| |JULY 202619How do you align regional priorities with enterprise-wide transformation goals?I am Brazilian, started my career in Latin America, including in an industrial environment at Vale S.A., and built a large part of my leadership career in Europe, working across international organizations for almost two decades. I have seen global companies from the perspective of a region and from the corporate center.That has made me very cautious about assuming that headquarters always has the best answer. Regions and Countries are closer to clients, talent and market dynamics. In fast-moving economies, they are often also closer to emerging behaviors and new opportunities. You need that intelligence. At the same time, local relevance cannot become an excuse for enterprise fragmentation.My approach is to be extremely clear about the non-negotiables: strategic outcomes, performance expectations, governance, core data and technology principles. Within those boundaries, local leaders should have freedom to define the best route to execution of their P&Ls.Transparency is also critical, and it fosters trust. Once teams can see the same data, understand the same performance expectations and compare progress across markets, the conversation becomes less political and more fact-based.The goal is not to make every country identical. It is to create one direction with enough local intelligence to move effectively.How has your leadership style evolved while leading global transformation?I have become much more comfortable with the tension between empathy and performance. Earlier in my career, I probably believed that if you created enough alignment and explained the strategy clearly enough, execution would follow. Experience taught me otherwise.Alignment is important, but transformation also requires repetition, escalation, discipline and sometimes very uncomfortable decisions. Today, I am much more direct about expectations and accountability. But I have also become more conscious that people experience transformation very differently.My role is to create productive pressure without creating organizational paralysis. I challenge people because I believe in performance, but I also try to understand what is preventing them from succeeding. Is the issue capability? Is it capacity/priority? Is it clarity? Is it a structural constraint? Or is it simply a lack of accountability?Those are very different leadership situations.My roles have also progressively moved me closer to enterprise-wide accountability. Earlier in my career, I was leading major finance, technology and transformation programs. Today, working directly with CEOs and executive committees, I see the entire enterprise system--and the consequences when one part of that system does not move. You understand the cost of a slow decision, a tolerated problem or fragmented execution. I have also learned that candor is a form of respect.My leadership has evolved from trying to create alignment to creating the conditions for collective performance.
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