Matias Salazar | Senior Leader | General Electric Argentina
DOOIT Inside-Out
DOOIT!’s Leadership Inside-Out series explores how leaders think, their internal mechanics that shape the way they make decisions and lead teams into the future. In this edition, we share Matias Salazar’s perspective, Regional Senior Finance Leader at General Electric. His reflections reveal a grounded, human, and strategically rigorous approach to leadership communication
How does a leader decide what truly matters when making high‑stakes decisions?
For Matias Salazar, decision-making has always been a structured discipline. Early in his career, he relied on decision matrices to evaluate multiple variables. But over time, one criterion became non-negotiable: the decision had to represent a real challenge.
If a choice didn’t push him out of his comfort zone, it wasn’t the right one. Challenge became a filter — not for ambition, but for growth. It was a way of proving to himself that he was capable and ready to take on responsibilities that stretched him beyond the familiar.
This mindset also shaped the decisions he prefers to make personally. When it comes to structure, team, and people, he steps in directly. He trusts his judgment in understanding others and follows a simple principle: don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to you. In environments where organizational decisions can feel transactional, this principle anchors his leadership in humanity.
¿How do leaders maintain fairness when making people-related decisions?
“Fairness emerges when leaders combine structured judgment with empathy, ensuring decisions reflect both organizational needs and human impact.”
Influence, transparency and courage
Influence, for Salazar requires transparency, clarity and always putting people first.
He recalls a moment when management proposed a decision that was highly un popular and carried hidden costs. Standing firm was difficult, but necessary. He laid out the impact clearly, including the effect on productivity, and ultimately helped reverse the decision. Raising issues others prefer not to see is rarely comfortable, especially when consequences are not immediate. But influence often requires exactly that.
His approach to persuasion blends four elements:
• People first, solutions that always consider the human factor
• Data, which provides the rationale
• Intuition, which can be articulated even if personal
• Context, which determines timing and relevance
These elements must be shared openly. Without transparency, influence becomes opinion. With transparency, it becomes alignment.
Influence and dissent
Salazar also emphasizes the value of dissent. The most influential conversations, he says, are those where someone disagrees. Facing a different point of view forces him to question assumptions and revisit data. Influence grows not from defending a position, but from refining it.
In multinational environments, this becomes even more critical. Influence is the currency of execution. Empathy and the ability to read others — across cultures, functions, and expectations — determine whether ideas travel or stall.
¿Why does dissent strengthen leadership influence?
“Dissent forces leaders to re-examine assumptions, improving the quality of decisions and the credibility of their communication.”
What helps leaders adapt when organizational change challenges their instincts?
During a restructuring, Salazar encountered a proposed model that would negatively affect his team. His instinctive reaction was to defend the status quo. But as the conversation progressed, he understood the broader direction and eventually embraced the new strategy.
This shift reflects a deeper leadership capability: adaptability. In a changing world, defending what exists is easy; understanding what must evolve is harder. Flexibility is not passive acceptance — it is the ability to recalibrate in real time.
This adaptability is reinforced by another mindset shift Salazar learned over the years: not taking things personally. In organizations, people are often measured as resources. Recognizing this reality helps leaders detach ego from decision-making and focus on what the system requires.
Mistakes also played a role in refining his judgment. Age and experience, he notes, provide wisdom that cannot be taught early on. Perspective grows with time, and leaders who embrace that growth communicate with more clarity and less defensiveness.
¿How does adaptability shape leadership communication?
“Adaptability allows leaders to communicate change with confidence, turning uncertainty into direction rather than resistance.”
When does leadership responsibility become most visible — and how should leaders show up?
For Salazar, leadership is revealed when things go wrong. That is when responsibility becomes most visible. In difficult moments, leaders are the first to step forward and step up. Their presence reassures the team that they are supported and signals to external stakeholders that the group stands united. In those moments, it becomes clear who is truly leading — and who simply holds a title.
Leadership communication in crisis is not about explaining — it is about presence.
Passing down pressure or resorting to micromanagement, according to Salazar, never brings out people’s best. Instead, he holds himself to a clear standard: act as a buffer for the team and keep everyone informed so they understand the context without creating a negative atmosphere. His goal is to create the conditions for each person to contribute at their best, especially when the stakes are high.
Looking ahead, he believes leadership will need to become unmistakably human. As the pace of technological change accelerates, leaders will need to lean harder into sharing, empathy, and belonging, even when the broader context pushes against it and creates frustration. In the end, communication, humanity, and real connection will be what allows teams to navigate what comes next together.
¿Why must leaders act as buffers rather than amplifiers of pressure?
“Leaders who absorb pressure instead of transmitting it create stability, enabling teams to perform even under strain.”
People Also Ask
How do leaders communicate effectively during organizational change?
Effective communication during change requires transparency, context, and adaptability. Leaders must explain the rationale, acknowledge concerns, and adjust their own assumptions as new information emerges.
What role does emotional intelligence play in leadership influence?
Emotional intelligence enables leaders to read others, understand reactions, and adapt their communication. This strengthens influence, especially in multinational environments where context varies widely.
How can leaders balance data and intuition in decision-making?
Leaders balance data and intuition by articulating both clearly. Data provides structure; intuition provides direction; context determines timing.
Why is challenge an important criterion for leadership decisions?
Challenge pushes leaders beyond comfort, accelerates growth, and builds credibility. Decisions that stretch capability often lead to stronger leadership maturity.
Leadership Communication Manifesto
by Matias Salazar
- Choose the path that challenges you.
- Make people-related decisions personally.
- Never do to others what you wouldn’t accept yourself.
- Share data, intuition, and context openly.
- Surface issues others prefer not to see.
- Seek dissent to refine your thinking.
- Adapt quickly when direction shifts.
- Step forward first when things go wrong.
- Buffer your team from unnecessary pressure.
- Provide context without creating negativity.
- Lead with empathy as technology accelerates.
- Build belonging as a strategic priority.
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