David Neeleman, Board Member of TAP, invited by the The Lisbon MBA Alumni Club

The Alumni Club has, among other activities a plan of events for this coming fall. The first keynote speaker invited by the Alumni Club was David Neeleman, CEO of Azul Airlines and Board Member of TAP.
Professor Filipe Santos, Católica-Lisbon’s Dean, introduced David to a full audience of students from the Executive and International MBA’s and Alumni, and the conversation followed in a very intimate and comfortable environment. The main theme was Leadership, and the Brazilian-American Entrepreneur shared his experience with all the attendees, sharing that “most of my learning has come from experience.” The starting statement was strong: when it comes to leadership, it’s important to create a culture based on a mission, a purpose, with which the whole company identifies.
When asked about one-to-one leadership, David mentioned the importance of leadership consistency from top to bottom; therefore, it’s crucial to communicate the mission, the values of the company, for everyone to align. Since it is very hard for a top leader to have a direct impact on everyone, “you have to have leaders all the way down to be able to touch every person in the company. They all have to be on the same page”.
Along the conversation, several other topics were discussed, namely diversity and gender equality within his companies. David, who described himself as an old-fashioned person, confessed not thinking about how many women are in management roles. He believes people achieve these professional milestones because they have talent.
Having the right people is key, and it’s important to take care of them. Of course, nobody’s perfect, “It’s good to be vulnerable and let people know that you’re human.” People will not follow dictatorial leaders, but instead, people who accept their vulnerabilities and are motivated to do better and overcome obstacles together.
It was a very insightful interview given to the very engaged audience of The Lisbon MBA community.