Pursue Growth & Learning is a core value of CONTI Organization, a real estate investment company based in Dallas/Fort Worth. Carlos Vaz, the company's co-founder and CEO, came to the Owner/President Management (OPM) program at Harvard Business School to live that value.
"I always aspire to be better," says Vaz. "I don't believe that I know enough. I can always become better."
At OPM, he found a group of peers who inspired him to evolve as a CEO. "The living group is amazing," he says. "You meet eight people, and they all inspire you to become better. I don't know anywhere else in the world that you can get a program like this. You have this unique program and you have these amazing people."
The OPM faculty, he says, were equally impressive. Their emphasis on the case study method challenged Vaz to examine difficult problems from multiple angles. "The casework was very powerful because nobody gives you the answer," he says. "It challenges the way you think and makes you listen to other people and different points of view. It is a very positive and very powerful way of teaching."
A new perspective isn't the only thing that Vaz has gained from OPM. "I came here and met a bunch of strangers, and then within three years these strangers became friends," he says. "And now I'm leaving with a family. To me, that's priceless. I have another 159 family members, and my life is so much richer."
He intends to stay in close contact with these peers—and continue on investing in his leadership development. "This journey hasn't ended," he says. "It's just the beginning of a new chapter in that journey."