What does it take to expand worldwide without losing sight of the things that matter most?

Daniel Servitje is the executive chairman of Grupo Bimbo, an organization that rose from a small bakery to become one of the largest food corporations in the world. Since taking over in 1997, Daniel has overseen 900% growth and expansion into multiple international markets. Yesterday, he was on a bread truck.

Join host Jimmy Allen of Bain & Company and Daniel as they discuss how robust cultures are developed in the field, the long-term value of choosing patience over urgency, and how to navigate building new systems whilst ensuring existing ones continue to function.

Daniel shares a vital tip for any CEO looking to develop their own business - never let growth separate you from the people that matter. Who really shapes the culture of a successful company? How can a field mentality help leaders grow their businesses?

This is a conversation about the importance of a long-term perspective, knowing how to build a strong culture from the field, and the role of a leader in driving successful growth.

https://www.bain.com/founders-mentality/

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

01:32 An inspiring visit to the bakery

02:46 Listening to voices across the company

04:01 What Daniel learned from the annual conference

05:10 Big ideas come from examining the small things

06:27 Building a culture that starts from the field

07:22 What it takes to develop internationally

08:04 How Grupo Bimbo went international successfully

09:35 Developing a global culture

11:33 Culture is built by actions, not by words

12:46 With growth comes opportunity, but also complexity

14:10 Why leaders need to break processes and take risks

16:54 Don’t get trapped by old systems

18:37 How to transform a company whilst running it

19:47 The importance of long term thinking

20:54 Sometimes slower is better

21:52 Balancing the systems paradox

22:38 Daniel's leading mentality

23:36 Getting energy from curiosity

25:30 Finding the right people to diffuse your energy

26:44 Why the source of your energy really matters

27:44 Daniel's recipe for successful growth

LINKS

A Case for Complexity - Jimmy Allen - Blog [https://tinyurl.com/thepowerofrenewal]

Bain & Company LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/bain-and-company/]

Bain & Company X [https://x.com/BainandCompany]

Jimmy Allen LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-allen-3442b/]

Daniel Servitje LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielservitje/]

About the Host

Jimmy Allen is an Advisory Partner at Bain & Company with over 35 years’ experience advising leading organizations. He’s the author of multiple best-selling books on growth and leadership and the host and founder of Bain’s Global CEO Community Forum. Jimmy is a regular speaker at global business events, including the World Economic Forum, and serves on the Botswana Economic Advisory Council. Outside of consulting, Jimmy started his own record label [Abubilla Music] in 2008 and supports Singing Wells, a project dedicated to preserving Kenyan village music.

Bain & Company

Founder’s Mentality: The CEO Sessions is brought to you by Bain & Company, a global consultancy trusted by the world’s most influential business leaders. With decades of experience guiding organizations through growth, transformation, and leadership development, Bain’s executive insights offer what it takes to lead at scale.

What are the costs of not daring to make a change?

Jacqueline Novogratz is the Founder & CEO of Acumen, an organisation that invests patient capital in enterprises working to reduce poverty around the world. In 2021, she took a $250 million risk when she set out to provide electricity to 75 million people in regions of sub-Saharan Africa that had a 45% electrification rate or below. It paid off.

Join host Jimmy Allen of Bain & Company and Jacqueline as they discuss what we can learn from creative risk taking, how to balance socioeconomic tensions without compromising the mission, and how transforming our mentality from “what if?” to “what if I don’t?” can open the door for positive change.

Jacqueline and Jimmy emphasise the value of asking ‘why’ when navigating complexity as a leader. How can we ensure that we not only remember our ‘why’, but also that it is worth remembering in the first place?

This is a conversation about embracing complexity, the power of asking ‘why’, and daring to take risks in the pursuit of positive change.

https://www.bain.com/founders-mentality/

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

01:21 The billion dollar plan

02:45 Why Acumen started in the hardest location

03:58 Securing the first funding - a $10 million bet on Jacqueline

05:51 Starting and letting the work teach them

08:37 Getting smarter through creative risk taking

11:56 How Jacqueline balances her vision with specificity

12:30 Using deep listening as a tool to understand complexity

15:33 Closing allows Acumen to reflect on their ‘why’

16:37 Embracing complexity is what sets Acumen apart

18:30 What does it take to master complexity?

19:03 How rephrasing the question reminds us ‘why’

19:36 What is Acumen’s ‘why’

20:34 The importance of having the right ‘why’

22:11 How Jacqueline approaches complexity

23:07 Embracing tension, rejecting compromise

24:40 Advice for ambitious young leaders

26:19 Jacqueline’s message

LINKS

A Case for Complexity - Jimmy Allen - Blog [https://tinyurl.com/acaseforcomplexity]

Bain & Company LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/bain-and-company/]

Bain & Company X [https://x.com/BainandCompany]

Jimmy Allen LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-allen-3442b/]

Jacqueline Novogratz LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-novogratz/]

About the Host:

Jimmy Allen is an Advisory Partner at Bain & Company with over 35 years’ experience advising leading organizations. He’s the author of multiple best-selling books on growth and leadership and the host and founder of Bain’s Global CEO Community Forum. Jimmy is a regular speaker at global business events, including the World Economic Forum, and serves on the Botswana Economic Advisory Council. Outside of consulting, Jimmy started his own record label [Abubilla Music] in 2008 and supports Singing Wells, a project dedicated to preserving Kenyan village music.

What does it take to back a decision that may take years to prove itself?

Soon after becoming CEO of Stryker, Kevin Lobo backed a $1.6 billion acquisition of Mako, a loss-making robotics company many customers, investors and industry experts believed was unnecessary. The deal would reshape both orthopedic surgery and Stryker’s growth trajectory.

Join host Jimmy Allen of Bain & Company as Kevin explains why he saw asymmetric upside in robotic-assisted surgery, how he sustained his conviction through disappointing early results, and how one bold bet became the foundation for a repeatable acquisition model spanning more than 60 deals.

Kevin and Jimmy also explore the tension between autonomy and scale. How do you capture the advantages of size without inviting bureaucracy? What should remain decentralized, and where can shared capabilities create a real edge?

This is a conversation about repeatable growth, the cost of complexity, and the CEO’s role in helping leaders think like founders.

https://www.bain.com/founders-mentality/

LINKS

Ask for Help - Jimmy Allen - Blog [https://shorturl.at/qvzxe]

Bain & Company LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/bain-and-company/]

Bain & Company X [https://x.com/BainandCompany]

Jimmy Allen LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-allen-3442b/]

Kevin Lobo LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinalobo/]

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:35) - The potential in robotics that no else saw
• (02:27) - Taking the $1.6 billion proposal to the board
• (03:28) - Why Stryker had to act immediately
• (05:48) - The hard part begins after the board says yes
• (06:36) - Telling Wall Street about the slow first quarter
• (08:05) - Leading through the time lag
• (08:32) - Winning over employees and building M&A credibility
• (09:37) - Cold-calling Larry Culp, former CEO of Danaher, for advice
• (10:18) - Turning mistakes into an integration playbook
• (11:16) - Discovering the "Stryker way”
• (13:09) - Are you the right parent for the company you acquire?
• (15:12) - Building a repeatable acquisition machine
• (17:09) - The outer game and inner game of growth
• (18:14) - Preserving autonomy across 22 business units
• (20:21) - Good complexity versus bad complexity
• (21:00) - What is the CEO's job in a decentralized company?
• (22:52) - Creating a team of entrepreneurs
• (24:18) - The real meaning of conviction

About the Host:

Jimmy Allen is an Advisory Partner at Bain & Company with over 35 years’ experience advising leading organizations. He’s the author of multiple best-selling books on growth and leadership and the host and founder of Bain’s Global CEO Community Forum. Jimmy is a regular speaker at global business events, including the World Economic Forum, and serves on the Botswana Economic Advisory Council. Outside of consulting, Jimmy started his own record label [Abubilla Music] in 2008 and supports Singing Wells, a project dedicated to preserving Kenyan village music.

Bain & Company:

Founder’s Mentality: The CEO Sessions is brought to you by Bain & Company, a global consultancy trusted by the world’s most influential business leaders. With decades of experience guiding organizations through growth, transformation, and leadership development, Bain’s executive insights offer what it takes to lead at scale.