Mexico, Leadership, Directive Leader

The Tlatoani and the Six-Year Monarchy

In Posdata, Octavio Paz compared the Mexican presidency with the tlatoani, the ruler of the Aztecs. He wrote that “el tlatoani representa la continuidad impersonal de la dominación” (the tlatoani represents the impersonal continuity of domination). The president, in his reading, holds power for six years, and at the end of that term another president appears.

A phrase attributed to the historian Daniel Cosío Villegas, in El sistema político mexicano, is still quoted by columnists. It calls the system a “monarquía absoluta sexenal y hereditaria por línea transversal” (an absolute six-year monarchy, hereditary in a transverse line). The phrase is quoted in slightly different wordings.

Military Discipline

Article 3 of Mexico’s Law of Discipline of the Army, Air Force and National Guard defines discipline as the norm to which the military must adjust their conduct. It “tiene como bases la obediencia, y un alto concepto del honor, de la justicia y de la moral” (has as its bases obedience and a high concept of honor, justice and morality).

Its aim is that soldiers fulfill exactly and loyally the duties set by military laws and regulations.

Phrases of Command

Donde manda capitán, no gobierna marinero, “where the captain commands, the sailor does not govern.” ¡Aquí mando yo!, “I am the one who commands here!” Mi palabra es la ley, “my word is the law.”

A 2005 article in Elementos, a journal of the Autonomous University of Puebla, gives the first as the form the saying has today. A 2014 article in the magazine Este País lists the other two among the phrases of a boss.

Power Distance

In Geert Hofstede’s study of national cultures, Mexico scores 81 on power distance, the degree to which people accept that power is distributed unequally. A thesis at the Autonomous University of Puebla notes that with this value Mexico occupies “el sexto lugar” (sixth place) among the countries in Hofstede’s ranking.

Clarity, Direction, Structure

In May 2026, IDC Online reported the Mexican results of “The Leadership Divide,” a study by Hogan Assessments of about 10,000 workers in 25 countries. In Mexico, 87 percent expected drive, ambition and a focus on results from their leaders. Sixty-six percent valued clear structures, processes and organization.

Victoria Zapata of HR Tools México summed up the results: “La gente quiere claridad, quiere rumbo, quiere estructura” (People want clarity, they want direction, they want structure).

Settling with the Superior

The Interior Regulation of Mexico’s Ministry of the Interior, in its 2019 version, lists the general powers of its officials. For the heads of the undersecretariats, the first one is “Acordar con la persona Titular de la Secretaría los asuntos de su competencia” (to settle with the head of the Ministry the matters within their competence).

For the heads of the administrative units listed in section B of Article 2, Article 10 begins in the same way: “Acordar con su superior jerárquico la resolución de los asuntos a su cargo” (to settle with their hierarchical superior the resolution of the matters in their charge).

Under the Employer’s Authority

Article 134 of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law lists the duties of workers. Fraction III requires them to “desempeñar el servicio bajo la dirección del patrón o de su representante, a cuya autoridad estarán subordinados en todo lo concerniente al trabajo” (perform the service under the direction of the employer or the employer’s representative, to whose authority they are subordinate in everything that concerns the work).

Article 47 lists the reasons for which an employer may dismiss a worker without liability. Fraction XI names “desobedecer el trabajador al patrón o a sus representantes, sin causa justificada, siempre que se trate del trabajo contratado” (disobedience of the worker toward the employer or the employer’s representatives, without justified cause, when it concerns the work contracted for).

Whatever Time You Say

“¿Qué hora es?” “La que usted diga, señor presidente.” “What time is it?” “Whatever time you say, Mr. President.” Mexican columnists quote the exchange as a well-known maxim. In 2020, a guest column in Expansión applied it to judges who follow the president.

The columns give no origin for it, and none ties it to a particular president. A variant ends la que usted mande, “whatever time you order.”

The One Who Commands

El que manda, manda, y si se equivoca, vuelve a mandar. “The one who commands, commands, and if he makes a mistake, he commands again.” In a 2019 column in Excélsior, the journalist Félix Cortés Camarillo wrote that he learned the saying from a businessman, don Emilio.

The Big Finger

Under the PRI, the outgoing president chose the party’s candidate for his succession. The practice is called el dedazo, from dedo, “finger.” The dictionary of the Spanish Academy defines it, in its Mexican sense, as the designation of a candidate by the executive “without the usual formalities.” The writer Jorge Castañeda has argued that every PRI president used it.

Until the name was announced, the chosen man was el tapado, “the covered one.” For months, names of possible successors went around. In the end, the president decided.