Paulo Henrique Soares | Influence 100
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Paulo Henrique Soares

Corporate Communication Director
IBRAM — Instituto Brasileiro de Mineração
Brazil

 

 

After spending 15 years with Brazilian mining giant Vale, communications leader Paulo Henrique Soares joined the Brazilian Mining Association earlier this year as corporate communication director. The role is a critical one for the Brazilian mining trade association, which has found itself at the forefront of the complex stakeholder challenges that confront the country’s mining industry.

Soares is well prepared for this task. At Vale, he ushered in a considerable rethink of the company’s employee engagement practices, which he believes has helped build a new corporate culture at the company, using many of the learnings to co-author a book on employee engagement in the 21st century.

Specifically, Soares believes that conventional employee engagement models — whether centralised or decentralised — rarely help to unite a company across borders. As Soares points out, Vale’s communication strategy helped the company define its culture. “We needed to find a strategy that was global, and changed the way we operate. Empathy connects people.”

Can you share a moment in your career when you saw PR's direct impact on business performance?
Crisis management.

What do you love about this industry?
The openness to change and to learn about relationships and communication.

What are the communications industry's biggest challenges and opportunities?
Reputation and operational safety.

How do you relax or change pace when you're not at work?
I love to be with my family. Reading books and watching movies always help me to relax and keep me away from work.

If I wasn't working in marketing/communications, I would be...
Nobody! I can't think of myself doing anything but the work I do. I love what I do.