“My goal was to connect different people and countries”

Diego Sanz is an operations manager at 4flow management. He joined 4flow at the Saragossa, Spain, office in 2021 and leads an international team located in Spain and the Czech Republic. In this interview, he talks about his fascination for supply chain, how he supports an intercultural team spirit when working remotely, and what living abroad has taught him.

What do you do as operations manager?
I currently lead an international team of logistics provider management specialists and coordinators. We manage the transportation network for one of 4flow’s customers and work together with the transportation company supporting them. As we are a relatively new team, every day something new happens. It’s really exciting to find solutions to these new challenges.

Why did you decide for a career in supply chain?
I was always amazed how goods moved around the world. Whenever I saw ships or trains full of containers, I thought about how many things were inside them, coming from so many places in the world. This was something I wanted to be a part of. So I studied business administration with an emphasis on international trade. My goal was to connect different people and countries. My first job in supply chain then came after university. I was living in Germany back then and worked for a Spanish firm, so I traveled a lot between Germany and Spain, and later I also lived in Poland.

And how did you get to 4flow?
When I was working for the Spanish firm, I got to know 4flow and even gave a presentation in the Berlin office. Later I got the chance to take on my current role at 4flow and move back home to Saragossa, which was a great opportunity for me after having been abroad for so many years. At 4flow, I like that I can work together with people from different countries. I can still experience an international environment.

Can you tell us a little more about that international environment?
Part of my team works from Spain and part from the Czech Republic. This can be challenging sometimes, but I really enjoy it. We have different cultures and so we all think and work a bit differently. I like to see this as an opportunity to learn something from every culture and to grow as a professional and as a person.

Do you have any tips on how to encourage team spirit while working remotely?
I think it’s important to ask everyone for their opinion and to give them the chance to contribute something. 4flow is an international company, and it still has this closeness. There are very good personal relationships, no matter how far apart the offices are. To build these relationships, it is essential to talk about personal topics and be interested in each other’s lives. For example, our colleagues from the Czech Republic once came to visit us in Saragossa. We gave them a tour and went for some tapas. I enjoyed sharing my hometown and my culture with my team. It’s like our national sport here in Spain to get tapas together whenever someone is visiting.

What has living abroad taught you about intercultural relationships?
Experiencing different cultures can be challenging sometimes, but each one can teach us something new. Every culture I encountered had some interesting aspect I wanted to integrate into my life. I also learned a lot about myself while living abroad, especially in Germany, because I really became an adult there. I went as an exchange student when I was 21 years old and stayed for almost six and a half years. During this period, I had my first experience living alone, my first work experience, and I had to find solutions on my own in a foreign country. Now I’m happy to be back in Saragossa, but I still like to travel and explore new countries and cultures.

What is your favorite place to travel to?
It’s difficult for me to choose just one place. That’s why I love road trips. I can take the car and go wherever I want, and it allows me to explore different places in a short period of time. I also find it exciting how the landscape changes while traveling by car, as you go from one country to another.