Be The Leader You Wish You Had
“Let us all be the leaders we wish we had.”
Simon Sinek
The Simon Sinek quote above is my inspiration for the opening talk I’ll give at our Blackbelt Leadership Awards Dinner Tonight.
We all remember some good leaders that positively influenced the trajectory of our lives.
Unfortunately, most of us also remember some really bad ones, and the consequences that poor leadership can create.
But as current, or future, Blackbelt Leaders, we also know that life is 10% what happens and 90% how we react to what happens.
We know that everything happens for a reason and serves us well.
We know that energy flows where Focus goes and that we are the ones responsible for the quality, and impact, of our life.
This handles the first part of what I want to say about Simon’s quote…
some people allow the negative influences of their past to maintain control of them years after the actual control was gone.
Bad things happen to good people.
Some bad things happened to each and all of us, some because of our own bad choices and others through no fault of our own.
But either way, our duty and responsibility is to put that behind us;
to become the best and highest version of ourselves.
To create happiness, achievement and meaning in our lives.
Also, to learn to lead.
Which leads me to the second part of my talk on the quote we’re unpacking.
One of the greatest things we can do, both for our own rehabilitation and for the ones we love and lead, is to be better and lead better…
or as Simon says, to be the leader we wish we had.
One of the great things about being a part of a great leadership tribe like ours at Krav Maga Martial Arts is that there are many great leaders to emulate; this is in fact the secret to the legacy leadership model we employ in our program.
But it’s also true that each of us, speaking to the adult likely reading this, have had (or maybe even still have) some examples of poor leadership too.
I’ll close with these three points:
1. Learn from both examples. Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, and add what is uniquely your own. Most of all, be the leader you wish you had. Of course this is true for parents, teachers and leaders in all organizations.
2. Control what you can control in your own environment today. Get around great leaders. The law of association and the power of the tribe are critical.
3. Create the future you want– for yourself, your kids, your team, your students. We create the future by what we think, believe, say and do.
You can do it!
It’s up to you!
Prepare To Live; Empower To Lead!
Grand Master Stephen J. Del Castillo
Founding Master Instructor, Krav Maga Martial Arts
TampaKravMaga.com StephenDelCastillo.com
p.s. if you are considering Blackbelt Leadership or currently in qualification, we hope you’ll join us too! Call 813-948-4844 to let us know to expect you!
About Grandmaster Stephen J. Del Castillo: Grandmaster Del Castillo is the founding Master Instructor of Krav Maga Martial Arts and has been empowering lives in Pasco and Hillsborough Counties since October of 2000. He is an 8th degree Blackbelt, MBA, author, mentor and success coach, a US Army Veteran and a proud father and grandfather. He is married to Ms. Barbara Del Castillo who helps him run the school. Grand Master Del Castillo began his training in the early 80’s and has high level blackbelts in Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Premier Martial Arts and Krav Maga Martial Arts as well as experience in kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do and Jiujitsu. He has high level instructor certifications from BBSI, IKMF, and KMG and has been featured in numerous Martial Arts publications and also Success magazine. He was a competitive sport karate and American Kickboxing instructor until he enlisted in the US Army where he served in the 82nd Airborne Division, where he won an Army Green to Gold scholarship and proceeded to ROTC and the University of Tampa. He was commissioned in 1992 and went on to serve in Germany with the 3rd Infantry Division and then in several other posts in the US until he left military service to pursue his dream of creating KMMA in 2000. Today I continue to train, learn, sow and grow under the mentorship of World Champion Grandmaster Jeff Smith, who regularly visits the academy to help sow into my teams and students as well.
The Krav MagaMartial Arts Headquarters is in Lutz, FL at 1900 Land O’ Lakes BLVD and now our new location in 8836 US 19, Port Richey! Krav Maga Martial Arts serves Lutz, Land O’ Lakes, Wesley Chapel, Port Richey and surrounding areas.
See stephendelcastillo.com for more information and to order my book, Developing Your Superpower, Meditations on Mastery, Volume 1.
Also, check us out on Fun4TampaKids & on Go2Karate.com