What it takes to be an industry leader

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What it takes to be an industry leader

19 Feb 2025

Lily Cota

Lily Cota is a writer, editor and photographer from Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Science in English and a minor in Photography. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading fantasy novels, thrifting, trying out local coffee shops and spending time with her nieces.

ORLANDO, FL — Being a leader doesn’t stop when you reach the top of the ladder. It’s a perpetual journey lined with mistakes, skill development, hard work, difficult decisions and continuous learning.

Discussions surrounding what it takes to be a leader in the baking industry are underway at the American Society of Baking (ASB)’s BakingTECH 2025, held February 17-19 in Orlando, FL.

Personal growth

During a Bake Talk session titled Climbing Into Leadership: Mastering Delegation & Business Growth, Ramon Rivera, senior VP of global operations for Grupo Bimbo, detailed his leadership journey, highlighting the importance of being able to recognize personal strengths and shortcomings.

“I know I have gaps, so that means I have to learn more about me,” Rivera said. “I have to learn more about the company, technology, and the business.”

The perfect company isn’t built overnight. It takes time, patience and the ability to identify next steps. Leaders must go beyond acknowledging their gaps and utilize resources to help close them.

Filling in the gaps

A successful business isn’t run by one person alone. It requires heavy lifting from trusted team members, and it’s up to the person in charge to establish that.

“We have to fill personal gaps,” Rivera said. “You have to get resources and build a great team. I wouldn’t be here without the great people who work with me.”

After building a strong team, leaders must know when to delegate responsibilities and when to take the reins.

“Delegation is very simple,” Rivera said. “Get a list of everything you have to do. From that list, select who in your team can do it, give it to them and forget about it.”

While it may be difficult for companies to find people who can perform more specialized tasks, leaders can attune their employees’ current skillsets through training and development.

Networking and community

Staying ahead of industry trends and insights, including technological developments, allows leaders to continue growing and learning.

“That includes coming to industry events like BakingTECH,” Rivera said. “It’s one of the places where you’re going to learn a lot and make connections, which is the second piece.”

Building connections and fostering relationships in the industry is another way that Rivera says leaders can stay involved and share ideas.

“All of the opportunities that are coming from these informal conversations we have at these events are really value-added,” Rivera explained. “We come here to understand what opportunities we have and what we can build together. Then we’re going to grow our company, grow as people and grow the community.”

By propelling each other forward, businesses and their communities can benefit from mutual growth, leading to increased success and synchronicity in the future.

“Having a growth mindset requires having everybody connected and embracing the challenges to think more about the business than the function,” Rivera said. “Put the business first in every decision you make and everything will be different.”

Self-care

Rivera also emphasized something many leaders disregard on their way up: self-care. Self-care doesn’t only refer to traditional forms — such as exercising and eating well — and Rivera encourages everyone to find ways to make time for themselves in whatever fashion they see fit.

This includes stepping away from business, regardless of how important one’s role may be, and taking an aloof approach to out-of-office emails.

“When I’m on vacation, I’m not going to look at my email,” Rivera shared. “And when I come back from vacation, I delete all the emails I received during my vacation. Do you know what happened? Nothing. If someone needs something, they’re going to email me again.”

Being a leader

Leadership isn’t cut and dry. It’s a constant duty that feels successful some days but challenging the next. It takes a special kind of person, backed by the right team of people, to make a strong leader.

“Being a leader is about having very clear goals and effective time management, learning all the time, personal care and adapting to changes,” Rivera concluded. “And, frankly, if you’re proactive, you’re going to create the change.”

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