Natasa Sekulic, Sales Manager at IBM – I am best at work when "pushed out of" my comfort zone

(Nataša Sekulic)

Her motto is that everything can be done with a smile. And, really, at the office at 10th floor of the Usce business center there is not “training of strictness and cold business atmosphere”.

Natasa Sekulic has been with IBM for almost 12 years. She started in Belgrade, continued in Prague and Bucharest. Eight months ago, she "returned home", at the position of the Sales Manager for Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania. Although she does not miss to outline how satisfied she is with the fact that in IBM "she has been through things which in another company she might not succeed in her working life ", she does not hide how glad she is for coming back to Belgrade again and how proud she is of her team in Serbia.

In her interview for eKapija, Natasa Sekulic reveals that as a child she was a real “geek” and today she does not give up on studying either, why she likes Dylan Dog and Humphrey Bogart, how balance is important at work, how “open door policy” functions, why she is the best at work when pushed out of her comfort zone and who she consults with before important decisions in life.

"I knew what I want and what I do not want "

She was born in Cacak where she completed her primary and grammar school. The decision to enroll at the Faculty of Electrical engineering in Belgrade was, she says, natural and expected.

She got the job in IBM in the simple way – through job advertisement. Although she had two job interview more at the same time, she did not find it difficult to decide.

- I knew the company such as IBM will offer me a number of options for learning and development. On the other hand, I think they hired me for my energy and will and for clearly articulating what I want and what I do not want.

In IBM, during her work in Serbia, she changed a few positions. She went with decisive steps forward with constant learning, new trainings and education so she was promoted. In 2012, she received an invitation to become the assistant GM for CEE and to move to Prague.

In the Czech Republic, she acquired a number of acquaintances and learnt how IBM company functions. She learnt a lot about managerial work, how to work with people and how to structure business.

On the other hand, a job in Bucharest where she was the chief operational manager for SEE and Romania was “difficult but important school”.

Although the idea was to stay at that position for some time, after a year a position in Belgrade popped up.

"We laugh more"

She starts her working day with a tee with her colleagues. She shares her office with the chief operational manager, Milos Nikolic and says experience exchange and daily consulting mean a lot to her.

Although next year, as she says, she will be able to sum up the results of her work in Belgrade, Natasa Sekulic thinks her success is that she brought an attitude that everything can be done with a smile.

And therefore in their office, whose door is always open, can also be "just like on the line".

Still, she thinks overtime work must not become a rule for anybody, not even to a boss.

"Every screw is important in an engine”

Our collocutor outlines that in every company it is extremely important that a superior knows how to motivate or praise employees.

When asked how she sees herself in five years, she sincerely says she does not think about it.

She is thankful to her superiors who, as she says, knew when she needed “to be pushed”.

- They recognized moments when it was needed to call me. My current superior likes to say: "The moment I see you are in the “comfort zone” I try to “get you out of it since I know then you generate the best results”.

"Home mouse" and adventurer

When she does not work, she usually reads or watches a good movie. She is more attracted to hedonism and home environment than crazy partying, she has her places in the city where she has been going for years but she occasionally “must listen to her friends and goes out to a completely different club or a restaurant.

She likes travelling and she is especially enchanted by Istanbul.

She does not hide she always finds time to visit Cacak.

Milica Stevuljevic