When bilyonaryo Manuel Zamora, the founder of Nickel Asia, retired as chairman of the mining company in 2018, he had full confidence in his son, Dennis to take over as president and CEO.
And with the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, the younger Zamora had his work cut out for him.
With his father’s trust and a leadership style that prioritizes autonomy and responsibility, Dennis steered Nickel Asia to success in 2021, achieving record-high earnings despite the global economic slowdown.
In an interview with Ces Drilon on Usapang Bilyonaryo, Zamora shared his strategy in preparing his son for the top role in the company.
“The best way to train him is to leave him alone, which I did, so one day I woke up and I thought the best way to have Dennis learn to manage the mining company well was to leave him alone.”
The elder Zamora refrained from interfering with his son’s decision, giving the freedom to learn and grow as a leader. And this strategy paid off as people started recognizing Dennis’ management skills.
Zamora, who stepped down as chairman of Nickel Asia in 2018, said that his decision turned out to be a good experiment.
“Fortunately, it turned out to be a good experiment, thus people started telling me what a wonderful manager Dennis is” he said.