Bladex, Global

Redefining its Values, Revealing the Purpose and Evolving its Organizational Culture

About Bladex

Bladex contacted us when the company marked 45 years as a key player in Latin American foreign trade, celebrating its legacy of commitment to the region’s economic development. Since its founding in 1979, the bank has provided financial solutions that connect markets, cultures, and opportunities.

This milestone marks a moment of reflection and projection towards the future, where the institution reaffirms its purpose, values and culture, with the strategic collaboration of TOTEM Branding.
Bladex has decided to work with TOTEM to strengthen its essence as a brand and align its purpose with the challenges of a constantly evolving world. In a context where regional integration, sustainability and innovation are fundamental, Bladex seeks to reaffirm its leadership through a solid organizational culture, based on values that inspire its team and generate trust in its partners and customers.

The Challenge

The main challenge posed by Bladex was to define an organizational purpose that:

- • Is articulated and supported by senior management.
- • Has a sense of significance, impacting both inside and outside the organization.
- • Genuinely resonates with employees, becoming a tangible guide to their actions and decisions.

The Challenge

The goals to achieve the challenge were:

What We Did

Purpose: Bladex’s Strategic Core

Purpose not only provides direction and motivation, but also aligns employees with meaningful values, fosters organizational resilience, and promotes positive social impact. This integration of purpose with business strategy establishes a coherent and sustainable identity for Bladex.

What We Did

Methodological Approach: The methodological approach we used to work with Bladex was based on our own methodology, designed to involve leaders and key collaborators in a comprehensive three-stage process:

- 1. We reconnect with the essence of Bladex, exploring what makes the organization unique.
- 2. We identify the identity that characterizes your brand and defines your organizational culture.
- 3. We worked to bring forth a genuine purpose that authentically reflected this identity and connected with its vision for the future.

What We Did

This process revealed the absence of an explicit culture, highlighting the need to design a clear cultural structure to guide the organization's actions and decisions.

With this diagnosis, the importance of implementing strategic changes to achieve sustained growth, with cohesion and consistency, aligning identity and purpose with every aspect of Bladex's operation, was raised.

The Result

Bladex consolidated its identity and purpose, defined clear values and behavioral pillars, empowered culture ambassadors, and crafted symbolic anchors to foster commitment, alignment, and emotional connection within the organization.

The results achieved were:
- 1. Identity and Purpose: Bladex's unique identity was explored in depth, articulating a purpose aligned with its essence and strategic vision.
- 2. Values and Behavioral Pillars: Clear values and behavioral pillars that guide the organizational culture were identified, turning them into practical references for internal behavior.
- 3. Culture Ambassadors: A group of internal leaders was created to act as ambassadors, promoting values and recalling key stories that connect with the organization's moments of truth.
- 4. Symbols as Anchors: From meaningful stories, emotional and visual symbols were developed that reinforce behavioral pillars, strengthening commitment and emotional connection within the team.

Mariano Castro, Bladex Vice President

"If I had to define TOTEM in one sentence, I would say that they are professionals from another galaxy. Not only because of their deep knowledge and strategic approach, but because they managed to see in us what we could not even see. From the first meeting, we understood that this would not be a traditional process of defining purpose, mission and values. What began as a one-off task was transformed into a comprehensive reinvention of our culture and our reason for being."

"From the beginning, it was clear that this was not superficial work or a filler exercise. It was a true call to deep transformation. What began as a search for a definition of purpose ended up being a broader exploration of who we are, where we want to go and, above all, why we do what we do. TOTEM did not limit itself to bringing predefined answers or generic formulas. Their approach was much more ambitious: they taught us to discover our purpose from within, from the very essence of the organization. The real magic happened when we realized that purpose is not built, it is revealed. To reach that revelation, TOTEM used powerful techniques and innovative methodologies, including exploring leadership alignment and creating a deep analogy: what would our organization be like if it were a person? This exercise was not only revealing, but it allowed us to identify the human qualities we wanted to embody as a company. This human approach helped us to clearly see the behaviors, emotions, and values that were already latent, but that we had not yet verbalized or put into action. The real challenge was not in writing the values on a wall, but in living them daily. This is where TOTEM's work shone brightest. Their commitment did not stop at the conceptual design phase. They got involved in the implementation process, accompanying us so that those values were not just pretty words, but a daily and tangible practice. They showed us that values are not decorative elements, but the frame of reference for everyday decision-making. In short, TOTEM was not a supplier, it was a strategic partner. They did not just complete a task, they committed themselves to the process and left nothing to chance. If I had to repeat it, I would not hesitate: TOTEM are professionals from another galaxy."

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