Leading Without Limits

Earlier this month, I attended the 10th annual Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit on Stanford’s campus in Palo Alto. It was a privilege to not only kick off the day sharing my views on leadership without limits, but to also introduce my former colleague, mentor and friend Ralph De La Vega for his Lifetime Leadership Award.

Frank Carbajal, the Founder and President of Es Tiempo and the Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit, put on a terrific event with an inspiring group of speakers and an engaged, sell-out crowd. It was easy to see that Latino representation among today’s business leaders throughout all industries is strong and growing.

After reflecting on the power of the event, I thought it would be useful to share some key takeaways with this LinkedIn community.

There was a clear and common theme around leading “Sin Límites.” As some of you may know, this means “without limits”. It means never limiting opportunities with self-imposed perceptions or barriers that can ultimately be overcome. Over the years, I’ve tried to incorporate this belief into my leadership style and the lessons I’ve shared with others.

The notion of living without limits also means creating pathways for new growth, personal and professional. Comfort is the enemy of growth, so we must put ourselves on a path of stepping up to challenges that drive to the creation of new skills.

It’s the non-traditional moves in our careers that prove to be immensely gratifying and enriching, as we work with new teams to overcome challenges and serve them as they define a path for success.

While there are numerous ways to embrace the principles of leading without limits as we drive our careers, it’s equally important to extend our influence to positively impact the careers of others.

Just like ourselves, we can’t put limits on what we think others can accomplish. We must build teams the embrace these principles and empower them to do so. We must bring others with us. Because the future world we’re creating with today’s emerging technologies is truly one without limits.

Thanks to the mobile revolution, the knowledge of mankind is now at our finger tips at any moment we want to access it. This is enabling entirely new economies and business ecosystems. Our world will look, feel and act very differently 10 years from now.

Tech advancements and ecosystems – like the Internet of Things, software-defined networking, edge computing, 5G and much more – will continue to disrupt the status quo and propel us deeper into the heart of a fourth industrial revolution. This will bring to life the next generation of applications, which includes things like remote surgery, telemedicine, augmented reality, autonomous driving.

The point is that our world is changing too fast, and the opportunity ahead too great, for us to be hampered by our own self-doubt or the doubts of others. Enable yourself and your teams.

Ultimately, if you are living a life where you are placing artificial limits on what you can accomplish – you will never be able to live to your full potential.