Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building and gola GV.
Speaker 1: This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host
Speaker 1: Paul Fellavledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode three sixty six. Leadership doesn't start in boardrooms
Speaker 2: or business books. It starts very early in life. And
Speaker 2: today I want to walk you through the five leadership
Speaker 2: styles that shaped the way I lead. Each one left
Speaker 2: a permanent mark. Some taught me what to emulate, others
Speaker 2: taught me what to avoid. But together they made me
Speaker 2: the leader that I am today. First up, the sacrificial leader.
Speaker 2: The very first leader I ever knew was my mom.
Speaker 2: We didn't have much growing up. Money was tight, life
Speaker 2: was hard, but my mother taught me the first and
Speaker 2: most enduring lesson in leadership sacrifice. She would walk over
Speaker 2: a mile to go to work, work all day, and
Speaker 2: then walk home. She'd cook for me and my brother,
Speaker 2: never a plate for herself, and then eat whatever leftovers
Speaker 2: we didn't finish. That wasn't just parenting, that was leadership.
Speaker 2: It taught me that leading isn't about being first in line,
Speaker 2: It's about being last on purpose. She showed me that
Speaker 2: real leadership gives it never takes. That lesson has never
Speaker 2: left me. The next one, the compassionate commander. The next
Speaker 2: major leadership influence came when I was in the Navy.
Speaker 2: My company commander was the kind of leader that most
Speaker 2: people only read about. He was kind, compassionate, and deeply
Speaker 2: cared about the sailors under his command. But here's the key,
Speaker 2: he also got the job done. He didn't confuse kindness
Speaker 2: with weakness. He taught me that a leader can hold
Speaker 2: the line and still have a heart. That it's possible
Speaker 2: to lead with both strength and empathy. That kind of
Speaker 2: leadership earns loyalty, not just compliance. The next one, the
Speaker 2: relentless motivator. We're going to fast forward to a very
Speaker 2: wild chapter of my life, selling knockoff perfume on the
Speaker 2: streets of South Florida. Yes, you heard that right. It
Speaker 2: was hot, humid, and exhausting. But my sales manager had
Speaker 2: a spark in him that I'll never forget. He was
Speaker 2: a true motivator. He could fire you up to go
Speaker 2: out there and sell day after day, even when quitting
Speaker 2: felt easy. From him, I learned that great leaders don't
Speaker 2: just manage tasks, they ignite belief. He made me see
Speaker 2: what I was cap belove, even when I couldn't see
Speaker 2: it myself. And there is more on this chapter of
Speaker 2: my life in my first book, The Seven Minute Leadership Handbook,
Speaker 2: The Cautionary Tale. Then there's the one I don't name,
Speaker 2: a leader I worked under who was cruel, dishonest, and unethical.
Speaker 2: Everything about the way he led made people small. He
Speaker 2: ruled by fear, manipulation in ego. And though I won't
Speaker 2: tell you who he was or when I worked for him,
Speaker 2: I'll tell you this. He was one of the greatest
Speaker 2: teachers of my life because he taught me how not
Speaker 2: to lead. That kind of leadership poisons teams, It crushes creativity,
Speaker 2: and it burns people out. From him, I made a
Speaker 2: lifelong vow if I was ever in a position to lead,
Speaker 2: I'd choose character over control every time. And that brings
Speaker 2: me to the servant style well I now live, which
Speaker 2: is very simple my leadership style today. I lead through service.
Speaker 2: I care deeply about my staff. I make sure that
Speaker 2: they're okay, I make sure they're fed. I make sure
Speaker 2: they have someone to turn to when they need help,
Speaker 2: because sometimes that's the most important thing a leader can offer.
Speaker 2: I don't sit in some tower barking orders. I lead
Speaker 2: from within the team, not above it. I'm always available
Speaker 2: to them, day or night. Servant Leadership isn't soft, it's strategic.
Speaker 2: When people know you care, they'll go farther, faster, and
Speaker 2: with more trust than you can imagine. I've seen it firsthand,
Speaker 2: I've lived it, and I will never lead any other way.
Speaker 2: So I'll be honest with you. This was hard and
Speaker 2: emotional for me putting this episode together and revisiting all
Speaker 2: these people in my mind and all the lessons that
Speaker 2: they taught me. If there's one thing I want you
Speaker 2: to take from this particular episode, it's this leadership isn't inherited.
Speaker 2: It's absorbed. It's earned, and it's shaped by the people
Speaker 2: we meet, the choices we make, and the experiences we survive.
Speaker 2: So ask yourself what style shaped you? What style are
Speaker 2: you passing on? And and will you be one of
Speaker 2: the leaders that shape someone else during their leadership journey.
Speaker 2: This has been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast, and I
Speaker 2: thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.