Fabio Teixeira – Learn to say No

[00:00:08] Siebe Vanderzee: Hello and welcome to our program 10 Lessons Learned, where we talk to interesting people from all over the world about their interesting experience and the lessons they have learned.
[00:00:19] Siebe Vanderzee: My name is Siebe Van Der Zee and I’m your host. I’m based in Phoenix, Arizona, in the beautiful Grand Canyon State, where I’m also known as the Dutchman in the desert.
[00:00:29] Siebe Vanderzee: Our guest today is Fabio Teixeira Fabio Teixeira is an experienced global business executive, a corporate board member, and a successful entrepreneur. he is the owner president and CEO of Gavi Excellence and Viga Excellence, managing a team of 30 franchised locations under the brands Supercuts and Costcutters, providing more than one and a half million haircuts.
[00:00:57] Siebe Vanderzee: Amazing. Born and raised in Brazil, Fabio worked in senior leadership positions in companies such as Chevron, Ensco, and Atlas Copco. He has worked on assignments in Brazil, Angola, Nigeria, China, Europe, and the United States. No surprise, perhaps, Fabio speaks multiple languages. he also serves on the board of directors for the March of Dimes.
[00:01:21] Siebe Vanderzee: You can learn more about Fabio Teixeira on our website, 10lessonslearned. com. Hello, Fabio. Thank you for joining us. How are you doing?
[00:01:32] Fabio Teixeira: Hello, Sibe. thank you so much. I’m doing very well. very excited to be here with you and, your team. I think it’s a great opportunity to share some of my lessons learned.
[00:01:42] Siebe Vanderzee: Absolutely. And I’m glad you’re part of it. I was so impressed. If I look at your career transition, of course, born and raised in Brazil, residing in the United States. You’ve lived in multiple countries. You worked for some very large global organizations. And now you have started your entrepreneurship, with cost cutters and super cuts.
[00:02:06] Siebe Vanderzee: how did that evolve in your mindset from working for large companies to become an entrepreneur in the franchise, organization?
[00:02:16] Fabio Teixeira: Well, it becomes like a naturally, right? I think there’s no rules or no paths that you can say when you start your career, right? So, since the beginning, I always went to follow international career.
[00:02:29] Fabio Teixeira: So, from the university to my first jobs and the initial tasks I took, after graduation, I always were pursuing opportunities for international career. I always worked for a multinational, for international companies in Brazil, and, that I started to get my first assignments when I was a philosophical.
[00:02:49] Fabio Teixeira: I had the opportunity to live in Europe, in Belgium, Sweden. But I always said, hey, now I want to go globally, right? I want to pursue that. when I was like four or five years in my career as an engineer, I pursued my MBA and, one of the best places to do MBA is in US.
[00:03:09] Fabio Teixeira: when I was looking for some, for the schools to apply, I was accepted to buy, to go to Thunderbird, which is number one international management. So, it was a perfect match. For what I was pursuing, what I was preparing at that point. And after I joined, I graduated from Thunderbird, came the opportunity to go to one of the best industries, the energy industry, through Texaco that few years later become Chevron, which it could, compliments my, my desire to go globally,
[00:03:40] Fabio Teixeira: a couple of years ago, after being to different levels, different companies internationally, you know, was a time in life that I want to be close to my family, you know, a little bit more, my dad was sick and my kids were in high school getting ready for, university. So, in order to, to calm down a little bit, because I had too much travels, too much moving around.
[00:04:03] Fabio Teixeira: in previous, corporate jobs, I decided to, to leave the corporate for, for, at that moment and pursue a business. I could not just sit and stay old, right? And, when I start to look for opportunities,
[00:04:16] Fabio Teixeira: I kept my very open mind to see what was available. I was looking for something with P& L, something that I could manage, but at the same time, could continue to pursue other activities.
[00:04:26] Fabio Teixeira: I was not creative enough to open my own business, right? So, I started to pursue franchise and came to this opportunity to buy a group of franchise. I never thought I would have like in the, in the hair industry, but when I look at the business model, I thought it was a good fit for that time.
[00:04:44] Fabio Teixeira: And it start to, to go to that transition from corporate to business owner and entrepreneur. I never left corporate a hundred percent because I still work in the board. I still do a lot of mentoring for small business and medium companies. I also work with some startups, and I think it’s a point in life where you can start to balance.
[00:05:11] Fabio Teixeira: Entrepreneurship with serving and sharing your experience through other type of, I think it’s like boarding or mentoring or consulting. And that’s where I am today. it’s very rewarding to be in that phase of life right now.
[00:05:27] Siebe Vanderzee: Yeah, I like it. It makes sense. And of course, you mentioned the importance of family, right?
[00:05:33] Siebe Vanderzee: Related to your parents, related to your children that helped you motivate to start focusing on your franchise organization. at the same time, I agree that hands on experience can be very helpful while you’re serving on a board of directors. I can see that. So that’s interesting.
[00:05:50] Siebe Vanderzee: I want to, talk about the 10 lessons.
[00:05:53] Siebe Vanderzee: Before we get to the 10 lessons, I have another question. Is there something that you have learned in your life, in your career that You wish you would have learned when you were 25 or 30 years old.
[00:06:05] Fabio Teixeira: It’s a very good question, Because I think career and life is very evolving,
[00:06:10] Fabio Teixeira: You always keep learning and improving, sometimes you think you’re improving, you have to step back and learn again. reflecting on your question, I think there is one that is part of my 10 lessons learned Learn to say no, I think sometimes in your early career, you are so eager to do things, to show that you can do things, or even if you don’t know, sometimes you want to pursue that you may say yes to a lot of things and your bandwidth becomes too tight,
[00:06:42] Fabio Teixeira: So, I don’t think that impacted the way my career was growing and developing, but knowing what I know today, there are maybe a couple of situations where I should have said no, or at least questioned a little bit more before I took over that task or that challenge. But I think it also was part of the learning, right?
[00:07:02] Fabio Teixeira: Because you want to show service. You want to show that you can do things and that energy you want to do. but you have to be careful.
[00:07:10] Siebe Vanderzee: you’re excited. You’re looking forward. And at the same time, you have to manage all the other commitments that you have and the time that you have available.
[00:07:18] Siebe Vanderzee: that makes a lot of sense.
[00:07:20] Fabio Teixeira: Yeah, it’s difficult to say no sometimes for your supervisor, right? he’s my boss, right? He’s asking for something, and you don’t want to say no. You want to say no. I can take it and sometimes you can overwhelm yourself or you may.
[00:07:33] Fabio Teixeira: create some challenges.

[00:07:34] Lesson 1: Trust but Verify

[00:07:34] Siebe Vanderzee: Absolutely. Well, let’s take a look at your lessons and, starting with lesson number one, trust but verify. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:07:44] Fabio Teixeira: That’s a very interesting one, right? Because I was doing some of this. But I never taught in that way until, one of my last supervisors, like probably seven, eight years ago, started to use this sentence Trust but Verify became very famous during the Reagan administration, right?
[00:08:00] Fabio Teixeira: In the context of the nuclear disarmament treaties, which is US and Soviet Union agreed to, reduce the arsenals. but part of the threat was to have a compliance, to have a verification system, right? and when you start to reflect about that, almost everything you do, you may need to have a trust but verify.
[00:08:24] Fabio Teixeira: Think about when you get sick, right? you go to the doctor and there’s a treatment or something more serious. you trust that doctor. but you go to a second doctor for opinion, right? imagine today we have so many Coders doing the job, sometimes remotely, they don’t even meet each other.
[00:08:40] Fabio Teixeira: They don’t know which one is in a different country, different place. But you have process when you review those codes and put together, right? Airplanes, right? Pilots and copilots. If you see part of their process, they do the same thing to make sure that things are in place. Now, it’s very relevant.
[00:09:00] Fabio Teixeira: Now, I was the VP for HSE, the Health, Environment and Safety in the energy industry, Verification is key, Even if you have good tools, you have good policies, good procedures, you need to have ways to verify and be sure you are in compliance. It also helps a lot of driver accountability because Those that you’ll be involved with know that you’ll be verified, will be, will be checked, right?
[00:09:29] Fabio Teixeira: it’s a, it’s a good, you know, and sometimes you can think about even small things, right? Think about your small task you get in your job, right? Early in your career and, your supervisor give a deadline of a month from now. But. And before that, he or she will say, okay, let’s touch base one week from now, show me your working progress.
[00:09:49] Fabio Teixeira: This is a kind of trust verify, right? It doesn’t mean that they don’t trust the employee or the team they are working, but it is a way to ensure that you are in the right path. You are in the right lane. You are doing what is supposed to be. Like in one of my companies where we have the franchise, right?
[00:10:07] Fabio Teixeira: We have to comply with the franchisor. We have to comply with the operation systems, we have to comply with the brand. It’s part of being a franchisee. So, the franchisor has several systems to validate that the franchisees are doing the right thing. And in our company, we have some process to validate it.
[00:10:26] Fabio Teixeira: It can be a simple one like, Okay. every month or every two months, you have to change the collaterals for marketing, right? the things that go to the windows. Although we communicate to the teams, they said they’ll be doing, you know, we ask them, okay, after your post take a picture and send to your supervisor, right?
[00:10:44] Fabio Teixeira: Now, it can be very complex, like, in the Reagan administration for the nuclear, weapons, but also can be very simple, like just to see if you are in the, in the right path, right? I have a funny story, right? When we were living in Nigeria, sometimes during the weekends we go to the beach,
[00:10:59] Fabio Teixeira: And have fun, the family and different families. when you go there, we would buy, coconuts, right? sometimes to enjoy on the beach, or sometimes you buy a bunch of coconuts to take home, and you can enjoy during the week. And there’s one, one weekend, you know, we were with another family and there were some, teenagers, selling coconuts on the beach and said, ah, that’s great.
[00:11:20] Fabio Teixeira: You know, guys love that. And you get so excited, and we’re helping, and supporting, and we didn’t even check, we always have to negotiate the price there. So, we negotiate the price, the kids, and had fun. And you just open the trunk of the car, and they put the coconuts in, right?
[00:11:35] Fabio Teixeira: And that’s great good price, good things and stuff. To keep this short, to arrive home and start to try to open the coconuts, all of them were dry. All. And we called the other family. So, we were scammed by the kids. it was funny because, we didn’t even check, you know, shaking the coconuts as you usually do, right?
[00:11:53] Siebe Vanderzee: Shake it, there’s water. But it’s a great example. We just trust, you know, we’re dealing with the kids and the teenager And so we got a bunch of dry coconuts Well, lesson number one applies, trust but verify.
[00:12:07] Fabio Teixeira: I always try to summarize why this is important, right?
[00:12:09] Fabio Teixeira: when you trust but verify, you avoid last minute surprises. You ensure safety nets. You drive compliance. And you drive accountability. if you keep that in mind when you trust, but verify, things go smoothly.
[00:12:26] Siebe Vanderzee: I want to, add to that, that sometimes it is good to be prepared not to necessarily mistrust, but to be aware that you may not get the whole story or the true story.
[00:12:39] Siebe Vanderzee: you don’t want to assume that somebody is treating you poorly or is lying to you, but you have to be aware. that these things can happen. sometimes it’s by mistake, but sometimes it’s intentional. So, trust but verify. I think it’s a very good lesson to start with.

[00:12:57] Lesson 2: Never Give up.

[00:12:57] Siebe Vanderzee: lesson number two, never give up, never give up? Aren’t there situations where you’re better off giving up?
[00:13:07] Fabio Teixeira: And maybe it’s not giving up is a stepping back. Right. But I, you know, I learned this since I was young, I saw my dad, he was always. Pursuing different things in different ways. sometimes you get some no’s, you get some obstacles, and you go through them.
[00:13:25] Fabio Teixeira: I’m surprised nowadays to see how many people stop when they hear the first no and have the first issue, If you see everything we do, most of the time there are challenges, there are issues, you know, there are some obstacles, right? It’s normal. It’s part of life. Life is part of the project.
[00:13:45] Fabio Teixeira: And I think there are some individuals, that have that incorrect thought that, okay, I think it goes perfect, right? I want to open a business. I go and apply for my LLC, get my EIN, start to buy my supplies. I start to sell and suddenly all the clients start to buy, and I become profitable in the first month, right?
[00:14:06] Fabio Teixeira: reality is, unfortunately it’s not, right? things will come, in your life, and it can be applied personally, in sports, for small things, for big things, right? And you have to keep fighting I can quickly remember a few examples, like Pelé is one of the best.
[00:14:22] Fabio Teixeira: when he started his career, he went to the big soccer teams in Brazil. Most of them said no. they said, you are too small, too skinny, you don’t know what you’re doing, until a team called Santos gave a chance to him and everything became history, right?
[00:14:39] Fabio Teixeira: Michael Jordan, he was rejecting his team. from his high school team initially, right? I can imagine the coach that said no at that time. That’s crazy. Walt Disney, He was fired from a newspaper job because they said he lacked imagination and had no good ideas. And he failed in a different, until he, he, he started his empire.
[00:15:05] Fabio Teixeira: Sometimes we see just the good side of things and we don’t see what’s happened to be where the successful people were. very few exceptions, right? you have to keep going, in my case, I always try to plan in advance, we have to think in advance. What are the alternatives?
[00:15:24] Fabio Teixeira: What ifs? You have to expect the unexpected. You have to be prepared for that. You have to think about that in advance in a way that you, you can be ready for the obstacles now and have the mindset for that. if you do that, you start to be comfortable with the no’s. You have to be comfortable with this stuff.
[00:15:44] Fabio Teixeira: I’m not saying you have to be happy when the challenge comes, but if you are comfortable, if you are planned for that, if you have a plan B, plan C, plan D, you don’t stop in the first steps, right? There is a point, like you said, it’s never, well, there are points that you try all the alternatives, and you understood that, okay, maybe it’s time to stop the project.
[00:16:06] Fabio Teixeira: It’s time to do, if you didn’t explore everything, it’s difficult, to drop things and it can be for everything. I have an example that’s very interesting. my oldest son, went to his annual checkup a few years ago, right? he was 19 years old.
[00:16:21] Fabio Teixeira: he went to the annual checkup, regular stuff. A few months later, we get a bill, 500 bill for blood tests and a few things, right? Yeah. Which shouldn’t be charged to him, which was in his name because he’s 19. and because there was no insurance in the charts. So, I said, okay, you have to start to call because I cannot call on your behalf.
[00:16:45] Fabio Teixeira: So, I’ll be with you next door, right? first time you call, it’s one hour, one and a half hour to try to resolve. You think you resolved, but it was not. Three months later, start to get another bill. So, he calls again. So, this was like for almost a year, right? after three, four calls, he started to be frustrated,
[00:17:04] Fabio Teixeira: I said, you did a summer job. Get 500 from your bank account, pay, and you don’t have to call anymore. He said, let’s keep calling. Never give up. So, he had the motivation, right?
[00:17:19] Fabio Teixeira: First, we’re not wrong. Second. we have enough artists now, but yeah, it’s work, right? You have to call, you have to talk to 10 people every time you have to explain the same thing multiple times, but this applies for everything, right? And, and, and as we, we wrap up this Lessons Learned, I think never give up.
[00:17:37] Fabio Teixeira: Help us to learn to be very curious and ask questions because you need to be prepared. Start to become comfortable with diversity, you learn how to plan and be prepared for things, for good or bad things, but also helps you to deliver results, help you to achieve personal and professional goals.
[00:17:57] Fabio Teixeira: that’s the way I’ve summarized Never Give Up.

[00:18:00] Lesson 3: Cash is King

[00:18:00] Siebe Vanderzee: great lesson. Thank you. lesson number three, cash is king. I agree and I have questions, but what are your thoughts on that one? Cash is king.
[00:18:12] Fabio Teixeira: Well, I think I learned it my own way more reflective is important.
[00:18:17] Fabio Teixeira: It’s having liquidity, having access to cash quickly and readily available, this can help in a personal or business situation, if you go back to the 2008 crisis or more recently the COVID 19 crisis. either we have to shut down business or cash, you know, was not available, right?
[00:18:37] Fabio Teixeira: Or it become very expensive, right? To do the financing. So, the companies that were able to have a strong cash reserve, to have liquidity, they were able to keep running, to keep the operations. In some cases, to take advantage of that opportunity and do acquisitions. Or sometimes when you have cash on hand, you can invest for growth while others are struggling,
[00:19:02] Fabio Teixeira: if you are buying a car, right? in a moment like today where the interest rate is very high, either you pay much more, if you have to finance because of the cost of, Money, or if you have cash, you can give a better down payment, or sometimes not even to use, but to put you in a better position to negotiate better deals.
[00:19:26] Fabio Teixeira: Cash is very important. I keep telling my kids, you need to have some reserves personally, because sometimes, if you work in corporate, you can lose your job,
[00:19:35] Siebe Vanderzee: You need to have access to cash, right? personally, when I travel, I always have some emergency cash in the bags.
[00:19:42] Fabio Teixeira: I have a very interesting story that happened to us on that. when you were living in Africa, where it was complicated sometimes to use credit card, debt card. So, you had to have cash to do some transactions. As a company become more complicated because cash, cash is, even pet cash is, is, is an issue of compliance.
[00:20:01] Fabio Teixeira: So, you need to have very strict rules, but not necessarily when I say cash is king, you need to have the cash in hand, but you need to have in a bank account available to do that,
[00:20:10] Fabio Teixeira: Now, personally, it’s funny because I mentioned carrying cash one time, we were doing a trip. We lived eight years in Africa, so that’s, so we had a lot of experience in Africa, but we went to a very nice location with family in Tanzania, and everything went perfect for one week, until the time to depart.
[00:20:28] Fabio Teixeira: We arrive in the airport, and our flight was cancelled in the last minute. And nothing was arranged for going back to the hotel or anything else. we had to leave the country, we had to go, go back home. And we looked at options, no other flight, no hotels around. And we found a very, small costs, very small company that could fly us out from Tanzania with two, three stops, stop in Kilimanjaro and other places.
[00:20:54] Fabio Teixeira: but we had to pay in cash. four tickets. For a small airplane, not a private jet, low cost, so we carry some extra cash for emergencies, but never for four tickets usually. So, I start to open the bags from my wife, mine, my kids, because there is, you know, split around to not keeping everything.
[00:21:14] Fabio Teixeira: So, we could get enough, to get out on that, on that flight. it’s a good example, you know, you’re, you could be stranded the airport for 24 hours because we’re not ready for that. So, to me, it’s important to always keep a strong cash, cash position, liquidity. And that’s your position yourself for an NGU, for company growth, for turbulences, for capturing good opportunities.
[00:21:40] Fabio Teixeira: So

[00:21:40] Lesson 4: There is no Free Lunch

[00:21:40] Siebe Vanderzee: Lesson number four, there is no free lunch.
[00:21:44] Fabio Teixeira: my kids hear this from me all the time, the key point here is there’s always a trade-off, right? It doesn’t matter what your friends or business, you know, there’s some benefits change in kind or, you know, can be rewarding for what you have done.
[00:22:00] Fabio Teixeira: lunch is name, but it could be a perk or something else, you try to sign up for an app, they say free, But it’s a free trial, you have to put your credit card there, and after the trial is finished, automatically charge your credit card.
[00:22:14] Fabio Teixeira: you go to a grocery store on Saturdays and see the tasting moments the ladies or gentlemen with different products. the companies are trying to show you the new product they are launching, the new services. So, in the end, there is nothing for free, right?
[00:22:30] Fabio Teixeira: I mean, my dad would say when I come back home and say, hey, my boss bought lunch or gave me a new t shirt The company said, that’s great. But remember there’s no free lunch. They don’t recognize your hard work. they are keeping you motivated; they are keeping you incentivized to retain you.
[00:22:44] Fabio Teixeira: vendors paying lunch is a Common practice. what is important is to avoid that, is understand what’s being traded. Understand that you are in compliance, understand that you are legal. Understand that these kinds of things are common practice, but it has to be a win win situation.
[00:23:02] Fabio Teixeira: Sometimes there is no value from one side, so there is no reason to do that. Now, in fact, but in summary, right, to me it’s important because I’m sure that you understand what you are getting. I’m sure that what you’re stepping on when you’ve reflected, it helps you to identify the trade-offs, you know, what, what each one is getting here, help to find the win win situation, right?
[00:23:25] Fabio Teixeira: I think as, as, as we close is also take with a positive mindset. Several times, this is part of a recognition for your talent, for your hard working, you know, a recognition for your skills and is a way to retain and keep you motivated for what you’re doing.
[00:23:42] Siebe Vanderzee: I think it’s a great point. there are people around the world.
[00:23:47] Siebe Vanderzee: They feel entitled to special service or special treatment because, well, do you know who I am? I’m famous. I’m well known. I’m rich. ultimately, it may work in their favor in some situations, but the lesson you’re Sharing is indeed, there is no free lunch. some people are privileged.
[00:24:09] Siebe Vanderzee: That doesn’t mean every person is privileged. And that’s what you have to accept as a lesson. I like that.

[00:24:14] Lesson 5: Do not expect more from a person than what they can offer.

[00:24:14] Siebe Vanderzee: Let’s move on to lesson number five. Do not expect more from a person than what they can offer. do not expect more from a person than what they can offer.
[00:24:24] Siebe Vanderzee: What are your thoughts on that?
[00:24:26] Fabio Teixeira: Yeah, this came from when I was in university, a professor started to say that and I said, I don’t understand it very well until I start to go through my career, right? I think sometimes we, we have good coworkers, good employees, and they think they can do everything.
[00:24:41] Fabio Teixeira: you start to throw projects or try to promote. And, instead to help, you can hurt, right? I think it’s important that you understand the talents you have, the people you have, and see what are their potential, understand their potential. And sometimes they have the potential to grow, they have, they can do more things, but maybe they need more help, they need more training, they need to have the right people around them, right?
[00:25:08] Fabio Teixeira: I remember one time I was promoted. I didn’t have all the technical skills for that job. So, the company put a manager underneath me that was very technical, very knowledgeable on that and that to allow him to step up when I couldn’t and for me to learn those skills and do my job correctly.
[00:25:30] Fabio Teixeira: sometimes we hurt employees trying to, he’s a good engineer, so he can be a good manager and maybe he can, but you need to make sure we do the right things, right? also, if you need something done, get the busiest person to do that.
[00:25:44] Fabio Teixeira: And the reason I say that is, usually those who are busy in a good way, they are good at multitasking. They know how to prioritize things. So, it ties very well with the expectation from the person, right? So, you’re always knowing the company. Oh, if you need something done, go to Joe, go to Mary, right?
[00:26:02] Fabio Teixeira: Because they get stuff that they do in the right ways. they follow what needs to be done. But the most important thing those people do, they prioritize. They start to plan, have a, plan B, plan C, how to bypass things,
[00:26:17] Fabio Teixeira: And why this is important, right? I think to me it’s important ’cause avoid, surprise and stress. Sometimes you, you, you see people complain. We thought those people could do that and they can’t, but it’s not their fault. It’s the fault of whoever put them in that position, drive a better understanding of the people and employees that you are working with, because before we do anything support training, support the recognitions, ensure the tasks are done, right?
[00:26:41] Fabio Teixeira: So, I think that’s important too. That’s a lesson that I have been learning.
[00:26:45] Siebe Vanderzee: I like it. guiding people, training people, supporting people. but when you talk about the busiest person, does that person have the time available?
[00:26:57] Fabio Teixeira: Yeah, usually it does. And that’s when I say, Busy person, because those are people that understand how to ask questions, how to prioritize, right?
[00:27:07] Fabio Teixeira: Those that have like sometimes half of the day free, they are procrastinating, right? And they deliver everything for the last minute. Now, those who are busy, they know what they need to do. They know how to organize yourself. How to prioritize and they get things done. So that’s the kind of line.
[00:27:24] Siebe Vanderzee: Makes sense.

[00:27:25] Affiliate Break

[00:27:25] Siebe Vanderzee: We’re talking today with Fabio Teixeira an experienced global business executive, corporate board member, and successful entrepreneur sharing his list with his team. 10 lessons learned. I want to thank our affiliate partner Audible. Audible is an amazing, way to experience our program 10 Lessons Learned, but also books and other podcasts, allowing you to build a library of knowledge all in one place. You can start your free 30-day trial by going to audible trial.com/. 10lessonslearned, all lowercase, to get your free 30-day subscription.

[00:28:02] Lesson 6: Do not be afraid of having serious conversations.

[00:28:02] Siebe Vanderzee: All right, moving on. Lesson number six do not be afraid of having serious conversations. Why be afraid?
[00:28:10] Fabio Teixeira: I don’t know. But a lot of people don’t feel very comfortable and avoid the conversation and that’s a problem. in the work environment or even the family environment, you need to talk.
[00:28:21] Fabio Teixeira: we are adults. the way to resolve things most of the time is through conversations and conversations involve difficult talks, difficult items to do, right? I mean, to me, the first thing came to my mind is. Employees review, right? Performance review. Now, I had several situations where in my first performance review, I, I share feedback, you know, the positive ones and share the ones that you need to improve.
[00:28:47] Fabio Teixeira: In some cases, people need to understand what’s going on. I had an employee say, it’s the first time somebody said that. I thought that everything is doing okay. But you need to have those conversations. If somebody is doing something incorrect, you need to talk. Otherwise, they think, that’s the way to do it.
[00:29:02] Fabio Teixeira: most of the time, when you have those conversations, the people start to understand and do what they should be doing, right? If they decide to continue what they were doing, that’s a different conversation if you don’t have those conversations, you mislead, and people start to assume things that are incorrect.
[00:29:21] Fabio Teixeira: The same thing happened in boardrooms, right? I mean, boardrooms is a perfect environment where you have independent directors. And each one maybe have a different opinion, have different understanding of the subject. So, we need to create an environment which is open to listen to each other, is respectful to how we discuss the items, and each one can articulate, make their thinking very visible, and bring their pros and cons or their rationale behind that.
[00:29:53] Fabio Teixeira: And, and, and sometimes they are very clashing positions, but when you do that allows each part to understand. Where they came from, why they are bringing that and make a better decision and a better path forward. it’s a two ways conversation, right? It’s not only to tell something’s going wrong, but it’s a way to listen to each other.
[00:30:16] Fabio Teixeira: And sometimes, I never thought about that, and through these conversations you can improve. But don’t be afraid. Sometimes people are afraid to have, you know,
[00:30:26] Siebe Vanderzee: Well, sometimes people are, too nice. I learned many years ago, how to inform individuals that they are no longer working for the company.
[00:30:39] Siebe Vanderzee: Of course, from a human side you can say, oh, I got bad news, and I feel really bad But, no, you let a person know, we have decided that We want to, get rid of you.
[00:30:51] Siebe Vanderzee: We want to fire you. you observe the individual and you listen to their response. They may say. that’s too bad. They may be angry, but in a hard conversation, it’s a two-way street. You have to allow that person to express his or her emotions, concerns, and if you have to give bad news to someone, before you share the details, you say, oh, I feel really bad.
[00:31:19] Siebe Vanderzee: I wish it wasn’t that way. That is then, no longer relevant. Just give the information, observe the response to people. And I have been in those situations, and the emotional response, can vary a very long range of different responses, but again, it’s a good lesson and, yeah, you and I can talk about this much longer, but let’s,

[00:31:42] Lesson 7: Be proactive, take initiatives and make decisions.

[00:31:42] Siebe Vanderzee: let’s move along to lesson number seven, be proactive, take initiatives, make decisions, do not procrastinate.
[00:31:50] Fabio Teixeira: You see, some of my lessons are correlated, right? I mean, you can put in buckets, but they are correlated, right? So, to me, this is important in the sense is, a lot, we hear sometimes, oh, my company didn’t do this, or my dad didn’t do this, hey, you have to take initiative. You can take the ball in your hands, right?
[00:32:09] Fabio Teixeira: Oh, but it costs money or take time. Well, you have to make time. There are ways to. Choose to get the support you need to do a training. I mean, most of the developed countries, you have ways to finance your training or to do for free. You can access. So, if you want to get things done, if you want to move forward, you need to take initiatives.
[00:32:31] Fabio Teixeira: Training is a good example, right? You can build skills. Without waiting for somebody asking you to is it because they know the company may need or because some is a place that you want to go? But can be other things, right? I mean, you have to explore this path. Now, if you’re in a project, if you’re a project manager, if you’re part of the project, don’t come with the problem only, right?
[00:32:53] Fabio Teixeira: problems will come, but think about solutions, even if you cannot make the final decision, you come to your supervisor, you come to your board, you come to your company and say, hey, we have this issue. Acknowledge the issue. Understand the issue. myself or the team have talked about different alternatives, we want to discuss more and go forward with further options, or maybe somebody can propose something different, it’s important to be proactive, take the initiative and try to push.
[00:33:21] Fabio Teixeira: Now, the third one is make decisions, right? Because, I have seen cases where companies lose money or miss opportunities because you keep dragging to make the decision for different reasons. It can be because they don’t have enough information, because they always want something else. Oh, no, I’m not ready to make a decision.
[00:33:40] Fabio Teixeira: No, there’s a point in time you have to make a decision. Either it’s a yes or no, walk away, et cetera, but you need to do. And that title that don’t procrastinate because it is the opposite of be proactive, right? Those who procrastinate. Can be knowledgeable, but because they wait until the last minute, if a challenge come, you don’t have time to overcome, you don’t have a way to put your plan B in position and cause a lot of stress, right?
[00:34:05] Fabio Teixeira: When you have this situation. if you follow these lessons learned, right, you’re always helping the, the others, you’re always working the teamwork. You can always, you know, keep learning. Being proactive means also asking to join other projects. You know, you have your own projects. Ask it to, you want to learn something else.
[00:34:23] Fabio Teixeira: People love to have volunteers in their teams. Hey, I can spare two, three hours of my day or my week to help you guys It also helps you to be ahead of challenges and issues, right? So, it’s, I think it’s, it’s, it’s very relevant. And as you grow in your career, it’s very important that you be comfortable to make decisions.
[00:34:42] Siebe Vanderzee: Let me ask you, Fabio, is this something that you have learned and applied throughout your career? Because you have a very diverse career, we talked about that. so, being proactive, taking initiatives, is that something you did when you were in your 20s and in your 30s? Or is it something that you learned over time?
[00:35:02] Siebe Vanderzee: Or it’s just part of your personality?
[00:35:05] Fabio Teixeira: I believe it’s part of my personality because, from the beginning, I thought I always wanted to be in the global career, So I pursued an MBA in international management the company didn’t sponsor me, so I decided to do it.
[00:35:18] Fabio Teixeira: Exactly. Sometimes you have to take the risk. You have to make personal decisions to grow, to pursue your dreams, pursue your challenge.

[00:35:28] Lesson 8: Learn to say no.

[00:35:28] Siebe Vanderzee: Lesson number eight, learn to say no. Why is that so difficult?
[00:35:33] Fabio Teixeira: Uh, that’s uh, that’s interesting. I mean, like I said, that’s one thing I probably could have learned earlier,
[00:35:41] Fabio Teixeira: when you think about early career, it’s very common, right? whenever your supervisor asks you to say yes, no, let’s do, I can do, because they want to show terms. You want to show you can do things. We have all that energy, but what I see is sometimes people abuse that,
[00:35:55] Fabio Teixeira: Sometimes supervisors, coworkers, friends, take the opportunity and start to do things that there’s no need for you to do, either because It’s not priority, it’s because it’s their job, right, or something they don’t like to do, and they say, hey, give it to Siebe or Fabio, because they always say yes,
[00:36:13] Fabio Teixeira: I don’t suggest we need to be the person that people say, oh, he’s the no guy, right? I’m not saying exactly what I think is important to know and learn how to say no in the right time. Now, if your supervisor comes say, hey, I need to get this done by the next two weeks, but your plate is full and you’re struggling, ask the question, okay, you just gave me two tasks last week.
[00:36:40] Fabio Teixeira: I’m finishing those. Which one is priority? Should I drop one and do the third one? Or can you help me with more resources? Because I cannot take these three for the deadline when you ask that question, you’re not saying no yet,
[00:36:52] Fabio Teixeira: But you ask these questions. Whoever is giving the task, you reflect and say, Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot I gave that to you, or you’re right, I mean, it’s too much stuff, but this is more priority than the other one, so stop project number two, and let’s prioritize this one, and I’ll get John or Mary to help you, to get this done, right?
[00:37:12] Fabio Teixeira: So, I think it’s very relevant. It’s an art. Now, even for negotiations, right? sometimes you want to sell something or make an agreement, and you start to accept everything else, you have to be careful, right? And sometimes not to say no in the front of the other party immediately, but take some time to digest and see if it financially makes sense or from, for, for the, For you, your, objectives, make sense that agreement or to sell in that situation, sometimes after you digest and talk to others, discuss, it may worthwhile to say yes for a fee or sometimes say, Hey, yeah, this one doesn’t work is a no, but.
[00:37:50] Fabio Teixeira: We have something in between that may work for both parts.
[00:37:54] Siebe Vanderzee: I can see in a business environment, if you are a junior manager, it is tough to say no. But if I think about a family situation and you’re dealing with children, you have an interest in making sure the children are safe, taken care of.
[00:38:11] Siebe Vanderzee: So, it’s easy, to tell your son or daughter, no, you cannot do this. you have to be clear to protect them, to be, in their interest in a corporate environment. Especially if you’re in a junior position, it is tough to say no.
[00:38:27] Siebe Vanderzee: At the same time, if you’re convinced in your mindset that I have to say no for whatever reason, that makes sense. And it is something that, you have to learn. You have to try it out, test it out and see what the response is and say, whoops, next time I should do it differently. But it is a good process.

[00:38:44] Lesson 9: Positive mind set.

[00:38:44] Siebe Vanderzee: So, good lesson there. Lesson number nine. Positive mindset, have a positive mindset, that sounds good but how do you get there? Are you an optimist?
[00:38:56] Fabio Teixeira: Well, I am, but I see that as a positive and growth mindset. I think it’s a combination of the two together. So, mindsets are beliefs about abilities, right?
[00:39:06] Fabio Teixeira: They are significant because your mindset define your beliefs. So, a positive mindset, your attitude is about being optimistic and expecting success. Now it doesn’t mean success immediately, right? But you already start to think about, start to imagine, right? Is the practice or keep focusing and say, hey, I have this podcast today.
[00:39:28] Fabio Teixeira: No, what’s the success there, right? And start to think about how to do that. Or start to think about that project. Start to think about that business meeting, right? So, you think the best should happen, not the worst. You need to understand what if, and what’s the worst to be prepared, but your main outcome is the positive mindset.
[00:39:48] Fabio Teixeira: There’s a gentleman called Josh Parnell. from Limitless Leadership. he did a good presentation for one of our Leadership Meetings last year, and he said, Thoughts dictate emotions, emotions dictate actions, actions dictate legacy. So, and that’s the mindset, right? the growth mindset with the positive mindset, look at situations with a get to versus a have to.
[00:40:14] Fabio Teixeira: So, we go into more, to more, optimistic approach, and it creates this positive intent in, in intent, right? So, you really have your mind pushing for that. I apply this all the time. Know every time I, I have my, my can be even a simple meeting if my employees right. I always think, okay, if there’s a challenge, what’s a positive outcome
[00:40:35] Fabio Teixeira: I have my plan B, I have my plan C, but I think about that in a good way.
[00:40:39] Fabio Teixeira: the positive and growth mindset goes on. You know, aligned to this because yeah, you have to do things different. You have to think how to achieve that. And it’s very important, right? So, to me, when you have this type of mindset, you help to find alternatives to overcome obstacles. People follow you, right?
[00:40:59] Fabio Teixeira: Because it’s contagious. It’s a very, people, nobody like to work with a grunge people, right? So, you become happy, right? Helps to drive results. And also feel good and less stressed, if you can switch your mind, you know, the switch, I think it’s very, very helpful.
[00:41:20] Siebe Vanderzee: Positive mindset. I like it.

[00:41:23] Lesson 10: Have fun.

[00:41:23] Siebe Vanderzee: Well, here we are. Lesson number 10. Have. Fun. Who could disagree with that? it’s always good. Always good. Have fun.
[00:41:33] Fabio Teixeira: I was concerned to put that, ’cause probably, I think the, I haven’t watched all the podcast, but I think probably a very common one. I think it’s whatever we do right in life, you need to be enjoying.
[00:41:45] Fabio Teixeira: the definition of having fun, joy is different for people, but to me it’s to enjoy every moment, we don’t have every time good things happening and stuff. Everybody has issues, every life has challenged. Every job, every project has challenges. But enjoy those moments can be small, right?
[00:42:01] Fabio Teixeira: Enjoy your activities, you know, learn that experience, you know, and the, and the appreciating the, the support that you have to do what you’re doing, right? Sometimes people just keep complaining and whining and to me, it doesn’t work we have a challenge, but look at, look, look the bright side.
[00:42:20] Fabio Teixeira: There is these good things. Let’s enjoy it. So, let’s, let’s walk for five minutes here. Let’s. There’s a blue sky right now in Houston, Texas. enjoy the small moments, right? That’s, that is recharging you and make you better, right? Now, if you’re in an environment that is a hundred percent stressful and you’re not happy, probably you’re in the wrong place.
[00:42:41] Fabio Teixeira: No, I think you need to find the place where you fit, you need to find people that you enjoy to be together because in the work environment to spend eight, 10 hours together now, even if it’s Zoom or not, but you need to, to enjoy. So, ensure that your activities are satisfying your goals, right?
[00:43:00] Fabio Teixeira: Or the path for your goals. Sometimes you have good people around you or having fun, but. I mean, you’ll be selling burgers every day, and is that what you want, or is creating opportunities for you to grow, right? Smile, like, laugh, enjoy the moment, to me, all of these together boost morale,
[00:43:18] Fabio Teixeira: Increase productivity when you are feeling happy, I feel much better. I become more productive, reduce stress, and also foster much better teamwork and collaboration, you are more collaborative, you give back to the community as well.
[00:43:32] Fabio Teixeira: So, everything together is when you are having fun with what you are doing. are doing.
[00:43:36] Siebe Vanderzee: So how do you apply that when someone is in a very difficult situation, whether it is because of the economy, perhaps they are, I hate to bring it up, but in a war zone, dealing with serious problems.
[00:43:53] Siebe Vanderzee: I kind of like the idea of having fun, but how would you explain that to someone who is dealing with Major challenges.
[00:44:02] Fabio Teixeira: To me is first control what you can control. There are situations that you can’t control. Like the economy is not good right now. Okay. I cannot control a hundred percent.
[00:44:11] Fabio Teixeira: That’s one. But what I can control, right? I can control my expenditures to spend less and be less stressful with, with my bank account. Yeah. Now there’s always a small moment, right? Where you have, no, you have colleagues, you have work friends.
[00:44:25] Siebe Vanderzee: So, there’s a new birth, there’s a new wedding. take that moment, I’m sure that in your job, you always achieve some small things too. celebrate that small milestone I like that. That’s, that’s definitely wisdom, my friend. I appreciate you share that because indeed sometimes, well, Many times people are dealing with difficult situation, but to be able to control your thoughts and hopefully there are positive aspects, even if the circumstances are negative, can help that person to see the bright side at that moment.
[00:44:57] Siebe Vanderzee: I do have another question for you. Fabio, are there any lessons in life that you have unlearned, where you have decided, I got to do things differently?
[00:45:09] Fabio Teixeira: it’s another good question, Siebe. sometimes we try to be perfect, to do everything right, 100%. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t do things, right? But there’s an 80 20 rule, sometimes you need to reach a point and move on. But when you start learning a first job, or a new job,
[00:45:28] Fabio Teixeira: sometimes you want to make sure everything ties together. and that can harm sometimes. Maybe take too long to do things. you become too detailed and cannot do all the other tasks. to me, it’s important to manage things.
[00:45:40] Fabio Teixeira: I just read another article, another, there’s another rule called the five-by-five rule. If that thing is not important five years from now, it shouldn’t take more than five minutes. I like it. I think that’s something I have learned, right?
[00:45:54] Fabio Teixeira: I mean, and again, I’m not saying don’t do the right things. Don’t try to tie things perfect, but. Sometimes it doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be the right fit for what you need.
[00:46:06] Siebe Vanderzee: I like it. Great lesson. Thank you, Fabio. Thank you for joining us today and for sharing your lessons and your wisdom with our global audience.
[00:46:14] Siebe Vanderzee: Much appreciated. In closing, you have been listening to our international program, 10 Lessons Learned, this episode is produced by Robert Hossary. as always, we are supported by the Professional Development Forum. special thanks to our production team members, Yi Wang and Cody Comeau.
[00:46:32] Siebe Vanderzee: Our guest today is Fabio Teixeira sharing his 10 lessons. Fabio is an experienced global business executive, corporate board member, and a very successful entrepreneur. Don’t forget to leave us a review or a comment. You can also email us at podcast at 10lessonslearned. com.
[00:46:53] Siebe Vanderzee: I hope you will subscribe so you don’t miss any future episodes. And remember, this is a podcast that makes the world wiser lesson by lesson. Thank you and stay safe.

Thanks to our 10 Lessons team that make our show possible: Our Episode Editor Codie Comeau, Marketing and social media managed by Yi Wang, and our Producer Robert Hossary. Sponsored as always by Professional Development Forum. You can find the www.professionaldevelopmentforum.org.

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