Felipe Bayón is Chief Executive Officer of Ecopetrol, the largest company in Colombia and one of the leading operators in Latin America. He has over 29 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Before assuming his role as CEO in 2017, he served as Ecopetrol’s COO and prior to that he held different executive positions at BP, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of BP America and Head of Global Deepwater Response.

From the start Felipe knew he wanted to be an engineer. He pursued a degree in Mechanical engineering to be in the automotive industry. His path changed when he was offered a role at Shell. Felipe talks about the differences between working in the automotive industry vs oil and gas. 

Felipe was told by a former colleague that he would never be CEO because he simply just didn’t have everything it took and there was way too much competition out there. He talks about this comment and why you don't need to change who you are in order to achieve your goals. Felipe tells of the time he was presenting to a group of younger engineers and was told he was a “dinosaur”. He talks about how the world has moved on with the acceleration of digital, internet and social media and why you need to adjust to the new way of work. 

Felipe walks us through his top advice in growing your career. You do not want to miss this.He goes into how he uses his own advice in the decisions he makes as a CEO and breaking down the barriers he had based on other people's opinions. 

We learn about Ecopetrol and how they have the largest pension fund that touches more than 17 million Colombians. Felipe explains how important the oil and gas industry is and what EcoPetrol is doing to ensure a more sustainable and carbon neutral future. 

Felipe talks about recognizing the hard times as CEO. The time away from family and the impact that had on his work life balance. He shares the changes covid made between the relationship with his daughter. Something we can all relate to as well.

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