Damien
My strategy team comes back with their recommendations. First thing Thursday morning, I meet with Melanie and Colin so they can outline their findings. “We’ve divided up the work into three categories,” Melanie says. She clicks a button to load up her presentation. “There are the changes that can be made immediately, changes that are possible in the next six months, and finally, recommendations that will take longer to implement.”
She moves on to the next slide and highlights changes I can make immediately. Colin jumps in with the long-term stuff. I ask questions, and both Mel and Colin answer them. Clearly, they’ve done their homework.
“This is great stuff, you two,” I tell them when they’re done. “Seriously impressive. You’ve done an amazing amount in an extremely short period. Did you get any pushback?”
“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Melanie says diplomatically.
“Who wasn’t cooperative?” I ask bluntly. I told everyone on the leadership team to help them out, but there are some old-timers at the Cardenas Group that get very territorial about their fiefdoms.
“Ted Boric at M&A,” Colin says. “Arthur Scott.” Melanie looks at him, and he says, “What? It’s true.”
“It was nothing I couldn’t handle,” Melanie says to me. “Damien, you don’t have to ride to my rescue.”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” I tell her dryly. “Not unless you ask for help. I asked because I want to know who’s going to cause problems when I set these changes into motion.”
After that meeting, I pour myself a glass of water and think through my next steps. My mother will not be happy with the changes I’m planning. There will be tears. Emotional blackmail. She’ll tell me I’m wrecking the company that my father built.
I rub my chest. I’m not looking forward to that confrontation.
Of course, my mother is officially retired. Technically, Tomas is the CEO, and he’s the only person I need to clear this with.
I call him. He listens to my spiel in silence and then says, “Let’s do it.”
I blink. Tomas doesn’t usually second-guess my decisions, but I didn’t expect it to be this easy.
“My mother isn't going to like it,” I warn him. “I should probably talk to her about it.”
“Let me,” he replies.
It’s a tempting offer. “Tomas, I don’t want her to feel like I’m dismissing her opinions. But the way my parents did things—it’s just not sustainable.”
“I know that,” he replies calmly. “And believe me, so does Maria. She really wants to let go, Damien, I promise you. She just doesn’t know how to do it.”
“She certainly doesn’t act like she wants to let go.”
“She does. Last weekend, we went to a yoga retreat in the mountains. There was no technology allowed at the site. No Internet, no cell phones. There was a landline in the main building for emergencies, and that was it.”
“And my mom survived?”
He chuckles. “More than that, she thrived. Maria was happy. She was relaxed. Trust me on this, Damien. She knows she should let go of the Cardenas Group.”
I wish I had Tomas’ faith.
“This needs to be done, Damien. You’ve held off from making changes for three years. Cristiano has already pulled back from the company’s demands. Victoria is struggling. How much longer can you all go on like this? Three years? Five? Then what?”
My parents loved us, I know that. But I can count on one hand the number of times we all sat down for dinner. It just didn’t happen. Victoria, Cristiano, and I grew up eating with the maids while my parents went off to various business dinners.
Vicky’s being forced to make some hard choices between work and family. Choices that are straining her marriage and her relationship with her children. It's fixable now, but if she waits for five years, her kids will be older, and their mother will be a stranger.
I consider the prospect of living this way for the next five years. Letting everything come second to work. Attending meetings at all hours of the day. Being tethered to a phone that never stops ringing.
I hate admitting failure, but Tomas is right. I can’t take much more of this.
“Maria will see that it’s necessary,” he says. “Trust me. I’ll talk to her. Have Luis draft up a memo, and I'll sign it. You’ll want the department heads in on this, yes? When?”
I feel a rush of affection for the other man. Tomas has worked for the company all his life. He's not brilliant, not a risk-taker, and he has a tendency to get overwhelmed when he has to juggle between tasks. But Tomas makes up for all that with rock-solid integrity and a genuine sense of right and wrong. His heart is always in the right place.