PREFACE

A Cuban gentleman

I met Luis Echarte almost fifteen years ago, in 1998, in a stock market meeting of Group Elektra, in a tour of the Elektra University, as it was then called, a training center of wide capacity. At first sight he stroke me as an interesting guy, but that was all.

I have been a stock market analyst for some years now, and since it is fairly common to meet top-level corporate executives in the financial field, I did not pay much attention.

But life takes many a twist and, from that moment, I ran into Luis on several occasions and conferences with financial analysts. This way I gradually got to know him. At the time, he was CFO of Group Elektra. I never thought meeting Luis would change my life.

In May 2001 I attended a financial conference organized by TV Azteca, in New York, with stock market analysts behind closed doors. There, I had the chance to establish an open dialog with several executives, such as Luis Echarte, and even with Ricardo Salinas, the mythical founder of Group Salinas, a diversified Corporation with business in ten countries and with a staff of more than 75,000 employees.

Just after this meeting, Echarte invited me to work with him. I felt honored with the prospect of joining this almost mythical team. Ricardo Salinas was already a legend in the business world, due to his singular strategies, somehow risky, and to his audacious executives.

By 2001 Echarte, the famous Cuban executive, formerly president of Bacardi, had already gained prestige in the Mexican corporate world, due to his striking talent to solve the most important conflicts that Group Salinas had had to face. Within the years he solved a lot more, and I was fortunate to be involved and to understand his outstanding way of managing conflict.

I have worked with Luis since July 2001, and during all this years his vitality has always been surprising; even when, in 2003, he was diagnosed with cancer. It could be said that Echarte is hyperactive, maybe a bit paranoiac in a good and business-like manner. The phrase that sums up Echarte’s attitude could be: “do not put off until tomorrow what you could have accomplished yesterday”.

There is a story that pictures his hyperactivity. Once, on a business trip to Los Angeles while we were working for Azteca America, he invited me to stay at his apartment in Santa Monica —of course, as long as we speared the company a night in the hotel. I was in a deep sleep when Luis woke me up and, gently but firmly, he said it was very late. Astonished, I muttered: “I am sorry I fell asleep, what time is it?” “It is 5:00 am, shit, time to workout, don’t you workout? Get dressed”, the boss ordered. A couple of minutes later we were at the gym, taking a spinning class.

From Luis I also learned to travel light. He never checks his bag to save time and get out of the airport faster.

We should not be misled by his inner hurry; Luis Echarte has also a sharp capacity of reflection —a cigar in his hand, of course—, to understand people’s motives, to act as a mediator and, last but not least, to make bad taste jokes. Notwithstanding the complexity of the situation he is facing, he always founds the comical in it. In fact, I think that all these abilities together have allowed him to solve serious conflicts during his business career.

I have seen him face top-level executives of Fortune 500 companies, with which they have serious businesses, and break the ice from the very first meeting with a joke that may seem inappropriate, but at the end becomes very effective to change the mood of the audience. I have also seen him irritated, firm on his beliefs, but always eager to go to yoga class, —or box training?— after a hard work day. With Echarte I have played tennis, baseball, football; we have spent evenings smoking excellent cigars and drinking fine Cabernet as I listen to his thoughts and stories. It is a great pleasure working that way. But most important have been his teachings: in eleven years shared with Luis Echarte I have learned many things: 1) work can be enjoying, but it can never be neglected; 2) problems should never be avoided, they must be faced from the moment we are aware of them; 3) you do not have the answer to all, but there is always someone who has what you need at the time; you should look for the right help and not feel ashamed to ask any kind of questions; 4) a conflict is good to keep things moving; 5) when you cannot think clearly anymore, relax, exercise and clear your mind; and 6) the most important: never stop being a gentleman.

Luis is gentle, discreet and brutally honest, he always goes right to the point. He is an absolute old-school Cuban gentleman.

It has been a privilege to work with Luis Echarte. I hope that this book imparts his teachings to the new generation of fledgling executives.

Héctor Romero
CEO of Signum Research