Many executives hire people who mirror their own expertise, creating organizations where the boss remains the smartest person in every room. Alejandro Betancourt López considers this approach a fundamental error. His hiring philosophy runs counter to the instincts of many business leaders: seek out employees who possess deeper knowledge than you do, then give them room to challenge your assumptions.
“When I hire people, I take a real hard look at the experience they have,” Betancourt López explained. “I like to know that they know more than me, that they’re better than me, that they have better knowledge than me on that industry. And that’s something I respect.”
The statement reflects more than personal humility. It represents a calculated leadership approach that has allowed Alejandro Betancourt López to operate successfully across industries as varied as energy infrastructure, fashion retail, financial services, and transportation technology. No single executive can master the technical details of such disparate fields. Recognizing this limitation—and building organizations that compensate for it—becomes essential for anyone attempting to manage a diversified portfolio.
As founder of O’Hara Administration, an international investment group with holdings spanning multiple sectors and continents, Betancourt López has assembled teams across businesses that share little in common beyond his involvement. Hawkers manufactures and markets sunglasses. Auro Travel operates ride-sharing services. BDK Financial Group runs banking operations in West Africa. Each enterprise demands specialized expertise that no single leader could possess.
Hiring People Unafraid to Push Back
What distinguishes the hiring philosophy of Alejandro Betancourt López from generic advice about “surrounding yourself with talent” is his emphasis on intellectual independence. He doesn’t simply want knowledgeable employees—he wants employees willing to tell him when he’s wrong.
“I like to hire people that are at least better prepared, smarter, and that can really—not afraid of telling me what to do, because they know better, they’ve been there more time, and they’re being more focused on that specific industry,” he noted.
This preference for employees who push back requires genuine comfort with being challenged. Executives who claim to welcome disagreement often react poorly when subordinates actually disagree.
Betancourt López appears to have internalized this discipline through years of operating across unfamiliar sectors. When you lack deep expertise in an industry, dismissing input from those who possess it becomes not just arrogant but operationally foolish.
“If I can get that sense, then I take their opinion on a highly basis and I hire them,” he said of candidates who demonstrate superior knowledge in their fields.
The approach carries risks. Employees confident enough to challenge leadership can also prove difficult to manage. Strong opinions may generate conflict. But for Alejandro Betancourt López, these risks pale compared to the alternative: surrounding yourself with people who simply agree with whatever the boss suggests.
The Orchestra Director Model
To explain how he manages enterprises spanning such different industries, Alejandro Betancourt López reaches for a musical comparison. He describes himself not as a virtuoso on any single instrument, but as someone capable of understanding enough about each to coordinate the overall performance.
“I consider myself a very fast learner, and that’s why I call myself—I could be a good director for orchestra because I know how to play a little bit of every instrument, and that’s key for success,” he explained.
The metaphor illuminates his management philosophy. Orchestra conductors don’t outperform their musicians on any individual instrument. Their value lies in understanding how pieces fit together, when sections should come forward or recede, and how to maintain coherence across dozens of independent performers.
“I understand the basics of not everything in the world but of my investments, let’s put it this way,” Betancourt López continued. “And I surround myself with good talent and people that I think can run it efficiently and I can understand what they’re doing.”
This self-assessment reflects intellectual honesty rare among executives managing billion-dollar portfolios. Many leaders in similar positions project omniscience, claiming detailed mastery of every operation under their control. Alejandro Betancourt López takes the opposite approach, openly acknowledging the boundaries of his expertise while emphasizing his ability to learn quickly and coordinate effectively.
The orchestra model also suggests a particular relationship between leader and team. Musicians respect conductors who understand music deeply, even if they cannot play every instrument themselves. Similarly, business leaders earn respect by demonstrating genuine understanding of their enterprises, even when specialists handle day-to-day execution.
Intuition Built on Information
While Alejandro Betancourt López emphasizes hiring experts and deferring to their knowledge, he doesn’t describe himself as a passive overseer. His role involves synthesizing information from multiple sources and making judgment calls that draw on both data and instinct.
“Everything I do is based on intuition and information. Intuition based on the right information and the right people that surrounds you,” he explained. “You have to surround yourself with people that are at top of their game.”
The formulation suggests intuition not as a mystical gift but as a skill developed through exposure to quality information and talented colleagues. Spend enough time around excellent people in a given field, and patterns begin to emerge. Judgment improves. Decisions that might appear instinctive actually rest on accumulated experience and observation.
“If I go to the right places and I interact with the right people, I’m going to get good information and then my intuition is going to be more tuned up, and better,” Betancourt López continued. “So it’s a mix of surrounding yourself with good, talented people, listening to them, and then putting that intuition of yours into good work.”
At Hawkers, the Spanish eyewear company where Alejandro Betancourt López serves as president and largest shareholder, this philosophy has translated into concrete organizational growth. The company expanded from roughly 40 employees to 500 as it scaled from a small startup into an international brand operating across more than 20 countries.
Building a workforce of that size requires hiring decisions that extend far beyond any single executive’s personal network or expertise. Systems must exist for identifying, evaluating, and developing talent across functions and geographies.
Letting Experts Lead
For leaders accustomed to being the most knowledgeable person in their organizations, the approach Alejandro Betancourt López describes demands genuine psychological adjustment. Admitting that employees know more than you do can feel like weakness. Encouraging them to challenge your decisions can seem like inviting chaos.
Yet the alternative—pretending to expertise you lack, surrounding yourself with people who won’t contradict you—produces brittler organizations. Mistakes go unchallenged. Opportunities get missed because no one possesses the specialized knowledge to recognize them.
“I’m a true believer in teams,” Betancourt López stated. “I do believe that talent is the most important thing in a company, or in a corporation.”
