Name: Luis Alberto Orozco

Title: Founder and CEO

Organisation: Doble B Spirits

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Luis's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

The most challenging aspect I have encountered as a leader is being able to create a balance between people, profit, and time. It is crucial to consider that people are indispensable in achieving the goals set as a leader to provide the organization with the highest possible profitability, the best product or service, and the growth that often becomes a trap to push people to give more of themselves, which is fine, but there always needs to be a balance. Finding the equilibrium in terms of people, teams, raw materials—being somewhat of a soothsayer for growth planning and knowing which paths to take—is essential

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

It's a good question that surely takes me back to my childhood. I grew up surrounded by many cousins and friends. We used to choose which game to play, establish rules through consensus, settle disputes, create conflicts, and then resolve them to start playing. Changing the rules of the game as it progressed—that's where I believe my journey as a leader began.

If we talk about the industry, I started as a production supervisor, and from there, you are given a certain level of control. The interesting part was that I was supervising people who were the age of my dad and even my grandfather. You had to have control over them and deliver results.

I became their leader when I started seeking their advice, asking them to teach me what they knew, respecting their time and limitations, advocating for them within the company, providing alternative options for getting things done, inventing machines and tools to make their work easier, helping them build a team, and not paying attention to rumors or things without evidence."

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

The use of a planner helps structure my day and week, always keeping clear what the monthly and 5-year goals are. I plan the upcoming workweek every Friday afternoon or Saturday morning

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

Oh wow, I think every day brings a new learning experience in both professional and personal aspects of life. Without a doubt, not judging people by their appearance is a good lesson. Another one is always having a plan B and the ability to put it into action as soon as possible. You must have the skill to listen to your inner voice, your intuition, but at the same time, you should be familiar with numbers, finances, and everything around you in your field of expertise and among your neighbors or competitors."

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

"Make Your Bed" by William H. McRaven was undoubtedly one of my first books that helped me become a better leader, not underestimating myself and approaching tasks fearlessly. Another impactful read was "Trillion Dollar Coach" by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, which talks about the leadership of Bill Campbell, one of the most important CEOs in history, and his influence on global giants like Apple and Google.

The most valuable aspect of this book is that it aids in building high-performance teams by instilling self-confidence, empowering them, and granting authority commensurate with their responsibilities. It encourages a disruptive approach to shaping rules, fostering creativity, and encouraging individuals to think and act more strategically. It emphasizes focusing energy on what matters and executing meaningful actions.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Do what matters, focus on your team, build high-performance teams, trust everyone but always double-check your numbers, keep studying all the time, even if it's something you already know, just to keep your mind sharp.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

This question is good; it makes me go back and think carefully. Which one of all the experiences I've lived through should I choose, here's one significant story that comes to mind for this leadership journey. It was a long time ago in one of my early roles as the head of an entire department with over 100 people. During a crisis, we had to let go of more than 50% of everyone involved in that wonderful company with a total of over 600 employees. What do you do when there's a list to deliver?

What do you do when you've invested so much in forming a high-performance team that broke all performance records, not just within the company but for the entire industry? Dear readers, this is where you often have to act with reason and select very meticulously. The first 5 are chosen quickly – absentees, lazy individuals, irresponsible ones – and you do it without remorse. You also quickly pick your top performers, but to narrow down to only stars?

Clearly, you're building your dream team, but when you have such a great team, it becomes challenging to choose. We analyzed each and every opportunity they could have outside, who would adapt the quickest, who would be the least affected. That's how we managed to do something different.