Eduardo Padilla Silva: Leading with Heart, Vision, and Resilience at FEMSA

Eduardo Padilla Silva, MBA ’81, former CEO of FEMSA, was honored with the Emerging Markets Institute 2024 Cañizares Award for Distinguished Alumni.

The Emerging Markets Institute (EMI) at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business honored Eduardo Padilla Silva, MBA ’81, with the 2024 Cañizares Award for Distinguished Alumni in International Business and Emerging Markets at the EMI conference, held on the Cornell Tech campus in New York City, November 1.

Padilla Silva, former CEO of FEMSA—a leading Mexican multinational beverage and retail company—was celebrated for his transformative impact on FEMSA and the broader Latin American business landscape. “Eduardo Padilla Silva embodies the spirit of the Cañizares Award, which recognizes not just successful international careers but also a deep commitment to the sustainable development of emerging markets for the good of all,” said Lourdes Casanova, senior lecturer and the Gail and Roberto Cañizares Director of EMI.

Gail Cañizares—a key benefactor of EMI who, together with her husband, Roberto Cañizares ’71, MBA ’74, established the Cañizares Award—gave Padilla Silva a warm introduction. “The award winner for this year is someone who took a thousand stores and turned them into over 21,000 stores with 330,000 employees,” she said. “But we are not giving the award just for that. Rather, this award is about transforming a small idea into an enterprise that provides life and a career for so many people who need it.”

Andrew Karolyi, Charles Field Knight Dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, presented the award to Padilla Silva during a fireside chat focused on Padilla Silva’s remarkable career and his vision for sustainable business growth in emerging markets.

When Padilla Silva joined FEMSA, OXXO operated around 1,200 stores, primarily in Mexico; by the time he retired in 2021, the chain had grown to more than 20,000 locations across Latin America. Reflecting on this achievement in a separate interview, Padilla Silva humbly acknowledged his approach: “I didn’t know anything about retail,” he admitted. “So, I surrounded myself with people who did, people who understood the business.” This commitment to collaborative leadership and a focus on empowering others would ultimately become a hallmark of his legacy at FEMSA.

Building a people-centered culture

Padilla Silva’s tenure at FEMSA was characterized by a deep commitment to creating a people-centered, values-driven corporate culture. He believed that the success of an organization depended largely on the empowerment and unity of its employees.

“I am in love with the human being,” Padilla Silva said in the interview, reflecting his belief that “the best asset companies have is people.” His role as CEO, he explained, was to cultivate “the right culture where everybody could flourish.” He saw himself not merely as a CEO but as a “chief cultural officer,” a leader responsible for fostering an environment in which everyone felt valued and motivated.

This commitment extended beyond corporate rhetoric. To bridge the gap between the corporate office and the thousands of OXXO stores, Padilla Silva took an unconventional approach by working as an “undercover CEO” in OXXO locations. He later required corporate leaders to spend time in stores as well. “It’s one thing to strategize from headquarters,” he noted in the interview, “but another to see the hard work our employees put in every day.”

This initiative not only deepened respect between corporate and store employees but also informed operational improvements based on firsthand insights. This practice, he added, created “a collaborative network where the cost for coordination is low, and everyone contributes to the store’s success.”

Cornell’s influence: Confidence and resilience

In a heartfelt moment during the fireside chat, Padilla Silva credited his education at Cornell’s the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management as a foundational chapter in his life and career. Arriving at Cornell as a young engineer from Mexico, he initially felt out of place in a rigorous U.S. graduate program. But the Johnson School’s high standards, diverse community, and supportive faculty helped him realize his potential.

“It was a beautiful experience because it opened my eyes to what I could accomplish,” Padilla Silva shared, adding that it gave him the confidence he needed to take on ambitious goals. “I realized I was not better, not worse. I was just one of them, and that gave me a lot of self-assurance.”

He also highlighted the influence of Cornell professors like Nobel laureate Richard Thaler, who introduced him to the principles of behavioral decision theory. “Success isn’t just about numbers,” Padilla Silva elaborated in the interview, “but about understanding people. That lesson shaped how I approached my work at FEMSA.”

This understanding became particularly vital as he expanded FEMSA’s operations across Latin America, navigating complex regulatory environments and diverse cultures. “Every challenge at Johnson prepared me to navigate those complexities,” he shared. The resilience and adaptability he gained at Cornell were qualities he would draw upon throughout his leadership journey.

Innovation and impact beyond profit

Guided by his values, Padilla Silva’s approach to business emphasized creating social value alongside economic gains. He expressed a duty to impact people positively, both within and outside of FEMSA. “There’s a centrifugal force,” he explained during the fireside chat, “starting from yourself, moving to your family, your business, your community, your country, and the world.” Under Padilla Silva’s leadership, FEMSA adopted a dual mission of generating both economic and social value, balancing business success with social impact in ways that left a lasting mark on the company and its communities.

As CEO, Padilla Silva spearheaded FEMSA’s commitment to sustainability, beginning with the company’s first sustainability report in 2011. He led initiatives that improved energy efficiency and championed renewable energy investments, positioning FEMSA as a sustainability leader in Latin America. “We didn’t do it for the photo op,” he said. “We did it because it helped us do our job better.” One notable example he shared was FEMSA’s focus on reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and energy costs, which he described as the “third-largest cost in a convenience store after labor and real estate.” By investing in renewable energy, FEMSA not only lowered operational costs but also strengthened its reputation as an environmentally responsible company.

Padilla Silva’s dedication to blending profitability with social responsibility extended to fostering a culture of radical candor and accountability within FEMSA. He explained that his leadership style was one of “very caring but very demanding” guidance, where transparency and mutual respect were paramount. “You want to be a champion, have a great team, and build a great company,” he reflected. “There is always tension, but it’s a tension that fosters change for the better.”

A legacy of leadership and self-reflection

As Padilla Silva looked back on his career, he shared a key insight with the audience: the importance of managing one’s ego. “Later in life, I realized my ego sometimes got in the way,” he admitted. “The sooner you learn to set it aside, the sooner you can focus on the greater goals.” He explained that learning to recognize when his ego was speaking helped him become a more effective leader. He urged others to stay vigilant for “signs of drama and victimization,” noting that these often reveal the presence of ego. For Padilla Silva, leadership was a journey of continuous self-reflection, learning, and growth—a process that he said helped him lead in a way that brought out the best in others.

Reflecting on his journey, Padilla Silva expressed deep gratitude for the people he encountered along the way, especially his colleagues and mentors who supported him. “I was lucky to be surrounded by great people,” he said. “They were the champions, and I was always behind them, helping them flourish.”

The audience applauded as Padilla Silva concluded his remarks, recognizing a man who has left a profound legacy of leadership, empathy, and resilience. His journey, from his early days at Cornell to his impactful role at FEMSA, serves as an inspiring example of what it means to lead with heart and vision. As the 2024 Cañizares Award recipient, Eduardo Padilla Silva stands as a testament to the power of compassionate, people-centered leadership, inspiring future generations to pursue success in both business and life.