A whole new way of looking at Leadership (part 1)

This week, a flood of automated congratulations on LinkedIn reminded me: it’s been exactly 12 years since I founded my business, “Líderes Determinados” (Determined Leaders).

In October 2012, I officially registered the name to begin invoicing for my teaching and speaking services, though I was still working as a technical manager for one of the largest multinational companies in Costa Rica. At the time, I had nearly a decade of experience leading teams across two major companies, and though I hadn’t yet planned to leave my role, the spark to build something of my own had already ignited.

Two more years passed before, in December 2014, I handed in my badge for the last time, promising myself not to look back. During my time in those companies, I learned about leadership from great mentors—and perhaps even more from those I wouldn’t necessarily call “leaders.” Early on, I made more mistakes than I can count, but looking back, I know I always put my people first and did my best with the tools I had.

Today, I wanted to share about leadership. Reflecting on my journey, I remember that when I launched my business, I aimed to help leaders create impact by challenging the “old” and ineffective leadership methods. Little did I know that I was embarking on a profound spiritual and transformational journey…

Before resigning in 2014, I traveled to Orlando, Florida, where I became certified as a coach, trainer, and speaker with The John Maxwell Team. With my experience in management, training with a renowned leadership expert seemed like the right step. I returned brimming with enthusiasm and, only a month later—with my wife’s blessing—I spoke to my boss and announced my resignation. We agreed I’d stay through the end of the year, and so I did.

Someone once said, “We make plans, and God laughs.” Well, let’s say He probably laughed heartily at mine. My first year as an entrepreneur was a rollercoaster. By year’s end, I was nearly bankrupt, with no clients, no income, no savings, and close to $30,000 in credit card debt.

But time, as always, marched on, and I held firm to my commitment not to go back to a traditional job. By 2016-2017, I was training with Rich Litvin—a respected coach for coaches, leaders, and entrepreneurs. Learning from him was a bold investment, but it paid off, and my business began to soar.

I haven’t yet touched on leadership, but context matters. The coaching approach I learned from Rich reshaped everything I thought I knew about leadership. It fanned the small flame of passion I had into a blazing fire.

Over the past decade as a coach, I’ve come to realize that many of us have been taught leadership from an “outside-in” perspective, where external events shape our feelings. But the reality is the opposite: we live in an “inside-out” world, where our internal state shapes our external experience.

Here’s an example: let’s say you have an employee who appears drowsy at work, and his peers report he often smells like alcohol. The typical “leadership” approach would be to reprimand him with a warning to correct the behavior. But what if a different approach could not only address the behavior but also drastically improve his performance?

What if, instead of issuing a warning, we took time to understand his personal circumstances, asking what’s happening in “his world”? Empowering someone to recognize and reshape their inner reality can lead to true, lasting change. This happened to me once. Though I didn’t know then what I know now, I met with this person, and after some time, he finally shared what was going on in his life. We provided support, and he ultimately became a top performer—a reminder that a “quick fix” isn’t always the right answer.

I can already hear some saying, “It’s not your job to babysit; you’re not a psychologist.” But that’s the difference between what I call “horizontal leadership” (or traditional) and transformational leadership—a model where we lead from the heart, more as coaches than as commanders.

There’s so much more to this model of leadership that I’ll save for next time. But before I go, I invite you to listen to my Private Podcast, where I share short, impactful audios designed to inspire a fresh perspective on leadership—from the inside out.

Click here to access the podcast. It’s private for a reason: there’s plenty of noise out there already, so this is for those genuinely interested. I hope you’re one of them.

https://audio.minorarias.com/insideoutleader

Thank you for reading this far!

Talk to you soon…

Minor.

www.minorarias.com

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