We have a very special show this week – your host will be me, Chad Weinstein, and our guest is Chris Cebollero, author of the new book Ultimate Success: Strategic Leadership Excellence, which has reached bestseller status on Amazon.

We discuss Chris’ new book, the lessons within it, and why continuous development is critical to leadership success.

On today’s podcast:

* What motivated Chris to write this book?

* The heroes that Chris has learned from as a leader

* What were the surprises that came out of writing this book?

* What can you expect from the book?

* How should readers use Ultimate Success for their development?

* Where to purchase Ultimate Success

Links:

* Ultimate Success on Amazon

What motivated Chris to write this book?

Chris Cebollero’s first book, Ultimate Leadership: 10 Rules for Success, was about the rules he had to come up with through his leadership career that really grew from the lessons learned from his professional successes and failures.

In the new book, Ultimate Success, Chris set out to give the reader the skills and knowledge that they would need to develop into an ultimate success as a leader.

Are you born to be a leader or are you made to be a leader? Chris believes the answer is ‘yes.’ Leaders are born, but as we grow we are able to develop our leadership acumen – so both are true.

Chris wrote the book to act not only as a foundation but also as a resource that leaders can reference throughout their careers to continually help them to develop. So it is designed to be of value to seasoned leaders as well as those that are stepping into leadership positions for the first time.

Leadership is both an art and a science. You’ve got to know the science before you can paint the picture of success.

-Chris Cebollero

Especially true for new leaders. But also very relevant for experienced leaders as Chris is setting out his interpretation of the science through this book which will encourage you to look at leadership practices in a new way. It provides an opportunity to question and clarify your thinking.

The heroes that Chris has learned from as a leader

John Maxwell is a stand out example for Chris. When you think you know about leadership and you sit in front of John, says Chris, you realise how much you don’t know about leadership.

Chris is also inspired by leaders through history that went through tragedy and came out successful. Winston Churchill, Harry S Truman, John F Kennedy, for example. People that had to go through and deal with extreme adversity and come through successfully.

Coming from the public service realm, Chris was mentored by leaders in his chain of command who seemed to have all the answers. When he would come to them as a young paramedic or young supervisor, nervous and concerned at how to handle situations, it seemed that they always knew what to do to deal with a given problem. People like Ernie Rodriguez and Randy McCargar, and Jennifer Cordia that really impacted Chris’ career early on.

Another hero was his first boss when he left the military: Don Hopkins. Don was a rural hospital president who really set Chris on the path into the private sector with the tools of how to talk and interact with people in the proper manner. Don moved Chris’ mindset from a military one to a civilian one.

What were the surprises that came out of writing this book?

What surprised Chris was that as he was putting his thoughts and experiences down on paper, it brought him back to not only what he had to learn in the early stages of his career, but that he continued to enhance those learnings throughout his career with a huge amount of those experiences that go into honing your craft.

Going back through the stories and experiences that molded his career brought back some surprising emotions,