By Martin Leon Cortes Silva:
Reflecting on two major commitments I undertook over the past few years — working at CQC and completing my full-time MBA at ASU — I knew compressing my schedule would be a challenge. At times, I felt stretched to full capacity. While navigating the intense academic waves and learning both inside and outside the classroom, I discovered something that deepened my desire to stay meaningfully involved in business — a common thread that connected both of these commitments.
As we know, every university and its schools have a motto that shapes their programs and the people within them. At ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business, that motto is “business is personal,” and I couldn’t agree more.
Whenever I shifted focus from school assignments to CQC work, I carried that belief with me — not only in how I served clients but also in how I collaborated with teammates and colleagues. To my surprise, it felt natural. The founder and team already operate with that mindset. Everything starts with understanding a problem — whether it’s a roadblock, unclear expectations, low performance, poor engagement, or disrupted communication. My key takeaway has been this: truly understanding the situation and the people involved makes all the difference.
At CQC, our goal is to help people enjoy their work, feel fulfilled, and be seen. But we’re all different — consultants, managers, associates, supervisors, executives — each with unique contexts. That’s where the real beauty and challenge lie: capturing the full picture behind every situation. Similarly, at ASU, the faculty, staff, and especially my classmates made a conscious effort to connect on a deeper level. That connection shaped my extraordinary MBA experience and showed me how business can truly be personal.
Through both CQC and ASU, I had the opportunity to consult for other companies — identifying root causes, uncovering the “why” behind the problems, and delivering tailored solutions.
In the end, business is created, conducted, and led by people. If we fail to understand those people, we miss out on what really matters.
Business is personal. That was my main takeaway — and fortunately, CQC embraces this idea by applying the values of Wellbeing, Service, and Ingenuity both internally and externally.
In the end, stronger relationships lead to growth and prosperity for individuals, and through them, the businesses and operations they support.
