Full Name: Lucio Trentini

Position and Company Name: CEO of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa)

Main Activity of the Company: To advocate, lobby for and represent the interests of Seifsa’s affiliated members in the metals and engineering industries and fostering mutually beneficial relationships between employers, labour, government and shapers of policy in creating a business environment conducive to growth

Date and Place of Birth: February 2, 1964, Italy

Education: BA (Economics and Industrial Psychology), University of the Witwatersrand (Wits); postgraduate diploma in management, Wits Business School; certificate programme in negotiation skills, Gordon Institute of Business Science

First Job: Industrial relations officer at JCI Gold and Uranium Mining Company, in Westonaria

Size of First Pay Packet: R3 000 a month

Career Path to Date: I left the mining sector after two years to join Seifsa as an industrial relations adviser. I was subsequently promoted to deputy manager: industrial relations, manager: industrial relations, executive: industrial relations, operations director and CEO

Value of Assets under Your Control: Seifsa is registered as a federation of employer organisations – that is, a not-for-gain association

Number of People under Your Leadership: 21

Management Style: Participative and inclusive but action orientated

Personal Best Achievement: Being fortunate to have married a loving, supportive and understanding wife and being blessed with two wonderful boys, who continue to make both their parents exceptionally proud

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My father, a brave and courageous man who arrived in South Africa with a suitcase full of clothes and very little else and, through hard work, raised a family. This is a lesson that is central to who I am

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: David Carson, former Seifsa director: industrial relations and later Seifsa CEO

Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu (may their souls rest in peace)

Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Bobby Godsell, for being among the first captains of industry to recognise the nexus between capital, labour and profits, and Clem Sunter, for his brilliant scenario planning strategies

Philosophy of Life: Focus on what you’re good at, become the best at it and rewards and recognition will follow

Biggest Ever Opportunity: Travelling in the 1990s with business and union leaders to Germany, Japan, France, Belgium and other countries to study and learn from the collective bargaining frameworks of those countries’ respective metals and engineering industries

Biggest Ever Disappointment: Losing my brother in a tragic car accident when he was only 40 and watching his three young children grow up without him

Hope for the Future: That South Africa reaches its full potential – we’ve come so far but wasted so much goodwill and opportunities along the way

Favourite Reading: Autobiographies, nonfiction and books on human behaviour, including those written by Malcolm Gladwell

Favourite TV Programme: History Channel, Discovery and sports

Favourite Food/Drink: Being Italian and raised by a stay-at-home mother, it has to be pasta, pizza and fresh salad

Favourite Music: Light rock (Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Def Leppard) and a little bit of Eros Ramazzotti on the side (also referred to as Italian restaurant music!)

Favourite Sport: Soccer and rugby

Hobbies: Working in the garden, reading and watching sport

Car: BMW 3 Series

Pets: Ginger cat, Archie

Miscellaneous Dislikes: Litter and people who complain about what is wrong with everything rather than focusing on what one can do to make things better

Married: To Heather Trentini

Children: Andrea, 22; Alessio, 19

Clubs: Carlton Centre Gym and Italian Club Bedfordview