Leadership, Culture, and Overlooked Essentials That Matter Most

After more than 20 years as an entrepreneur, I still find myself asking the same core questions: How can I make a lasting impact — on the world and on the companies I work with and care about deeply?

One question that keeps coming back to me is: What does it really take to be a good leader? And the first thing that comes to my mind is this: Am I a leader or simply a boss?

And that's often where the ego sneaks in. This is where we find that we’re unwilling to step back, afraid to give up the spotlight, and eager to be the one who always has the answer and saves the day. But true leadership is the opposite of that. It’s about shaping a strong company culture and aligning it with a clear business vision. Above all, it’s about dedicating time to developing talent and empowering people to make decisions on their own.

A CEO’s job is to spend a significant amount of time thinking ahead, figuring out where the company needs to go in the next three years and, perhaps most importantly, identifying the unique value that distinguishes its products or services. But over time, it puts the business at serious risk of losing both its relevance and the attention of the one person who truly calls the shots: the customer.

In this day and age, where everything moves so fast, it's crucial to surround yourself with leaders and leave bosses behind.

As creatures of habit, we naturally gravitate toward the familiar. That’s why changing a company’s structure or processes often feels like pushing against the tide, especially when the lingering mindset of “this is how we’ve always done it” hangs in the air. This resistance makes it even harder to shift an organization’s culture and vision toward what should be its true north: delivering meaningful, lasting value to the customer.

With all this in mind, what’s the connection between effective leadership and leading with humanity? At its core, it’s the sincere desire to see others grow and to help them realize their full potential. This is the essence of true leadership — and over time, it becomes a powerful source of competitive advantage. People are drawn to sincerity and humility. After all, companies are built by people, and in cultures rooted in openness, leaders who admit they don’t have all the answers and embrace their own limitations create space for exceptional talent to rise.

Salvador Alva, renowned Mexican businessman and author known for his transformative approach to leadership, echoes this perspective in his book “Lo que un líder no debe delegar” (What a Leader Should Never Delegate). He emphasizes the importance of aligning company culture around talent development, fostering a mindset of ownership, and ensuring every process is oriented toward serving the customer. Most importantly, he reminds us that the ultimate responsibility of a leader is not just to lead but to build other leaders.

Of course, embracing this kind of leadership requires letting go of the ego. Too often, we shy away from challenging the status quo out of fear of making mistakes. But that mindset has to change. Mistakes are not failures — they’re part of the learning process. That’s why empowering leaders to make decisions is so critical. Errors will happen, of course, but acknowledging them and learning from them is the only path to real progress. Growth comes from staying open, from listening, and from asking ourselves the tough questions: Does my team feel safe questioning my ideas? Can they bring a different perspective to the table?

I’ll make an admission: Everything I’ve shared here is part of my own ongoing internal battle. Every day, I try to stay mindful of how often I slip into operational mode, spending time on tasks that don’t directly impact the customer. Let’s be clear: Of course we need to make things happen. But as business leaders, we should be spending 80% of our time on the 20% of actions that truly move the needle for our customers and deliver value.

I’m sure many of you have experienced it, the entire day vanishing into back-to-back meetings, only to wonder at the end: Was I truly effective? Did today’s work bring us closer to what really matters to the customer? That kind of self-reflection has helped me identify what I need to automate, delegate, and, as we discussed earlier, stop being the bottleneck that slows things down.

One practice I try to commit to at least twice a year is something I call setting a "North Star" — establishing clear, companywide objectives so that everyone knows where we’re headed. And at the center of that vision, always, is the customer.

To finalize, I have to confess that I’m a follower and fan of Ray Dalio. His book “Principles,” which explores principles for life and work, has had a profound impact on me. I'd like to briefly share a few of the work principles that, in my view, are well worth highlighting:

• Build an idea meritocracy: let the best ideas win.

• Foster a culture of radical truth and transparency.

• Learn from mistakes: fail well and fail fast.

• Make decisions based on evidence and patterns.

• Hire for values, not just skills.

Of course, we could go on endlessly about how to build a successful company culture and vision, there are many paths. But one thing is clear: every path leads back to the need for a strong, committed team. A team with skills, yes, but more importantly, with values. For that reason, there’s a phrase I live by: Hire slow, fire fast.

I hope you enjoyed this article, and I’d love to hear your thoughts — feel free to reach out at sergio@conceptomovil.com.

Here are a few books that have inspired and taught me along the way:

• “Start with Why,” Simon Sinek

• “Principles,” Ray Dalio

• “Lo que un líder no debe delegar,” Salvador Alva

• The Leader Who Had No Title, Robin Sharma

• Who Not How, Dan Sullivan & Benjamin Hardy