In this recording Dr. Henrik Totterman shares his emotions from running into one of Colombias most influential business leaders who is best known for promoting a human-centric leadership style. Together We Can!
TRANSCRIPT: Hi this is Henrik Totterman, thanks for listening to LeadX3M. Greetings from Boston, I just returned home from a great business trip to Colombia.
One of the highlights of the trip was to bump into a man who happened to sit in the corner of Manizales's small airport lounge, who my local contact Diego knew personally. Somewhat surprisingly, the person is question was Carlos Rahul Yepes, who the locals know best
as the human centric President of BancoColombia from 2011 to 2016.
Before making the introductions, Diego quickly told Carlos' touching story. Carlos received a letter from his daughter, in which she questioned her Father's priorities in life. He had held numerous executive positions, including the last five years in the helm of BancoColombia, which had left their unquestionable mark in her father.
She wrote sincerely about her Father not spending enough time with his family, about his health issues, and the fact that he clearly did not enjoy the simples things in life, as he used to.
According to Diego, after reading his daughters leather Carlos decided to resign from being the president of one of Colombias largest and most influental banks, and by that he also wrapped up a highly successful 20-year career in the banking sector. Consequently, Carlos wrote a successful book of his experiencesand he also shared his daughter's emotional letter online when resigning in 2016.
At this point, Diego introduced me to Carlos, who told he was returning from a rare client meeting in Manizales. According to him, he advices carefully selected companies, helping them to implement and succeed through human-centric leadership.
He stated in a humble manner that there is a strong demand currently for human-centered leadership in Colombia, embracing internal talent, and customer and stakeholder relationships.
I was, of course, excited to hear about his insights, especially during times when the rest of the world seem to embrace automation and artificial intelligence, often ignoring the importance of empathy in the human interaction.
Talking to Carlos, I quickly forgot his background, and we rapidly depended our conversation to what sets apart human centric organizations and what we could learn from their leaders.
Unfortunately, our conversation was cut short by my departing flight to the City of Medellin. We finished up by exchanging business cards, and I walked away with a feeling of hope and a lot to absorb during my trip back home.
Hereby, I end my report from here, by wishing you empathy at work as well as in your family interactions wherever you are.
