Guided by the motto he has adopted as embodying the spirit of
Oxford Leadership Academy Brazil, "Inspire and Execute", Rui
Francisco de Paula, the Executive Country Manager, has not been
letting the grass grow under his feet.
From a standing start in early 2009 he has turned the branch
office in Sao Paulo into one of the most active in
the region, with the full and able support of OLA's Relationship
Manager for Latin America, Miguel Gowland.
- Chairman and CEO Brian
Bacon has visited the country three times over the course of
the year, and together with Senior Fellow Ken O'Donnell has led Strategic Focusing workshops with
the FIEP (Federation of Industries of the State of
Paraná) and Brazilian food company
Nutrimental. In August he addressed over 1200 CEOs
and entrepreneurs at the Parana State Industries Conference. In
addition to this, in a speech at a private breakfast meeting for 40
HR executives he announced the agreement that OLA and UNINDUS would
work together to develop leadership skills in the Brazilian
business community.
OLA CEO and Chairman Brian Bacon at the
FIEP conference
- Oxford Leadership Academy is playing a key role in Brazil's
drive towards sustainability and innovation. In July a workshop
organised by the CNI (National Confederation of
Industries) brought together 80 senior business leaders
from all over the country to consider the first draft of a white
paper written by Ken O'Donnell pinpointing the key criteria that
will make Brazil a global leader in this area. The finalised
document was drafted following a conference attended by 500 CEOs
and senior executives in August, a conference which Brian concluded
with a keynote address. The white paper is due to be submitted to
President Lula in November, and is designed to ensure the release
of state funding which will make the sustainability and innovation
agenda a reality for Brazilian business.
- The above and others bring to 13 the number of projects
designed to facilitate organisational strategic realignment which
Rui has led across Brazil since he took the reins.
Integrating Mind-Mapping into the Strategic Focusing
process
Over
1700 executives have attended OLA events.
- Ken O'Donnell has led the training of a select group of
consultants who have joined OLA Brazil over the last few months. We
are delighted to welcome Eduardo Bonfanti, Cristina
Camargo, Armando Rodrigues, Fernando Polignano, Maxwel Martins da
Silva, Rodrigo Ambros, Erileuza Mendes, Vania Bueno, Sueli da
Rocha, Flavia Rodrigues, Patricia Buzolin, Sandra Pitman,
and Daniel Castello to the OLA community.
- OLA Brazil has run a number of open and in-house sessions of
the highly successful Self Managing
Leadership® Programme. Rui and his team play an integral role
in organising and running the Latin American programmes of global
paints giant Akzo Nobel's "Ignite the Spirit" Leadership
Development strategy, which is facilitated by Oxford
Leadership Academy. Leadership
Journeys bringing together top leaders from Akzo Nobel's
regional business units were run in May and September, and two more
will be taking place at the end of November.
Rui
Francisco and Ken O'Donnell
Crucially, and gratifyingly, feedback from OLA
programme participants evaluating content and delivery has averaged
at 4.78 out of a possible 5.
Rui has identified the key values which will inform every aspect
of OLA's activities:
- Working to make a better world
- Reliability, transparency, developed ethical sense
- Respect for the environment
- Committment and engagement
- Build long-term relationships based on open communication
Rui's business plan for OLA Brazil positions the company
in its natural place at the very top end of business and strategic
consulting, and ensures that Oxford Leadership Academy is set to be
a major agent of positive change for communities in Brazil and
beyond.