Ready to the future

I would like to start by emphasizing our international and global vocation, but with our feet firmly planted in Brazil. It is worth highlighting our pride in being a Brazilian company that is increasingly making its mark abroad.

We navigate in a world undergoing profound transformation, where organizations, and more precisely the leaders who guide them, find themselves operating in a context characterized by complexity, uncertainty, and risk. Megatrends are creating significant impacts on business models and organizational structures, threatening to considerably transform the world in the coming years. Among these trends are:

• Climate and demographic changes.

• Digital revolution and artificial intelligence.

• Globalization.

• Sustainability.

• Self-management, with new team structures replacing old pyramidal or circular forms.

• Productivity and work simplification, providing a higher quality of life.

• Ability to attract and retain talent.

In such a dynamic context, new business models, new skills, and new organizational structures emerge. Leaders must think strategically to face these challenges. This requires a new type of leadership, more balanced and inclusive, capable of generating value not only for the company but for the entire community around it. We need more creativity, open-mindedness, digital skills, clear communication, and long-term vision.

We need to be clear and firm in our priorities, involving everyone so that each person understands the complexity of these times, as well as the need for continuous evolution and transformation of our organization. We must build connections between the past, present, and future, between the virtual world and the real world, between experienced workers and younger generations, between different cultures and equally diverse realities.

It is very important to study and understand the economic, social, and technological scenarios, investing incessantly in knowledge and skills that allow us to interpret what lies ahead. We need to consider:

• Future Vision: To understand the potential of the company and identify the appropriate strategies to achieve our goals.

• Creative Thinking: To stimulate ideas and innovation in all teams and at all levels, allowing us to see and adopt different perspectives.

• Focus on Execution: To react quickly to changes, adapting capacities, structures, business models, and working methods, essential for the growth of the organization. The best-performing companies spend more time executing strategies.

• Complexity Management: The ability to operate in a global business, overcoming limitations to adequately explore different opportunities, adopting a long-term strategic behavior, and developing new products, services, processes, and business models.

I firmly believe that these are the fundamental conditions that must be met by those who lead the company’s change and prosperity.

However, I would like to recognize the great value of our past. The legacy of the leaders and managers who preceded us is important to understand and preserve the successful knowledge and practices of the past, building a solid path for the future and ensuring the continuity of organizational success. Strengthening the already consolidated symbols and values will be very useful in a journey of continuous, consistent, and coherent transformation.

We need a solid foundation for continuous growth and innovation. Valuing the company’s history is essential for everyone to feel part of something bigger, which can lead to increased motivation, productivity, and creativity. Understanding and applying the legacy of the past is crucial to shaping a sustainable future and preserving our own legacy for future generations.

I have the impression that there is a future that is naturally reserved for us, based on our background, family, and the place where we live. But there is another future that only through entrepreneurship we will be able to create. And this is what excites me!

It is not just a future exclusively for those who build a company. There is intrapreneurship, carried out by people who, although they do not necessarily create a business, significantly contribute to improving the vision and expanding the company they are part of.

I conclude with a phrase I heard many years ago that summarizes the issue well: “Vision without action is merely a dream… action without vision just wastes time, but vision and action combined can change the world.”

GIOVANNI MAZZAFERRO | Chairman of Mazzaferro Group