Born in 1962, Raffaele Riva attended and graduated from the esteemed Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, when he was 25-years-old. Despite his young age, he had already begun to focus on a number of different specialties, although he eventually earned his degree in economics.
Just two years later, the qualified as a Qualified Accountant, also from Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. After completing his post graduate education and earning prominent qualifications in not only Italy but also in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, his career began in earnest.
For the next few years, he worked his way up the corporate ladder – first as an assistant in the audit and accounting department of a “Big 4” organization with a presence in both Italy and the UK, and then as a supervisor. He would go onto become a top manager for a global conglomerate, a path that eventually saw him overseeing branches in Western Europe, Canada, South Africa, South America, and more.
Over the years, Raffaele Riva has learned how to always follow his dreams and go after what he loves – all without losing a level of flexibility that he values a great deal as well. In a recent interview, he shared his thoughts on not only the undeniable level of success that he’s been able to enjoy up to this point, but also his inspiration and the various solutions that he’s employed along the way as well.
Mindset, Value, and Success
For Raffaele Riva, much of the success he’s been able to enjoy up to this point comes down to always keeping a positive mindset. Many of the specialties he’s involved himself in are nothing if not challenging. It’s hard to tackle fields as versatile as investment, wealth management, asset management, and other financial services without running into an issue every now and again.
Still, for as complex and challenging as his days can often be, Raffaele Riva still maintains both a positive attitude and a natural sense of curiosity as well. When he’s not hard at work he always tries to stay in-the-loop on breaking news and other topics that could potentially impact his business.
He’s never been one to believe that he’s “learned enough” or “done enough” to improve himself or his entrepreneurial efforts. He could always learn more. He could always accomplish more. That refusal to rest on his laurels is a major contributing factor to his current success and from his point of view, that is something that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Another thing that he has always tried to maintain a focus on, regardless of what efforts he finds himself in, has to do with providing as much value to those around him as possible. Like many successful business professionals, he always asks himself what he can do for someone else as opposed to what he can do for himself.
This is actually a quality that is difficult to teach, particularly among the younger generation of entrepreneurs. It’s equally difficult to master. There’s a natural impulse when you go into business for yourself to want to make as much money as possible as quickly as you can.
Still, while that can be enticing, it’s always important to make sure that your clients are happy and that their lives have been meaningfully improved in a way that wouldn’t have been possible had your relationship with them not started. If you’re able to do that – and if you’re able to funnel your passion into making sure others benefit from it – the financial side of the equation will soon begin to take care of itself.
In the end, Raffaele Riva believes that becoming successful always requires a combination of several different talents. This is true regardless of the type of business you’re running or even the industry that you’re operating in.
You need to have more than just a vision. You need to be versatile in terms of the skills that you bring to the table. You need to always look to expand upon the experience you already have and develop new skills that could benefit people. You need to hone your instincts to the point where they can be trusted implicitly. You need to build mutually beneficial relationships with as many people as possible.
Those simple rules have led Raffaele Riva to where he is today and they’re ones that we could all stand to learn from, too.
Learn more about Raffaele Riva here: https://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/raffaele-riva-explores-views-on-success-top-method-for-continued-progress/