The power of values for the sustainability of a company, in the view of Jorge Gerdau

Businessman discusses his search for excellence in an inspiring book for those who are leaders or want to become leaders

Clovis Malta

Jorge Gerdau, at the group's headquarters in São Paulo, one of the four capitals where his book will be launched – Photo: Jardiel Carvalho

Respect and love

Respect, in the author's view, is a value closely associated with education, one of his flags as a leader, along with Total Quality, defense of freedoms and causes ranging from health to the arts, in addition to sports. “Respect and transparency define the stage of educational and cultural development of a nation,” he argues.  

The more humble the employee’s position, he writes, the more he should be treated with attitude and respect. “It’s not just what I do or say, but how it will be perceived in a world where hierarchy and symbols of power, whether we like it or not, still make a big difference.”

Values to perpetuate the legacy

With the death of patriarch Curt Johannpeter in 1983, Jorge and his brothers decided to list the conglomerate’s values, an unusual initiative at the time, formalized three years later – most of them inspired by the family’s principles and concepts. “We felt that expressing them clearly would help perpetuate the legacy of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.”

Principles that guide the search

  1. Respect
  2. Austerity
  3. Search
  4. Community
  5. Education
  6. Spirituality
  7. Excellence
  8. Family
  9. Faith
  10. Future
  11. Governance
  12. Generosity
  13. Humility
  14. Freedom
  15. People
  16. Fullness
  17. Purpose
  18. Results
  19. Healthcare
  20. Simplicity
  21. Sustainability
  22. Transparency
  23. Love

Gerdau was the family, and the family was Gerdau, because of the purpose, values and enthusiasm with which we lived this experience, says Jorge Gerdau, who started working at the age of 16 in the nail factory acquired by his great-grandfather João Gerdau in 1901. “It is difficult to define, in my life, what is a company and what is a family, since the foundations and the supporting beams are the same and, therefore, inseparable.”

People management is crucial

The author makes an emphatic defense of sustainability, focusing precisely on people: “The barriers between human beings and nature are increasingly being broken down. Everything is one and interdependent.” Economic sustainability is the basis, the pillar of the other areas – and, by mentioning them, he expands the concepts usually translated by the acronym ESG, including the cultural and political dimensions. On its own, economic sustainability completely loses its purpose, he warns.

The search for immediate results, without a greater purpose, is not justified, in the opinion of the author, one of the controlling shareholders of Gerdau. “We have come to believe that money is an end. It is not. Money has always been and always should be a means for economic and social development.”

The businessman makes a point of expressing his vision on inclusion: “Inclusion means generating more income, more consumption, more taxes, more dignity, more individual happiness and more collective development. This is not communism or liberalism: it is common sense.”

Learning through dialogue with the sea

Neither the values nor their practical application make sense without a clear purpose, in the author's view, who shares the permanent search for excellence with the activities of his wife Maria Elena, a reference for the efficiency she imprinted on the NGO Volunteer Partners. “The word purpose, for me, is one of those that guides my personal trajectory, whether in family, social or professional life, but also when I think about my neighbor, in society as a whole.”

When reflecting on the topic, the business leader seeks inspiration from the sea and surfing of his youth, in Rio de Janeiro, where he was born almost 88 years ago, and in Torres, where he spent his summers with his family. Surfing, he explains, makes us swim against the current and against the force of the waves that will later propel us forward, back to the beach: “The sea has a certain regularity in its movements. On the other hand, each wave is different. These are lessons and experiences that are completely applicable to life.”

Jorge Gerdau reports that he always uses these lessons at boardrooms and in complex negotiations, and shares insights such as these in the book:

  • “Agility, adaptability and courage to decide: this is how you face big waves.”
  • “Those who surf learn to communicate and, therefore, to understand the sea.”
  • “Falling is part of it. Knowing how to get up is also part of it. It is at these times that the dialogue with the sea becomes a question that needs an immediate answer. And the right one.”
  • “It’s interesting to think how the same energy can be a problem or a solution, depending on how we position ourselves in relation to it.”
  • “Dialogue with the sea is an incomparable form of learning.”

In times of polarization within and outside companies, Jorge Gerdau laments that the radicalization of the political environment and the personalistic exercise of power impose a certain constraint on businesspeople. The business leader confesses to thinking in a pluralistic way and understands that no one should be afraid to say what they think, whether for the right, the center or the left. “We may not like or agree with a ruler’s line of action or thought, but we always have the duty to build the best, driven not by vanity or personal interest, but by coherence.”

In this case too, the premise is respect.

The leader's thought

Some points of view of Jorge Gerdau in the book A Busca:

Clovis Malta is a journalist
clovis.malta@ankreputation.com.br


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