Pedro Janot had already held the highest posts in the Brazilian corporate world. With striking passages by Zara Brasil and the founding of Azul Linhas Aéreas (), he built solid reputations in companies admired by innovation and organizational culture. Known for his ability to unite human strategy and sensitivity, it was the kind of leader who inspired teams and made business take off. But in November 2011, an accident took him out of the spotlight – and put him in the face of the biggest challenge of his life.
During a weekend in the countryside, in an attempt to resume the balance between work and family, Janot fell from a horse. The fall, about two meters, crushed his spinal cord and made him quadriplegic. The 55 -year -old executive saw his body stop while his mind was active and tireless. “The head is perfect and the body imperfect. To this day,” he says in an interview with the podcast From zero to topcommanded by Mariana Amaro. Janot also says that he spent 45 days hospitalized at the Syrian-Lebanese hospital before starting what he calls his “fourth startup”: relearning to live.
Today, at age 68, he recovered part of his arms and hands movements with a long and painful process of physiotherapy and adaptation. He commands his handsets with one hand, gives lectures, wrote books and acts as a mentor of companies and strategic counselor of groups that earn between $ 30 million and $ 300 million. “It was difficult, but it was worth it. And the fifth startup is already being designed,” he says.
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A Life before it remains
Pedro Janot built a brilliant trajectory in the business world. At Zara, he helped expand the brand in Brazil with a sharp look at fashion and operation. In Azul, he was the first CEO, invited by David Neeleman to lead a company that would challenge giants like Tam and Gol (). Created a people -centered culture, a brand that spoke to customers, not just passengers. “When I heard the slogan ‘passion for aviation,’ he said, ‘No, our passion is the people.’ It changed everything.”
Under its command, Azul became the world’s largest Embraer jet operator, a brand that became part of the company’s DNA. “People were enchanted by the planes, the details, the comfort. We incorporated this into marketing,” he recalls.
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Even in this successful environment, Janot began to realize an imbalance between work and personal life. “I worked more than I should. It could have been 15% less at work and enjoyed more my family,” he said.
The decision to build a place and ride on weekends came from this desire for reconnection. But it was precisely there that the tragedy was waiting for him.
The interrupted flight and reconstruction
After the accident, Janot had to learn to delegate his own body. “I had to relearn everything. From brushing my teeth to an iPad. And I needed patience. More than that, he had to reformulate his way of existing. Surrounded by his wife and children, with whom he narrowed ties, he turned the tragedy into a legacy journey. “I raised boys to the world, and they are from the world. But today I know them deeper.”
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Far from traditional consulting models, he chose another way: that of mentoring.
“Consulting tires. You say what the customer needs to hear, and they don’t accept. Mentoring is a more listening building and less imposition.”
With luggage in fashion retail – sophisticated and dynamic sector – and aviation – complex, intensive in capital, and governed by dollar, oil and regulation – Janot has become a reference in advice that unite management and humanity. It is with this authority that criticizes authoritarian leaders: “If the ego is out of the pocket, this company is locked.”
Lessons from a resilient mentor
The new routine is less accelerated, but no less productive. It works until two in the afternoon and then continues at a lighter pace. The daughter, Maria Cândida, takes care of the digital strategy and the management of her image. Already Jonathan, his Generation Z assistant, learns from him behind the scenes of leadership. “I’m teaching tricks that would take years to learn. It’s the life and work cycle working.”
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Janot is also dedicated to writing. In your book Life is everything you do with hershares the learnings that emerged after the rupture caused by the accident. A second book, already in planning, will narrate the journey of physical and emotional recovery. “A lot of people have an accident and turn a lot of bones on the couch. I wanted to live. Life is a very valuable – and it’s to leave legacy.”
The man who listens
If I previously commanded companies with thousands of employees, today Janot advises leaders to listen to more and scream less.
“My advice to new managers is: leave the ego in his pocket boring and listen more than to speak. Companies that operate on the scream under the command of whip leaders tend to collapse.”
In times of burnout Corporate and toxic cultures, your vision seems more current than ever. It argues that open doors and empathy are worth more than aggressive goals and unilateral orders. “If you need to say something difficult, get up and go to the room. Leadership is done with listening.”
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A legacy under construction
Pedro Janot turned his pain into power. With resilience, emotional intelligence and future vision, he proved that the most impactful leadership is not the one that is imposed, but the one that inspires. And even after a fall that could have closed his career, he continues to plan the next leap. “This new phase was slow, difficult and arduous. But it was worth every day. And it’s not over.
After all, as he has learned in practice, life is everything you do with it.
