World needs less toxic leaders in nations and companies, says author

“I agree with the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau when he says that man is born good, but society corrupts him”, says businessman João Paulo Pacífico, 43, author of the book “Be a leader as the world needs” (editor Harper Collins).

The founder of Grupo Gaia, which operates in the financial market, recently had an experience that made him realize how corrupt human beings can be. One of the group’s fronts is the securitization of credits for agribusiness: Gaia issues debt securities for farmers and offers them to investors, earning through intermediation.

As a certified company of “System B” — a global movement that seeks to redefine success in the economy, considering not only financial success but the well-being of society and the planet — Gaia worked for months to raise funds for an associated agricultural cooperative to the MST (Landless Rural Workers Movement).

Shortly before the launch of the operation, one of the companies involved in the operation said that it would abandon the business, which was no longer possible.

“I did a live with 2,500 investors interested in the project, which is wonderful: the MST is the largest producer of organic rice in Latin America, but there are people who still think they are bandits,” said Pacífico, in an interview with sheet. “About 5,000 investors joined the operation, which was a success, but until the last minute it was boycotted.” Because? “Pressure from traditional agribusiness agents, who did not want to see an MST project prosper.”

The example illustrates the worst situation within the “Diagram of Gaia”, as Pacifico classifies leaders and relationships: a mercenary leader (from the partner company, who wanted to please large agribusiness clients, who pay more), proposing a toxic relationship (Gaia should be subject to the decision of that company, going against what had been agreed).

But the diagram also points out other possible paths: a human leader, who thinks about the well-being of the team and customers, having an activist attitude, defending values ​​that go far beyond profit. “These are the leaderships that the world needs”, says Pacífico. “Activist and human people and organizations make a difference in the world, make everyone’s life better and the planet more sustainable and livable.”

The businessman says that activist and humane companies are not utopia, not even in the financial market, an environment in which Pacífico began his career in 1999, and recognizes it as one of the most toxic. As a good example, he cites the Dutch Triodos Bank. Founded in 1980, the bank “thinks about the cause before the profit” and considers money a means, not an end.

“Its mission is to make money a resource to enable positive social, environmental and cultural changes”, he says. “Without ceasing to have good profits and to be financially sustainable”, affirms Pacífico. Triodos, for example, even denies the entry of new clients if it doesn’t have good projects in hand at the moment to invest their money, she says.

“Triodos only lends money to people and organizations that make the world better and work in one of the following sectors: environmental, cultural and social, including housing”, says Pacífico. Furthermore, in the bank, the ratio between the highest and lowest salary is ten times. “About 40% of its managers are women, in a primarily male market. The bank also has refugee training and hiring programs,” she says.

In Brazil, Gaia strives to be on the same team as Triodos. With 80 employees, the company, created in 2009, seeks to “use capital market tools, profitably, to do good”, in the words of Pacífico. By linking causes to capital, it ceases to act in the mere rentier and speculative financial market. The group, which has already issued more than R$20 billion in bonds, does not disclose, however, its results.

‘Billionaires are an anomaly of the system’

“You have to measure how much profit you will have, so as not to seek it at any cost”, says Pacífico. “Of course, every company needs to make a profit to survive, but the money it earns doesn’t define it. It can — and should — go far beyond that,” says the businessman, who considers billionaires a “system anomaly.” “It’s something out of the ordinary, in a world that is starving”, he says, noting that there is also a lot of marketing around good purposes.

​ “What we see most today is ESG washing”, he says, referring to companies that only do marketing involving the best practices of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), without actually committing to change. “But today, with social networks, it is easier to know the truth.”

In Pacifico’s opinion, everything depends on choices based on values, especially when you’re a leader. “In a recent survey I promoted on LinkedIn, with more than 5,000 participants, I asked who had a toxic boss and 89% said they do, 8% don’t but know who has, 2% never had and 1% consider themselves toxic” he says.

“Toxic leaders cause damage to the team, because they can’t see people’s potential, they only see weaknesses. They have an abusive profile, are authoritarian and can be aggressive and arrogant, they don’t listen to criticism, always want their opinion to prevail and exert pressure constant on the team, making it even more difficult for employees to develop. These leaders have a fixed mindset, that is, they focus on results, not effort”, writes Pacífico.

Toxic leadership compromises the entire team, which, even if it proves to be productive, will not deliver quality work and, little by little, contaminates the company, the community, and society as a whole. “Hence so many burnout cases, as we’ve seen, and more people questioning the nature of their work,” he says.

It is not difficult to identify leaders with a toxic role in society, often at the head of nations — such as Jair Bolsonaro and Vladimir Putin, says Pacífico. “But the important thing is that each of us adopts a positive attitude, because ultimately we are all leaders, as we have the power to influence our surroundings”, he says.

BE A LEADER AS THE WORLD NEEDS

Price BRL 49.90
Author john paul pacific
Publishing company HarperCollins (336 pages)