Nebojsa Dragicevic, GM at IGB Automotive – Favorite "scientific discipline" is humanity

(Nebojsa Dragicevic)

He "got" his first job when he was six in a family shop and today he heads the company he likes to say is the most beautiful since 90% of the staff are women. And even though he admits that it was not easy to get to the highest company position in a big, German company producing automotive heaters, our collocutor has a vision of business road and believed he will succeed in turning it into reality.

One of the most successful young managers in Serbia, Nebojsa Dragicevic, GM at IGB Automotive from Indija, in his interview for eKapija is speaking about his childhood, teenage period, virtues and flaws as well as about the values which led him along his business way.

Nebojsa Dragicevic was born in Novi Sad where he spent his “not so rich” childhood.

The first job when he was six

As the collocutor of our portal says, he showed a sense and interest in business in his early childhood.

- I realized my first job was when I was six in my mother’s family store when I was collecting garbage in the parking when I actually stepped into customer care already as an inseparable part of any business. I was changing jobs, from construction site material and unloading of cement at the end of primary school for DM 10 per truck. Then, I worked as a controller of family butcher’s, a driver in my father’s transporting company, my own company for distribution and sales, position in state-owned institute for food technologies and at the end, IGB Automotive – the first man of the plant for production of automotive components whose clients are renowned producers such as Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Opel, Skoda, etc.

Dragicevic graduated at the Faculty for entrepreneurial management and he decided on the faculty in the end of primary school.

- I asked my mother can a man make for living from music? The professor of music, full-time employee at her own mixed products shop said it was not possible . Sometime after that I started preparations for the finals and defined my way in further education, I realized in secodndry school that management is multidisciplinary activity which I want in my working day.

He has been heading Indija-based IGB Automotive since 2007 when it was set up and as a collocutor of our portal says “everything went in the direction of today’s job and idealistic stories that I should work in a powerful, foreign company".

During his studies in Vienna, he learnt German, met German culture. Even if he had a chance to travel a lot during the past years, still he finds travels during his student time invaluable.

Music is love

Although he is a successful manager of a company which has 1.350 employees and is very busy, he finds time for enjoying music. Dragicevic enjoys playing the guitar in his band because for him “music is love”.

Apart from music, his spouse is the most important as well as time spent with her and he enjoys “motor riding, restoration of zastava 750, arranging musical instruments, biking, hanging around in cafes, studying, travels..."

I did not allow loosing myself

Success as well as some failures helped Dragicevic to meet himself and he thinks of it as his biggest success.

- I would outline as a virtue the awareness to recognize myself and learn about Nebojsa so that he would be better for himself as well as for others. In that recognition, I saw ahead of myself also Nebojsa with his flaws let’s say impatience and sometimes exaggerated euphoria – the head of Indjija-based company is honest.

Dragicevic does not have bad memories and therefore he always gladly remembers the moments of happiness while he sees disappointments as another exam in the school of life.

Although he learned on his own to see disappointments as chances to learn, still the main drive of this young man is “love and only love”.

Plan to be happy man

Since family is the most important thing is life, all his plans are directed towards the wish to have “healthy family, full of love, as the biggest value of a healthy man’.

Irina Milosevic