Eugenio Garza Sada
To talk of Don Eugenio Garza Sada, is to describe a tireless worker, a man of few words and with a precise manner of speaking. Don Eugenio was renowned not only as a successful businessman, but also as an active promoter of the development of his community, constantly acting congruently, with enormous simplicity and a deep sense of humanity, focused on the improvement of all those who surrounded him, without distinction.
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FAMILY LIFE
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CAREER
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RELATIONSHIP WITH EDUCATION
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TRASCENDENCE
Don Eugenio Garza Sada was born on January 11, 1892. His childhood coincided with the first stage of Mexico’s industrialization, during the period in which Porfirio Díaz was in office, known as the Porfiriato (1876 - 1910), and when foreign investors introduced the latest technologies of that time.
As a child, through his father’s example, he received lessons that would later become fundamental to his professional career. He learned to live side by side with risk and problems. He assimilated his father’s patriotism, community service, rectitude, modesty, high standards and severity, forging definitively the personality that would touch so many people and attain so many achievements.
He studied primary school in the Colegio de San Juan, in Saltillo, Coahuila, and then came to Monterrey to study in the Colegio Hidalgo, run by the Marist Brothers, followed by high school in a military institution, Western Academy, in the United States. He stayed in the US to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering, in 1916.
While in the United States, he became aware that education is the most effective means of achieving the industrialization and development of a country, and of the connection existing between research and science, between science and technology, and between these three components and development, wellbeing and freedom. This formed the basis for building his life project.
In 1917, he began working at the Cuauhtémoc Brewery. Upon his death, almost 56 years later, in 1973, he was President of Grupo Valores Industriales, S. A., (VISA), which brought together several companies and was created around Cuauhtémoc Brewery.
He always had a clear idea of what work is. Behind each machine, each desk, each service window, he saw the human being working there. As a result, he always treated his collaborators and employees with kindness and closeness, and maintained the austere, simple lifestyle that marked his youth.
It was once said about him: "For Don Eugenio, every task is important enough to be granted all his drive and capacity to achieve a perfect result. He lived every matter intensely and encapsulated all his experience and talent in each and every activity."
Don Eugenio Garza Sada was a devote advocate of education. He firmly believed that human development would drive Mexico to become a better country. Therefore, through Sociedad Cuauhtémoc y Famosa, he channeled highly significant resources to offer courses and, above all, grant scholarships for the children of those who worked in the affiliated companies.
After 26 years at the Cuauhtémoc Brewery, Don Eugenio considered that the preparation of Mexican technicians was long overdue, driving him to undertake his most important work: Tecnológico de Monterrey, sponsored by Enseñanza e Investigación Superior, A.C.
To this end, he met with a group of Monterrey businessmen and crystallized the idea of creating an institution that would prepare men and women comprehensively–and not just as well-qualified professionals. This institution, conceived in Don Eugenio’s mind, it is said, since 1917, began modestly in a house in Monterrey’s downtown area in 1943, with 350 students and a handful of professors.
Don Eugenio devoted a large part of his time to this institution, as Chairman of the Tecnológico Board of Directors from 1943 until his death.
Don Eugenio is an enduring example. His concern for human development through education and work, as well as for enhancing the standard of living and cultural level of his compatriots, is still alive in the numerous works he undertook, whose benefits multiply to this day since Don Eugenio knew how to transmit to so many people the values that guided his life.
To talk of Don Eugenio Garza Sada, is to describe a tireless worker, a man of few words and with a precise manner of speaking. Don Eugenio was renowned not only as a successful businessman, but also as an active promoter of the development of his community, constantly acting congruently, with enormous simplicity and a deep sense of humanity, focused on the improvement of all those who surrounded him, without distinction.
Don Eugenio defined the Cuauhtémoc Ideology -also known as the "Don Eugenio Garza Sada Ideology"- long before companies talked about codes of ethics or mission statements. This document contains 17 personal principles and concepts, and was distributed among his colleagues, with the request to keep it in a visible place in their offices; he was the first to set an example. The Ideology remains to date as a life example for the new generations.
I. Recognize the merit of others.
For the role they may have played in the success of the company, mentioning it spontaneously, promptly and publicly. To take credit for that, to attribute to oneself the merit that belongs to those who work through their own self-motivation, would be an ignoble act, it would cut off a source of affection and would not allow the executive to behave appropriately.
II. Control one´s temper.
One should have the ability to resolve any problem or situation peacefully and reasonably, regardless of how irritating the provocations may be that must be tolerated. Those who are not capable of controlling their own impulses and expressions, cannot act as leaders of a corporation. The true executive abdicates the right to anger.
III. Never mock others.
Do not make fun of anyone or anything. Avoid hurtful jokes or those with double meanings. Keep in mind the damage that sarcasm causes; it never heals.
IV. Be polite.
Don’t be overly formal, but do make sure that others find being in your company enjoyable.
V. Be tolerant.
Of the diversities that may be found in race, color, manners, education or in the idiosyncrasies of others.
VI. Be punctual.
Those who cannot keep their appointments will soon become an encumbrance.
VII. If you are vain, you must hide it.
As if it were the most intimate secret. An executive cannot show arrogance or self-complacency. Often the failures of famous men confirm the adage, “pride comes before a fall”. If you begin to say that other employees are incompetent, or that clients are miserly and foolish, you are looking for trouble.
VIII. Do not alter the truth.
You must think before speaking and keep your promises. Half-truths may hide mistakes, but only for a short time. Lies are like a boomerang.
IX. Let others speak.
Especially collaborators, until they reach the true crux of the problem, even if you have to listen to them patiently for an hour. You would make a poor director, if you dominate the conversation instead of limiting yourself to guiding it.
X. Express yourself concisely.
With clarity and completeness, especially when giving instructions. It is always helpful to have a dictionary close by.
XI. Refine your vocabulary.
Eliminate interjections. Vulgarity and familiarity weaken expressions and create misunderstandings. Great parliamentarians never used a single vulgar expression to destroy their enemies verbally.
XII. Be sure to enjoy your job.
Having hobbies and interests in other things is positive, but if going to work on Saturdays or working overtime becomes a sacrifice, you need a vacation and a job somewhere else.
XIII. Recognize the enormous value of the manual worker.
Whose productivity makes the management position possible and affirms the future of both.
XIV. Think on the benefit of the business over your own.
This is a good tactic. Fidelity to the firm promotes self-benefit.
XV. Analyse over and above the inspiration or intuition.
This should be the prerequisite of action.
XVI. Dedication to work.
This benefits the individual, the firm and society as a whole, being similar to the priesthood.
XVII. Be modest.
It must be understood that they have nothing to do with a person’s worth - the size of a car or home, or the number of friends or clubs that one belongs to, luxuries, or the sign on the office door - and if these things mean more than a job well and quietly done, and the knowledge and spiritual refinement to acquire them, then a change of attitude or job is called for.