Origins of my Managerial Style

Throughout my career, I have had many people I have admired and contributed to what I am today. One person has especially influenced my managerial style: my grandfather John Caetano. He has long left us, but he left a remarkable legacy. In business decisions, I often rely a lot on his insights.

He was someone who came from humble background and built a farming empire over the course of his life. In his early life, the young John Caetano got married to my grandmother and decided to move to a small ranch close to a village called Coqueiral, in the rough interior of Brazil. He decided to take his own path and start his business from zero. It was not an easy decision since he did not have much money, but he did have faith things would work out.

As time passed, he saved enough money and bought small pieces of land from his neighbors. It took him twenty two transactions, to build a property where he could finally raise cattle. This was his first farm.

Shortly afterwards, accustomed to negotiating many tough negotiations, he was able to exchange his initial property for a bigger one. He did this continually for a couple decades until he reached the point where he had enough to give one farm for each one of his seven children. Growing in this organic way, his cattle business took shape and became a reference in the region in terms of productivity. Despite this of his fast growing wealth, he was the most humble and modest person in the world.

Occasionally I would sit at his side at the entrance of the one of his preferred farms, a place called Garrafão. He would pick a piece of grass from the ground and start slicing it with his little pocket knife. Then, looking at me, he would give me some of the most important advice of my life. “You should always look at what you buy”, he said. “Instead of buying calves, buy heifers. Young cows are cheap, but can be almost as valuable as bulls when they gain age. Besides, they can give you new calves. With these calves you can build your first lot and sell them to buy more cattle. And you can go on and on until you have enough to by a farm.” His insights on business were priceless.

John Caetano had a very particular management style. His attention to detail was not that great, but he had a strong strategic perspective. He was more the type we call here in North America ‘a big picture guy’. Very inspiring when leading his workers, he would never interfere with their work. He was always on top of things, but always trusted that each one of his employees would do their work properly. He did have a presence on the farm, being around when decisions needed to be made and driving negotiations. If you were introduced to him, you would definitely understand he had a charismatic and driving style.

As he reached his seventies, he decided to share his properties with his sons and daughters, giving one farm to each child, keeping a small farm for his enjoyment. He would say that, if things were getting too big and complicated, it was time to break the business into smaller parts. It wasn’t really a surprise when ten years later he had turned that remaining farm into another seven new farms. John Caetano had an incredible ability to grow businesses. Once again he was able to share his wealth with all his children. This time he was left with a pile of sacs of export-quality coffee beans.

In his third and final growth cycle, John Caetano watched closely the commodity prices of the local regional market. Using his knowledge about climate and harvest cycles, he traded coffee, corn and beans, selling them on the high price cycle and buying them when their prices were low. Finally, just before his death, shared his fortune with his children for a last time: a sizeable amount of money for each one of them. Indeed, his ability to create growth was admirable.

As I grew professionally, I started realizing how much I’ve learned from John Caetano’s example. When looking for business opportunities and searching for alternatives and while negotiating contracts, I always remembered his advice to keep things simple and straightforward. When dealing with people, I recall his human and respectful approach. When working on projects, I remembered his dedication and big picture thinking. These are small things I learned from him that combined helped me get were I am right now.