A pandemic was, for Otelmo Drebes, the most challenging moment in his career at the helm of the Lebes Group and also the most revealing about leadership in environments of extreme uncertainty.
At the beginning of 2020, faced with a completely unknown scenario, the executive made a decision that would change the course of the family’s 70-year-old company. “I decided to close all the stores,” he said. The measure was taken even before official determinations and without consulting the entire board.
The decision, according to him, was guided by responsibility towards employees and customers. “I decided alone. Without the rest of the board, without others, without anyone. A few days later the government ordered it to close, but I had decided beforehand for the safety of everyone who worked with us”, recalled the president of Grupo Lebes in an interview with From Zero to Topa program that tells stories of successful entrepreneurs.
In practice, closing during the pandemic meant interrupting cash flow and facing immediate financial commitments. “On Monday I had the bills to pay. What now? No money coming in, everything is closed”, says Drebes.
But for Otelmo, the difference in facing this phase came from building relationships over the decades. He picked up the phone and negotiated new deadlines with suppliers until he stabilized and found support. Months later, Drebes contacted those same companies again, not to ask for more. “This time I didn’t call to ask. I called to say thank you. When I did that, several suppliers told me: ‘Look, to ask for an extension, everyone asked, to thank you, it’s just you who called’. The way you work with the customer, you also work with the supplier, you know?”, recalls Drebes.
The Lebes Group has seven integrated business units and is projected to earn R$2 billion this year. The company that was born in retail in the southern region of Brazil, today ranks among the 10 largest department chains in the country with more than 300 stores and an industrial operation that produces, on average, 800 thousand pieces per year.
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Human management
The pandemic episode is just one of the pillars of the executive’s management, which always seeks to maintain human proximity as a business strategy. Drebes argues that trust built with customers, suppliers and employees is a more powerful tool than isolated campaigns or investments.
This vision also appeared at another critical moment, such as the floods in Rio Grande do Sul. Upon realizing that customers were unable to pay installments, Drebes made an unusual decision. “I banned calling customers.”
Defaults increased in the short term, but the relationship strengthened. “Did I lose money? Yes. But what I may have gained from it, over time, I may not even be able to measure.”
For him, leading in times of crisis requires taking risks, deciding quickly and upholding values. “The unknown is what is difficult”, he summarizes.
The experience shaped the entrepreneur’s vision of the future. Instead of accelerated growth, the priority became operational and financial stability. “If I live in instability, I will remain in instability, I have stability within instability.”
To find out more details on how Otelmo Drebes transformed his family’s 70-year-old company into an ecosystem that combines financial solutions, the textile industry and logistics, see the full episode on . The program is available in its podcast version on the main streaming platforms such as , , , and
About From Zero to Top
The Do Zero ao Topo podcast is a production of InfoMoney and brings, every week, the stories of prominent women and men in the Brazilian market to tell their story, sharing the biggest challenges faced along the way and the main strategies used in building the business.
