Mexico, Motivation - understand-culture

Never in Front of Subordinates

Article 35 of Mexico’s General Regulation of Military Duties, published in the Diario Oficial on March 26, 1937, asks a soldier to show “consideración y deferencia a los inferiores” (consideration and deference to subordinates). It adds that he will “nunca hará observaciones, ni correcciones en presencia de inferiores, ni de personas extrañas” (never make remarks or corrections in front of subordinates or of outsiders).

Article 50 defines the reprimand. The superior points out the fault, “invitándolo a corregirse” (inviting him to correct himself). The reprimand is given so that no one of lower rank than the person concerned “se aperciba de ella” (becomes aware of it).

Where It Hurts Most

On August 19, 2021, the columnist Raymundo Riva Palacio listed in El Financiero occasions on which President López Obrador had contradicted members of his own government in public. Of Finance Secretary Arturo Herrera, he wrote that the president “lo desmintió y descalificó, dejándolo en ridículo” (contradicted and discredited him, leaving him looking ridiculous). Of Alfonso Romo, he wrote: “lo exhibió ante el sector empresarial” (he exposed him before the business community).

Riva Palacio described the president’s way of criticizing his officials with the words “públicamente, donde duele más” (publicly, where it hurts most).

The Dressing Room

In December 2025, the Argentine former player Diego Latorre told ClaroSports about his time at Cruz Azul. After the club lost the Invierno 1999 final to Pachuca, he said, the club’s president, Guillermo “Billy” Álvarez, came into the dressing room and insulted the players. Latorre answered him back. “Firmé la sentencia” (I signed my sentence), he said. Months later, he was told the club no longer counted on him.

He described club owners in Mexico at the time: they “entraban al vestuario cuando las cosas no funcionaban y te insultaban, te decían de todo” (came into the dressing room when things were not working and insulted the players, called them everything).

A Scolding at the Bench

On November 1, 2026, in a Liga MX match between Santos and Necaxa, the Necaxa coach Juan Reynoso substituted the striker Juan Valencia and then scolded him sharply at the bench. Television cameras then showed Valencia on the bench, crying, with his jersey over his face. Publimetro ran the story under the words “Escándalo en Necaxa” (Scandal at Necaxa).

Reynoso then explained himself. “Quería, levantándole la voz, que reaccione y no se sienta culpable” (By raising my voice, I wanted him to react and not to feel guilty). He added: “Juanito es un muchacho espectacular” (Juanito is a spectacular young man).

Praise in Public, Scold in Private

In October 2017, the Mexican marketing magazine Merca2.0 published a column by Leoncio Cruz titled “Se felicita en público y se regaña en privado” (Praise in public, scold in private). The column repeats the rule in capital letters: “SE PREMIA EN PÚBLICO Y SE CASTIGA EN PRIVADO” (Reward in public, punish in private).

Almost Like a Family

In 1918, the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc of Monterrey founded a cooperative for its workers. In 2011, Expansión described it: the company “creó una sociedad cooperativa, que se encargaría de manejar los servicios para los empleados y sus parientes, casi como si se tratara de los miembros de una familia” (created a cooperative that would manage services for the employees and their relatives, almost as if they were members of a family).

Benevolence and Control

In 2003, P. G. Martínez published “Paternalism as a positive form of leader-subordinate exchange: Evidence from México” in the journal Management Research. The study draws on field data from organizations in Mexico and from U.S. organizations owned by Mexican immigrants. The leaders it describes look after their employees’ welfare at work and in their personal lives.

Martínez concludes that “paternalism combines paternalists’ benevolent acts with their subtle control over subordinates’ flexibility.”

Most People

In 2022, the polling firm Ipsos asked adults in 30 countries whether most people can be trusted. In Mexico, 23 percent said yes.

INEGI’s National Survey of Civic Culture of 2020 measured trust on a scale from zero to ten, “como en la escuela” (as in school). It asked about three groups separately: “la mayoría de las personas” (most people), “la mayoría de las personas que conoce personalmente” (most of the people one knows personally) and the people who live in one’s neighborhood.

Due Consideration

Article 132 of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law lists the duties of employers. Fraction VI requires them to “guardar a los trabajadores la debida consideración, absteniéndose de mal trato de palabra o de obra” (show workers due consideration and refrain from mistreating them in word or deed).

Under Article 51, a worker may end the employment, without liability, when the employer or the employer’s representatives commit “injurias, hostigamiento y/o acoso sexual, malos tratamientos u otros análogos” (insults, harassment and/or sexual harassment, mistreatment or other similar acts) against the worker.

Putting On the Shirt

Ponerse la camiseta, “to put on the shirt,” means to commit to a team. The sports newspaper Récord explains that “ponerse la camiseta implica ser parte de” a team, and that a player merges with the goals of the team. The phrase is also used at work.

In August 2025, Publimetro quoted a training specialist at the human resources firm Hooman, who said that “70% de los empleados del país ya no se ponen la camiseta de la empresa” (70 percent of the country’s employees no longer put on the company’s shirt).