente-do-Grupo-DST-Sou-um-lider-solidario.-Fui-um-operario-reconheco-o-valor-do-trabalho-45e9b2dc