General Managers Forum: connection, learning and leadership in Brazil

General Managers (GMs) from across Anglo American came together in Brazil from in October for a week focused on building relationships, sharing operational learning and reflecting on how we continue to strengthen leadership across our operations.

Hosted at our Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil, the GM Forum combined leadership discussions, external perspectives, site-based learning and time for GMs to learn directly from one another. The forum is part of an ongoing rhythm that brings this critical leadership population together twice a year. One forum is focused on engagement with senior leadership and Group functions – held earlier this year at our London offices – while the other is held closer to our operations, creating space for site visits, knowledge sharing and learning from best practices.

Monique Carter, Chief People Officer at Anglo American, said:

“What stood out to me at Minas-Rio was the pride people take in their work and the absolute focus on safety and sustainability. You could see leadership being lived across the operation, in the standards people set, the conversations they have and the care they take in how work is done. The GM community is strengthening as a cohort, not only learning from one another but increasingly acting as change agents for our culture and leadership agenda. As Anglo American prepares for the merger with Teck Resources, that connection and shared leadership will become even more important.”

Connecting across our operations

The week created dedicated time for GMs to step beyond the immediate demands of their own operations and connect as a leadership cohort.

Discussions explored technical and operational excellence, culture and leadership, external forces and site resilience, and GM succession and retention. The programme also included an external perspective on leading culture change in complex operating environments.

The combination of structured discussion and informal connection was important in building trust among the leadership cohort, allowing them to learn together, share challenges, identify opportunities and translate those conversations into practical commitments across the Group.

A powerful reflection on safety leadership

One of the most significant moments of the week was a visit to the Brumadinho Mine Memorial. The programme created a dedicated space for leadership reflection, with safety leadership and responsibility at its heart.

The reflection carried into the discussions and commitments that followed. GMs focused on spending more time in the field, strengthening colleagues’ confidence to assess risk and stop unsafe work, checking the effectiveness of critical controls and improving risk coverage.

Leadership is ultimately visible in the standards, conversations and decisions that happen every day at our operations.

Renier Swart, SVP Technical, said:

“The week at Minas-Rio gave the GMs the opportunity to experience a world-class operation first-hand, but also to step back and reflect on our responsibilities as leaders. The visit to the Brumadinho Memorial was particularly powerful and reinforced the importance of taking our learning back into our own operations and turning it into action.”

Learning from Minas-Rio

The site visit provided the opportunity to see the Minas-Rio operation in action, connecting the mine with processing, operational control, geotechnical and environmental monitoring, filtration and the pipeline.

Feedback highlighted the pride and knowledge of the workforce, strong housekeeping and the standards evident across the operation.

The experience offered the chance not only to discuss operational excellence, but to see practices first-hand, ask questions of the people applying them and consider what could be taken back to other operations.

Taking the connection beyond Brazil

Importantly, the forum does not finish when the group left Minas-Rio, with the GMs using the network to share learning and seek support from one another.

There was also a shared commitment to collectively develop the future succession pipeline, create development opportunities across the business and share expertise. These commitments go to the heart of what the GM Forum is designed to achieve: strengthening not only individual leaders, but the connections and leadership pipeline across Anglo American.

Ana Sanches, CEO of Anglo American in Brazil, said:

“Hosting the GM Forum at Minas-Rio was an opportunity not only to showcase our operation, but to learn together. I’m incredibly proud of Minas-Rio leadership and the wider team for the openness with which they shared their experience and for creating such an impactful visit for their GM colleagues from across Anglo American.”

The GM Forum in Brazil demonstrated the value of bringing leaders together at our operations: creating space to learn from one another, challenge our thinking, strengthen relationships and take practical ideas back into the business.

General Managers Forum: connection, learning and leadership in Brazil

Connecting across our operations

A powerful reflection on safety leadership

Learning from Minas-Rio

Taking the connection beyond Brazil

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