The View from the Top: Takeaways from Eduardo Padilla
On October 12, CGB hosted former FEMSA CEO Eduardo Padilla as a speaker for Global Leadership Insights: The View from the Top. Attendees had a fantastic opportunity to hear from someone who has held several senior executive roles and has been a driving force behind one of Latin America’s most influential corporations.
Mr. Padilla majored in Mechanical Engineering, graduating in 1976 from the Tecnologico de Monterrey. He then obtained a Master’s in Business Administration in 1979 from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. When he was 32 years old, Mr. Padilla rose through the ranks to become the CEO of the Mexican company Terza. After his tenure as CEO at Terza, Mr. Padilla moved to FEMSA and after holding various roles became the company’s chief executive officer. His time as CEO of FEMSA is characterized by innovation. Under Eduardo Padilla’s leadership, FEMSA expanded its global operations. The strategies he put in place were transformative, and thanks to Padillas vision and global leadership, today FEMSA operates in all of the Americas.
Because of his long and successful business career, Mr. Padilla had great advice for the attendees at the CGB event:
Strategy, Strategy, Strategy:
- One of the critical aspects of succeeding as a leader is establishing a successful strategy that is unique and visionary. For example, when Padilla ran to be CEO of Terza, he went against a candidate with much more experience. However, Padilla proposed a strategy to the board that was the deciding factor, and he was awarded the role of chief executive officer of Terza.
- Companies and leaders must constantly be developing the next way to help their corporation advance, especially during troubling times. During the pandemic, many companies, including FEMSA, dealt with major supply chain problems. Mr. Padilla came up with a strategy to purchase a US-based distribution company in order to shorten the distance between the production and the customer, thus alleviating the stress on FEMSA’s supply chain. This strategy helped FEMSA evolve to work through the supply chain issue and gained an advantage over its competitors.
People, People, People:
- A company is nothing without its employees and customers. For a business to be successful, it needs to show care and love to everyone with whom it interacts, whether they are a customer or an employee. Hence, a company needs to deliver quality products and services to customers, while taking great care of its employees, and showing respect to the regions and environments where they operate.
- According to Padilla, CEOs, executives, and managers are in charge of enabling those they work with to achieve maximum performance. A leader should work to remove barriers to allow for growth within the company and to enable everyone to feel included and welcome.
- When conducting business globally, it is vital to understand and appreciate everyone’s differences and similarities. One way of doing so is by asking questions, learning about other traditions, and implementing them in the company’s strategy to fit all.
You can watch the talk here:
Written by Julian Gonzalez, Intern at the Center for Global Business
