Across Latin America, many organizations face a familiar problem. Teams are capable and committed, yet results are inconsistent. Decisions move slowly, execution varies widely, and performance depends too heavily on individual effort rather than reliable systems. As artificial intelligence reduces the value of long hours and sheer effort, this gap between intention and outcome is becoming harder to ignore.
According to Melhina Magaña, founder of Mexico-based firm Daucon, the root cause is not talent or engagement, but misalignment. Organizations continue to operate with leadership models and operating assumptions that no longer match how work is done today. “We are operating inside environments that tolerate ambiguity,” she says. “We avoid difficult conversations. We reward heroics over process. We confuse loyalty with silence.” When those systems remain in place, she adds, “even the best people underperform.”
These patterns were once effective. In low‑mobility labor markets and hierarchical cultures, loyalty and endurance provided stability. Today, however, they translate into high‑variance execution and informal decision paths that create ambiguity, politicize performance and slow organizations down at precisely the moment they need speed and focus.
Having worked across food & beverage, financial services, government, manufacturing and pharmaceutical, Magaña has seen this dynamic repeat itself at scale. Through Daucon’s proprietary methodology, which has impacted more than 70,000 people, she has observed that sustainable high performance only emerges when systems consistently reinforce clarity, ownership and disciplined execution.
What High Performance Really Means
For Magaña, high performance has little to do with motivation campaigns or inspirational messaging. It is about creating environments where expectations are explicit, decisions are owned and execution is dependable. “High performance in Latin America is not a talent problem,” she says. “It’s a system problem.”
When systems reward improvisation, individual heroics and informal authority, performance becomes unpredictable. Teams spend energy managing uncertainty instead of delivering results. Daucon’s work shifts attention away from corporate rhetoric and toward observable behavior and everyday decisions. Transformation begins with clarity on what good looks like, leaders willing to model accountability, and culture translated into consistent action. Without that translation, culture remains aspirational rather than operational.
“There’s a myth that raising standards will disengage people,” Magaña says. “Our experience shows the opposite. People rise when standards are clear, leaders are fair and courageous enough to demand excellence and support it with structure.”
Misaligned Systems Risk Undermining Performance
The effects of misalignment become especially visible in multigenerational teams. Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z now work side by side with expectations that have evolved faster than organizational systems.
One constraint is the legacy emphasis on hierarchical loyalty over explicit professional contracts. Many organizations still operate on implicit rules where endurance is valued more than impact and dissent is quietly penalized. While this once provided cohesion, it now limits transparency and slows decision‑making as ways of working change.
Another issue is leadership avoidance framed as empathy. In many Latin American contexts, care for people is interpreted as shielding them from discomfort, delaying decisions or softening feedback. “Older generations experience this as a loss of authority,” Magaña explains. “Younger ones experience it as a lack of leadership.” The result is chronic ambiguity that weakens accountability across the organization.
A third factor is the informalization of performance. When outcomes depend on personal judgment, exceptions and last‑minute heroics, execution varies widely and trust erodes. Growth can feel political rather than earned. “Emotional salary only works when it’s built on credibility, clear goals, visible contribution and fair consequence,” she says.
How Leaders Can Intervene
For CEOs seeking measurable change within 12 to 18 months, Magaña argues that transformation must start with standards. “What you tolerate becomes the culture,” she says.
Leaders must identify behaviors that are currently rewarded but harmful to performance, such as firefighting, overwork or political maneuvering. These must be deliberately replaced with reputational behaviors like honoring commitments, anticipating risk, escalating early and closing loops. When reinforced publicly and consistently, these behaviors reduce variance and create trust across generations.
The next intervention is installing a rhythm of commitment with real consequences. Most organizations do not fail because of poor strategy, but because weak execution is allowed to persist. Magaña advocates non‑negotiable weekly rituals to review commitments made versus commitments delivered. No stories and no excuses, only ownership and results. Over time, discipline becomes routine and performance becomes predictable rather than heroic.
The Stakes Are Rising
The cost of not acting is becoming increasingly clear. As AI commoditizes execution time, organizations that rely on effort, improvisation and informal authority will struggle to scale, adapt and compete. High performance will be defined by the ability to make better decisions faster, eliminate low‑value work and focus human judgment where it creates disproportionate impact.
“What will differentiate high‑performance teams is their ability to decide faster, cut noise earlier and focus human energy only where it creates value,” Magaña says.
Leaders who succeed will develop the ability to define problems clearly, decide with incomplete information and draw sharp boundaries between what machines do and what humans must own. Those who do not will continue to absorb complexity, tolerate inconsistency and pay the price in lost speed, credibility and results.
“Transforming Latin American workforces requires abandoning paternalism, professionalizing leadership and replacing hope with rigor,” Magaña says. “It’s less about inspiration and more about discipline, trust built through consistency, and the courage to stop negotiating standards.”
To follow Melhina Magaña’s work and insights, connect with her on LinkedIn.
