The 9 Leadership Principles That Took Me From the Sidelines to the Executive Suite

The Journey of Building from Nothing

Building something from nothing is more than just starting a business. It's about running through walls, breaking barriers, and proving that your background doesn't define your potential. I’ve lived this journey firsthand. Growing up in El Paso as a first-generation Mexican-American, I learned early on that no one was going to hand me a seat at the table. So I built one myself.

Over the years, I've gone from being a linebacker at Columbia University to breaking into commodities trading, and eventually founding OTC Global Holdings, which became the largest independent interdealer brokerage in the world. Along the way, I had to constantly evolve as a leader—not just in theory, but in survival. These nine principles aren’t from a playbook; they’re the ones I lived by. Some came naturally, while others I had to learn the hard way.

1. Impact Over Ego

I've seen more deals die because someone needed to be right rather than effective. I've been that guy too. When we were first building OTC Global Holdings, I clung to certain ideas too tightly—branding decisions, hiring calls, even tech platforms—because they were mine. But ego doesn’t scale. Impact does. Today, I tell every founder I mentor: Your pride is not your strategy. Kill your ego before it kills your business.

2. Let the Doubters Talk

In the early days, when I told people I was going to build a global brokerage firm out of Houston, they smiled like I'd just said I was opening a taco truck in Paris. I wasn't from New York. I didn't go to Wharton. I didn't look like the rest of the trading world. But here’s the truth: Once you stop performing for the crowd and start building for the customer, you free yourself. Let the doubters talk. They're not on your payroll.

3. Find a Good Wingman

No one does this alone. I've been lucky to have business partners and key team members who weren't just smart but who challenged me, complemented my blind spots, and shared the same fire. In the early 2000s, when we were still scrappy and cash-conscious, I had a partner who pulled me aside and said, "Javi, you're great at kicking the door open. I'll handle what happens next." That trust saved me from burning out and saved the company from imploding. Find someone who's not a clone of you. Find the one who calls your bluff when you need it.

4. Find a Role Model

I didn't grow up with CEOs in my circle, but I knew how to study them. I read every business bio I could get my hands on, shadowed the veterans in the industry, and learned not just what they did but how they thought. Eventually, I stopped copying and started adapting. You don't need a mentor in the traditional sense. You need a blueprint, even if it's borrowed.

5. Live and Learn

Let me be honest: My first investor pitch was a disaster. I stumbled through the numbers, my hands were shaking, and I accidentally called the investor by the wrong name—twice. I wanted to crawl under the table. But I showed up again the next day. And the next. That's the toll we pay. If you're not willing to look foolish in the beginning, you're not ready to win in the end.

6. Obsession Beats Talent

I wasn't the smartest guy in the room when I started trading. But I was the most obsessed. I was the one reading European market updates at 3:00 a.m. I was the one calling brokers overseas just to ask dumb questions they didn't want to answer. Raw talent is fine, but obsession is what builds empires. If it doesn't keep you up at night or wake you up in the morning, it's probably not your thing.

7. High Agency Is a Superpower

Agency means you believe you have control even when the odds are stacked. It's not delusion. It's defiance. When the 2008 financial crisis hit, we had every reason to fold. The markets were frozen, clients were panicking, and we were bleeding. But I looked at my team and said, "Nobody's coming to save us. So we save ourselves." High agency leaders don't wait for perfect conditions. They move anyway.

8. Calendar Your Priorities

Don't tell me what your priorities are. Show me your calendar. I used to say my family was #1—but I realized we hadn't had a chance to go out for dinner in three months. That hurt. So, I started putting the important stuff in ink. My workouts. My daughters and wife. Thinking time. The calendar doesn't lie. If it's not scheduled, it's not sacred.

9. Adapt or Die

I've reinvented myself a dozen times. Broker. CEO. Investor. Philanthropist. Now, I'm working with new ventures in AI, renewable energy, and advising young founders who remind me of myself 25 years ago. The world doesn't care how things used to be. It cares how fast you can pivot. I've watched great companies die because their leaders were too nostalgic. I've also seen underdogs rise because they had the guts to throw out what wasn't working.

Success isn't a straight line. It's a series of battles—some public, most private. These principles? They're not just ideas. They're the reasons I'm still in the fight. And if you're reading this, so are you.