Nossos valores na prática

PROFESSOR VICENTE FALCONI FOUNDING PARTNER Movimento FALCONI 2013 IN IT TOGETHER FOR THE BIG DREAM ETHICS AND VALUES We have a performance assessment system in place that is constantly assessing us. It is actually a form of self-assessment, of mutual assessment. It's not biased.

We assess ourselves. Is your leader teaching you? No, they aren't.

It's that simple. It consists of a set of objective questions for assessment. This assessment is based on our values.

Okay? Now, all of our values, no exceptions, are ethical values. People say they want to be ethical.

It doesn't work that way, being ethical is your duty. All of our values are ethical standards. Let me explain you something.

What is ethics? Let me define that for you. Ethics is loving thy neighbor.

Period. That's all it is. Okay?

In anything that you do, ask yourselves: "Will I be harming anyone now or in the future? " If you think you might, then don't do it, it's not ethical. Am I right?

It's better off that way. This isn't always easy to judge. We may often find ourselves doing things that harm our neighbors, and in itself is disarming.

For instance, by driving my car, I am consciously harming someone else in the future, there's no escaping it. I'm polluting. There are certain ethical conditions in society that I can fight against, but I can't stop them.

Ethics is not always black and white. There are grey areas. This is something to be analyzed carefully.

If you accept that ethics is loving thy neighbor, you'll understand the following. Ethics is having consideration for oneself and others. It's having consideration for others.

Let's think of it as a continuum of consideration, going from zero, that guy who has no consideration for anyone, to 100, that guy who entertains the most consideration for their peers. Here we have a psychopathic killer, whereas here we have a saint. What we mean to do here is to define certain values, these are our FALCONI values, so you can position yourselves on the continuum.

We don't require you to be saints, but we don't want any psychopaths either, you know? We have our values, they're not fixed values. You or the partners may come together at any given moment and add or subtract to that.

Great. Now, these values have to be enthroned, in order for us to align our behavior within an ethical band that is accepted by all of us. Within this limit lies the accepted behavior.

So, I brought some cue cards of sorts with me. Here it is. FALCONI values, my cue sheet.

Let's go over our values briefly. Why have I brought this? Because I don't know them by heart.

You don't have to know them by heart. Picture that, every time you have to make a decision, you go: "Hold on, let me check my values. " Right?

Right? Our values have to be enthroned. Yesterday, you heard Jorge Paulo, and André, as well as Bernardo, emphasizing that.

Your values are supposed to be fresh, you need feedback on that, people are supposed to help each other with that. You're not supposed to be doing that, Mr So and So. That's detrimental behavior.

You shouldn't have said that, Mr So and So. That's detrimental to the organization. You need feedback on the spot, there's nothing wrong with that.

It's not personal, it's feedback. You'll be helping them be ethical. We have to help each other, enthrone it.

The same goes for family, for your families, for your kids, the same goes for them. I recall, many years ago, with my two small daughters, coming into this shop and shopping for whatever it was we went there for. When we left, they were excited to show me something they took.

I told them: "No, no, we have to go back. " "What do you mean, dad? " "No, we go back and you put it back exactly where you found it.

" So, that was something. That's not something you ought to do. One of them, who is now 42 years old, told me: "Daddy, the exact same thing happened with my girls and I had them go back to the shop and put it back where they found it.

" That is how you build values. I'm not preaching, preaching doesn't work. What works is our constant building of our values.

Let me just briefly go through this. I understand you may have your own personal view on these values, and you should all be able to express that. I'll be expressing mine, now.

The first one is meritocracy. Jorge Paulo, Bernardo, and André spoke at length on meritocracy. That's the line of thought we're in.

That's the team we play for. This organization belongs to those who deserve it. It doesn't matter if you're blue, yellow, tall, short.

If you're good and if you deserve it, you'll own it, and manage it into the future. Our Directors on the Board are about 45 years old, some of them younger, some of them slightly older. Fifteen years from now, they'll be gone!

Our future Directors are sitting in this very room today. What a mystery, nobody knows who they might be. Our future Chairmen and Directors might be in here, they might all be in here and we need to select them together for years to come.

That is one thing I find significant. That is meritocracy, an unrelenting selection. But Mr So and So is a nice guy, well, I understand that, but that other guy is more than nice, so we're going with him, irregardless.

There's no family protection. There's no "oh, but we're hometown buddies". None of that.

It's a matter of who's best. Isn't that right, Mr Chairman? Fantastic.

The second thing-- Actually, one more thing. I'll come back to all values individually. Meritocracy is loving thy neighbor.

It is loving thy neighbor. Lovelessness would be me holding a relative of mine in a privileged position in detriment of anyone in this room. That would be lovelessness.

Loving thy neighbor is loving, irregardless. Without regards. If you don't agree with me, feel free to object.

Our second value is the single-minded pursuit of results. It is plain and simple. We are here to deliver results for our clients.

That's what they paid for. They trust us to deliver results. Let's say you are salespeople selling TV sets.

So, you have a customer, and they go: "I want a 42 class TV set. " And you go: "Why, of course, let me show you this 42 class TV set, our cashiers are over there, that'll be 2,000 reais. Let me wrap that up for you.

" They'll go to the cash register, pay 2,000 reais, and come back to pick up their TV set. And you'll go: "We're all out of 42s, but this 38 class works just fine. " "But I paid for the 42 class.

" "The 38s are great, you'll see. " What a load, they paid for the 42 class. Being single-minded about your results is merely delivering on what you sold.

Don't sell it, then. Why are we single-minded about offering good proposals? Because we are accountable for what we deliver.

That's why the proposal has to be good. We need to have the capacity to say we'll be saving them 20 million and deliver on those 20 million by the end of the term of agreement. Their company needs it.

That is being singled-minded in the pursuit of results, it is being accountable before others. They trust us to deliver results, then we have to deliver. That is being single-minded in the pursuit of results.

Is it loving thy neighbor? Most definitely. Most definitely.

We want to deliver results for education in the country, we want to deliver results for security, We want to deliver results every which way. The more results we deliver the better things are. We dream big.

This venue we set up is part of dreaming big, that charming bar is part of dreaming big, that well-presented lunch is part of dreaming big. It is opening up our minds to think of our organization as a big international organization comprised of worldly people, and not small-minded people. We want people from all nationalities working together in here, and exchanging thoughts.

We want multinational teams. I am very proud of all that. We want to be worldly, that is our dream.

We want to be the best consulting firm in the world, and to be among the ten largest firms in the world. That is essential to us. Draming big matters because it makes working pleasurable.

Working with a small-minded team is awful. You never leave the ground, you can't take off. Transparency and openness.

Those who know me, very well know I speak my mind. Of course, I am accountable for what I say, and if I have useful things to say, I'll speak my mind. Those who work with me are aware.

I'll grant you that I sometimes can be way too Falconesque, but I do it lovingly. That's the only way to do it, lovingly. I must have no enemies in here, and I've been Falconesque to a bunch of you already.

I have no enemies, because I aim for the ball, not for the shins, right, Flavinho? Flavinho is a loyal client. Discipline.

Folks, discipline is essential. If we want to build the FALCONI of tomorrow, discipline is essential. When people think discipline, they usually think.

. . Order, and the military-- That's not it.

Discipline is, for instance, arriving on time. Well, why do we have to be on time? We have to start on time to finish on time.

Everyone wants to be home by 4 p. m. On a Friday!

We have flights to catch. They won't be waiting for us at the airport. This morning, however, we had some latecomers.

Is it ethical? It's not ethical. I'm sorry, I simply can't stand for that.

"Oh, I was out clubbing, I danced all night. " Great, then set your alarm for 6 a. m.

and be here by 9 a. m. , buddy.

Even if you're barely on your feet, be here. Those of you in here who know me very well know this, I'm early to all my appointments, I don't know how to be late. I love my neighbor so much I don't know how to be late, being late is being inconsiderate.

It is awful. At AMBEV, when we have board meetings, we go to Buenos Aires, Lima, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Canada, we go a bunch of places. Everywhere we go, regional teams want to show board members their work, for obvious reasons.

What happened was there was no discipline, meetings started late, 30-minute presentations turned into 50-minute ones. By the time regional teams were scheduled to speak, we had run out of time and they would stand there out in the hallway with their long faces on. I finally had it and had a Falconesque reaction.

I told them: "We can't go on like this. You're being inconsiderate. " That's when we came in with Paulinha Laudares and Raquelzinha Wolf to teach a workshop-- Do you remember that, Raquel?

I heard someone say "I do" over there. So, it was a workshop on communication and presentation for Brahma Directors, do you remember that? Now, everything runs on the dot.

If a meeting starts at nine, it actually starts a nine, punctually. If it ends at six, it actually ends at six, punctually. Latecomers are not admitted.

That's discipline. Okay, discipline is loving thy neighbor. When you're disciplined there's room for everyone.

Now, if you're late in the morning and our event starts half an hour late you set off a chain reaction that messes up the entire schedule. We cannot, collectively-- And I don't mean this individually, but collectively-- We cannot allow this to happen again. Right?

Latecomers were inconsiderate to those who were on time and were planted on their feet outside, waiting. Owner's mindset. Here's what that is.

You're not supposed to think of yourselves as employees. Want to know you why? This organization is a partnership, you own it.

Everyone has a chance of making partner everyone has a chance of making Director. Therefore, you own this organization. Treat it with care.

Why, it is nothing but loving thy neighbor. How many governments are counting on us, how many companies are counting on us to accomplish an awful lot? Let's treat this organization with care and dedication.

Learning and teaching. I believe that requires no explanation. I'd like everyone here, in this room, to be aware of the mental capacity concept.

This Maslow concept is quite simple. He was an American psychologist, who has already passed away. He believed human beings learn little by little, every day.

We can't learn an awful lot in just one day. Let's say you manage to learn 50 things in one day. That's just 50.

Let's say there comes a day where you don't learn anything. You think you can make up for it the next day, but you can't, you'll only have room for the next 50. A learning opportunity lost is an opportunity lost forever.

That's why I say every day you have to be learning. That's why one of our values is learning and teaching. A learning day lost is a learning day wasted.

If your leader or project leader, if you or your peers didn't teach each other that day, that's a wasted day. Thus, learning and teaching is loving thy neighbor. I don't want any of you here to waste a single day of your lives because of something you could've learned, but didn't.

We have to be learning at top speed. That's how the organization as a whole becomes capable of learning. In order to learn, we have to be humble.

If you don't know, ask. Am I right, or what? If you think you know everything, your mindset isn't geared for learning since you're a big know it all.

That's no use. If you're humble, you absorb everything at all times. So, learning and teaching is loving thy neighbor.

Cheerfulness. Folks, nobody deserves a sulker. Just think about it.

You're working with a group where all you get is this. . .

There's no telling whether they're angry or constipated, there's no telling what's what. Such an unpleasant environment, and it gets worse! We work out of other people's places, other people's companies.

We don't work out of our own place. We have a duty to be cheerful, to smile. My father was a salesman.

I think he must've been a good salesman. He never even finished elementary school. You know?

He sold gas, oil, and so on. He eventually got promoted to Manager, which he thought was amazing. Let's consider he never even finished elementary school.

My father was very wise. He liked teaching me through popular sayings. He'd tell me those sayings over and over.

He used to tell me this: "My son, don't you forget, a smile can unlock all doors. " Folks, that is a heck of a truth. I've been through thick and thin, those who know me will confirm that.

If you come in smile blazing, you disarm people. They drop their AK-45s right on the ground. You know?

So, let's be cheerful. Finally, simplicity. Folks, simplicity in all things.

Putting on a presentation? Cut back on the slides. Describing anything?

Make it simple. Want to know why? Getting ideas across is extremely hard.

The communication process is extremely hard. We should have been having communication workshops our whole lives, too bad we didn't. The communication process is extremely hard.

One of my biggest gains from being a Professor, was learning to communicate the hard way, was learning to teach. Professors spend their lives teaching. They have to learn how to communicate.

You learn by looking at people's faces. When you're explaining something and they look satisfied, it means they understand, that's how you learn what works. That's not a teaching method.

I learned it the hard way, whatever little knowledge I have. Communicating is very hard. If we don't strive for being simple and applying our techniques, then it becomes harder.

Simplifying everything we can works. Simple rules, simple things work. That's why I think these values work, because they all boil down to a single word.

Ethics. Loving thy neighbor. And nothing else.

Thank you, everyone.