Home » Technology » Interview with Carlos Arturo Yepes on his resignation from Bancolombia – Vida

Interview with Carlos Arturo Yepes on his resignation from Bancolombia – Vida

Time took on a new meaning for Carlos Raúl Yepes in 2016. After resigning his position as president of Bancolombia, which he held for five years, he turned his gaze to himself. About your family. She left behind the work meetings, the new financial projects and the long working hours, which were already taking their body’s toll.

As an act of honesty and humanity with himself, Carlos Raúl resigned from an influential position, very well paid, which is closely related to the powerful. The opportunity was given to discover oneself outside a productivity scheme. He reconciled himself with his postponed dreams, reunited with his family and gave himself up to self-care.

(Also read: The future of travel in the covid-19 era)

A lustrum later does not regret the decision. He is still married to Gloria Cecilia, his best friend for 27 years. In times of pandemic, he also lives with his two children. With an optimistic vision, he believes that this moment represents a new discovery about his family relationships and about himself.

From his home in Medellín, Carlos Raúl remembers his reinvention process and reviews lessons from the pandemic.

(It might interest you: The activist who bridged art and the trans world)

How have you lived in recent months?

For me they have been wonderful in the midst of so much difficulty. One is aware of the problems of others, but also, it has been a time of discovery … For example, of the physical, like corners of the house where you were not used to going. Discovering the value of friendship, solidarity and gratitude. Also, discovery of things that I used to do in one way and now do in another.

For example…

The most important has been to share with the lady and the children. Everyone has activities outside the house, but now, living together has been a beautiful experience. We have done things that we did not do before, such as playing: from day one we set up a table for this.

On a blank sheet of paper, which is in the kitchen, we wrote down what we committed ourselves to individually and what as a family. We thought about what we were going to stop doing and what we would do differently.

The most important of these months is the discovery that one can slow down the pace of life, stop to think and ask questions.

Five years ago you had already changed your rhythm and left the presidency of Bancolombia. Do you miss any of your work?

How weird? Nothing. I would like to return? No. Life takes you down another path, that’s why the title of my book (By another way: back to the human).

The day I was appointed president of the bank, on November 28, 2010, I wrote the resignation letter to myself. The first thing was my expiration date: I said that I would be in the bank until February 1, 2019. After years of reading Chopra and due to my illnesses, I began to become afraid of power, of attachment. These positions are highly influential and highly paid.

In the letter I wrote that I wanted to regain my health, share with my family for so many moments that I could not, and realize backward dreams. I wanted to keep moving forward on my way. And you have to turn the page. Mind you, I have eternal gratitude for the bank.

It was given until 2019, but resigned in 2015 …

I was excited. Things were going well. But unfortunately I got sick. In the five and a half years that I was president of Bancolombia (I was in the organization for almost 23 years) I entered the clinic about 10 times.

First it was the liver, the pancreas, after diabetes, they had to cut 60 cm of my colon. He gave me peritonitis, I was in intensive care for 21 days and I came out with a colostomy. And despite that, she kept demanding me.

How did you make the decision?

In September 2015, she gave me pancreatitis. I was 10 days in the clinic. When I got home very weak from the clinic, I found my daughter María Luisa’s letter on my pillow. It was a call. She said: “We have already told you, but you do not understand. So I wanted to write it to you and I will tell you as many times as necessary. ” I put the letter away and starting the following year, I realized I had to step aside.

Was it a good decision?

It has been the best decision in life. I didn’t feel a profound change, I don’t need power. But I am remembered. There is a song that says: “absence causes forgetfulness, but you cannot forget what you have always wanted.” That is what I have felt, my love. They write to me and you stay alive in that umbilical cord.

Now when they ask me ‘how is he’, I coined the answer: relieved, happy and busy. And I think it would even be the other way around: busy, relieved and, of course, very happy.

What has life been like after the bank?

I think of two words: discipline and responsibility. I didn’t feel like I was caged and I had been opened to the world. But it was finding a way of living that I had never had. I was a dedicated student, a dedicated worker. I always felt like a soldier, never a general.

The next day, I woke up with no regrets. I had the discipline of day to day: routines such as eating well, exercising, everything I had not been able to do before. Then came the book. For eight months my job became.

In the resignation letter that I wrote to myself, I said that I wanted to work for society. I had a volunteer option and now more. They are my new responsibilities. Physically I have no time left. What happens is that it is a different time, distributed in another way. It is a dear time.

In addition to volunteering, she has a master’s degree in humanities …

I am a lawyer, I have business specializations, but I have always felt that my training is humanistic; that value of thinking in the other is present in one.

And I decided on the Eafit program. That is another discovery, too gratifying, by the extraordinary teachers and friends I met. That world of philosophers, sociologists and historians is very enriching. Every day something is learned. I have a permanent attitude of learning. I am entering the last semester.

What lessons does this pandemic leave you?

This was a dry stop. I am always thinking positive and I think this is a moment of reflection, of change of pace, of learning things as simple as valuing time or looking for the simple. It is a time for reflection so that everyone asks the right questions.

At the end is the call: be aware of things. Of the relationship with nature, with family and with friends. Between discovering, connecting and thinking about the other: there is life.

NATALIA NOGUERA – [email protected]
EDITING LIFE

– .

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.