What Michael Jackson, the great German philosopher Kant and my bodyguard Luis Traúzola have in common

Since my start as Managing Director of Schwarzkopf & Henkels famous “La Toja” cosmetics plant in La Coruña, Galicia, Spain, exactly 20 years ago and from then on during all my other positions as Managing Director, CEO and President of totally different German companies in Mexico and Brazil, I have made a fundamental experience. 

In such general management positions very often “bullets fly” through the air like flies and You do good, to protect Yourself well and arrange some experienced bodyguards for You. What I mean is, that in such positions one of Your highest responsabilities and permanent challenges is, to earn money with what You and the company, for which You are responsible, do. The profitability and – necessarily – the growth of Your company and its business are an absolute must for the whole management team. Otherwise Your activity there becomes questionable and You live under permanent danger. 

For me in all the general management positions, which I had so far for Henkel, ElringKlinger, BOS, Oystar, GEA and Vulkan, it is extremely important to have a trustful highly motivated team of excelent managers for all main function like finance/admin, operations, engineering, HR, supply chain management and the different sales divisions and regions. Because You as a General Manager are only as good as the team which supports You. When I see weak companies, I almost always find weak General Managers and/or weak management teams there. 

With the above said about the importance of the profitability of the company, it becomes almost self explanatory, that You as General Manager need a very good and trustful finance manager. Because he is the guy, who will prepare and explain all the numbers to You and Your bosses. If he was weak, automatically the numbers were weak and Your position became weak. That`s roughly and simply, what I have – painfully – learned during the last 20 years in all types of industries and countries.

And for this reason and background I can proudly say, that with our Vice President Admin/Finance Luis Traúzola I have a wonderful bodyguard who protects me and warns me, when I move into dangerous zones. Luis and I work very closely and absolutely trustful together since my first day – September 17, 2014 – at our company in Itatiba, Sao Paulo. 

For me Luis is definitely one of the best finance managers, which I have ever met during all my career. Besides beeing extremely skilled, its his very analytical and honest attitude, with which he attends all subjects. Luis is neutral and apolitical through and through. He`s the kind of person, whom You would hand over a suitcase with 1 million US Dollars for hiding for You for 15 years. 

But what the hell, does this all have to do with Kant? OK – let`s ask wikipedia for help:

Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Kant’s comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics have made him one of the most influential figures in the history of  western philosophy. 

In his doctrine of transcendental idealism, Kant argued that space and time are mere “forms of intuition” which structure all experience, and therefore that while “things-in-themselves” exist and contribute to experience, they are nonetheless distinct from the objects of experience. From this it follows that the objects of experience are mere “appearances”, and that the nature of things as they are in themselves is consequently unknowable to us.  In an attempt to counter the skepticism he found in the writings of philosopher David Hume, he wrote the Critique of Pure Reason (1781/1787), one of his most well-known works. In it, he developed his theory of experience to answer the question of whether synthetic a priori knowledge is possible, which would in turn make it possible to determine the limits of metaphysical inquiry. Kant drew a parallel to the Copernican revolution in his proposal that the objects of the senses must conform to our spatial and temporal forms of intuition, and that we can consequently have a priori cognition of the objects of the senses.

Everything clear and everybody fine until here? Let`s continue…..

Kant believed that reason is also the source of morality, and that aesthetics arise from a faculty of disinterested judgment. Kant’s views continue to have a major influence on contemporary philosophy, especially the fields of epistemology, ethics, political theory, and post-modern aesthetics. 

He attempted to explain the relationship between reason and human experience and to move beyond what he believed to be the failures of traditional philosophy and metaphysics. He wanted to put an end to what he saw as an era of futile and speculative theories of human experience, while resisting the skepticism of thinkers such as Hume. He regarded himself as showing the way past the impasse between rationalists and empiricists, and is widely held to have synthesized both traditions in his thought.

Kant was an exponent of the idea that perpetual peace could be secured through universal democracy and international cooperation, and that perhaps this could be the culminating stage of world history. The nature of Kant’s religious ideas continues to be the subject of philosophical dispute, with viewpoints ranging from the impression that he was an initial advocate of atheism who at some point developed an ontological argument for God, to more critical treatments epitomized by Schopenhauer, who criticized the imperative form of Kantian ethics as “theological morals” and the “Mosaic Decalogue in disguise”, and Nietzsche, who claimed that Kant had “theologian blood” and was merely a sophisticated apologist for traditional Christian faith. 

Done. We`re through and have all understood now, what and why makes Kant so important even still nowadays. How many readers did I loose because of this intellectual excursion ????? 

I needed to do this to remove the erroneous impression from the brains of some of my readers, who think, that I was just one more nuts guy, who listens to “kitschy”(?) romantic samba music, loves a soccer team and drinks endlessly beer. All this is true, but – as You could see now – it is not the whole and only truth about my life, interests and occupations. 

But let me come back to Your question. What do Kant and his theories have to do with my bodyguard and VP Admin/Finance Vulkan do Brasil management team colleague Luis Traúzola? Well – my point is, that Luis – in the strictest sence of Kant`s “categoric imperative” – is one of the most honorable and ethical persons, which I so far have had the pleasure to encounter in my life and career. Luis is not only always very correct and just with what he is doing. He is also an extremely ethical person and he definitely shares with me my deep refusal of any lies, liars and falseness. To have a finance manager like Luis in Your team is equal to having contracted a strong D & O (Directors and Officers) insurance. 

No doubt, the success of the complete restructuring and turnaround of our – upon my arrival there – almost broken company during the last 6 years goes to a great part on Luis` account. Without his support and protection, I would never have dared to dip knowingly our company so deeply into the red zone during my first 2 years as President as part of our reinvention of this company. Which finally worked fantastically. Now Vulkan do Brasil is up again since more than 2 years and growing continuously because – and this was another lesson learned for me – our customers like strong partners in which they can trust. 

Here`s – as a present to Luis – one of the music plays, which he most likes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi_XLOBDo_Y

Did You like my today`s post? Did You become interested in knowing more about Kant? I am very curious now, to find out how many of You will continue this stony way and read my next daily posts in this blog.

I wish all of You a very good start in the new week and lots of fun and success!