Recognizing the Team

When we talk about a team, we refer to a group of people who share a set of values and interests, and who, despite their different backgrounds, experiences, roles, and individual goals, come together to pursue a shared objective.

The value of teams lies in the fact that they form to accomplish what individuals would find nearly impossible on their own, and they make work more efficient by reducing execution time compared to what a single person handling every task would require.

Teams also benefit from the fact that their members bring different perspectives when tackling problems. Each person's background and training is a valuable lens when shaping strategies, designing projects, and making decisions.

Consider that, by nature, human beings are gregarious. We seek out others we perceive as similar in order to feel accompanied, protected, and to build a sense of belonging.

In the professional sphere, it is worth acknowledging that most of the time we must interact with people who are fundamentally different from us, sometimes with nothing obvious in common. What unites us, then? What keeps us together? The most obvious answer might be the completion of a specific task. Yet other elements intrinsic to human dynamics cannot be overlooked, chief among them trust and genuine regard for one another.

This was made unmistakably clear to me by my experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. As leader of the task force responsible for procuring medical supplies and personal protective equipment abroad for the Mexican Foreign Ministry (SRE), I had to trust my own team first. A few months earlier, as Director General for Engagement with Civil Society Organizations (DGVOSC), I had been tasked with designing the new Impulso Global unit (replacing the defunct ProMéxico). My responsibilities included serving as the information channel between CSOs and the outside world, mapping global investment opportunities, and maintaining constant communication with Mexico's diplomatic representations abroad.

When the pandemic arrived, my first task was to reorganize the team, distribute responsibilities, and cover all assigned workstreams. Among those to whom I will always be grateful were Mario López Ahumada, Franco Fernández, Guillermo Chávez García, Alejandro Pulido, Edmundo Montes de Oca, Jorge Gutiérrez Reynaga, Íker Jiménez, Diego de León, Juan Carlos Serio, Santiago Toledo, and José Carlos Barranco. My admiration goes out to all of them. Despite navigating the same uncertainty as everyone else, they showed the courage to keep DGVOSC, Impulso Global, and the international COVID strategy operational. Their commitment and adaptability were decisive.

The mission's success would also not have been possible without extraordinary individuals I met through those very circumstances, who contributed from other institutions: Iraís Barreto, from INSABI; Thalía Lagunes and Teo Palafox, from SHCP; Raquel Buenrostro, from Oficialía Mayor; José Novelo, Marcela Madrazo, Evelia Espinoza, and Ricardo Cárdenas, from COFEPRIS; Alejandro Méndez, from Aeromexico Cargo; Dr. Guillermo Torre, from TEC Salud; and Dr. David Kershenobich, from INCMNSZ, among many others.

From each of our areas, we all collaborated, built, coordinated, and pooled our efforts to search, classify, propose, analyze, and certify the supplies requested by the Ministry of Health, and to ensure their delivery to Mexico.

The success extended beyond equipping Mexico with tools to fight the pandemic. The SRE team simultaneously managed that arduous task and continued serving CSOs, organizing alongside UN agencies in Mexico a series of 20 virtual convenings with 73 invited institutions and more than 600 participants.

On a parallel track, Impulso Global continued its activities, with Ambassador Mario Chacón and Guillermo Chávez leading the design and presentation of the economic strategy for Europe and Asia. Mario López Ahumada and Alejandro Pulido supported me on countless occasions in webinars organized by COMCE and Mexico's embassies abroad, covering countries including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam, Israel, Japan, the United States, and Canada, among others.

The success of any mission depends on planning, leadership, strategy, effectiveness, execution, iteration, and delivery of results. But it also depends on a team of people who are genuinely committed to the work at hand. In this case: helping their country.

I am deeply grateful to Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Deputy Secretary Martha Delgado for the trust they placed in me.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a team more than just a group working on the same task?

A team is distinguished by shared values and a common objective, but also by the trust and genuine regard its members have for one another. These human elements, not just task alignment, are what sustain collaboration under pressure.

How did Mexico's COVID-19 diplomatic task force demonstrate effective teamwork?

The SRE task force simultaneously sourced medical supplies and personal protective equipment abroad, organized 20 virtual CSO convenings with over 600 participants, and advanced economic diplomacy across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. It succeeded because its members adapted quickly, remained committed, and trusted one another under extreme uncertainty.