Have you ever been led by a cocky or arrogant boss? Have you ever been led by someone who shouldn’t be in a position of “Leadership?”

I have! Serving in the military and working in my chosen profession, I have dealt with many people who frankly had no business managing or leading others. We all can lead if we take the time to learn how to lead.

I remember being deployed overseas and working for an individual who walked around angry, cocky and scared. I was a young man and I felt I could lead better than this guy. All he does is boss people around and doesn’t even sit down to get to know his people. He didn’t even self-reflect on his choices and was not one bit concerned with his subordinates. This is a recipe for disaster and low morale.

“We all should self-reflect so as to not repeat our mistakes” Luiz D. Garcia

Throughout the years I’ve learned from these type of individuals! I’ve learned that leadership positions can be appointed, but we have to choose to lead from within. It takes time to build a humble type of leadership. Below are 3 things we all can do to help with our leadership growth.

1. Preparation:

The supervisor above did not prepare for the mission overseas. He did not prepare in learning different methods and ways to lead. He did not prepare his mindset on how to care for his subordinates in a stressful environment. It’s important we read and learn from others in leadership positions doing it the right way. It’s important we find leadership mentors that we can emulate. Preparation is key to learning how to be a humble leader!

2. Self-Reflection:

As mentioned above, my supervisor had no intention of using this much-needed tool in leadership. We all must work on this trait. I remember being put in a position of leadership while serving in Norfolk Virginia. It was one of my first leadership roles. After it was all said and done it did not turn out to be a good news story. I did not get the job done effectively, however, to this day I always self-reflect back to that moment and use the errors as learning examples. We all should self-reflect so as to not repeat our mistakes. A humble leader has no issues with self- Reflecting because he/she understands they are not perfect

3. Leading from the rear:

Yes, that’s right – leading from the rear. Many people say you should lead from the front, but I believe you put your people towards the front and trust in them. Trust that they will get the job done. It’s important as a leader to take a step back – listen first and allow others to be the priority at times. This will put your subordinates in a better position to build their leadership qualities – thus making your team stronger. Leading from the rear is not a bad thing it proves that you have the ability to delegate accordingly. It also proves that you are not threatened by others in your team making decisions. A humble leader will lead from any position.

There are many other traits that we can talk about when it comes to leadership. These are just a few I wanted to blog about this week.

Next week we'll talk about some leadership books that I feel have helped shape my leadership paradigm. Have a blessed week my friends!

Thank you for reading,

Luiz D. Garcia

#GoBeGreat