In this edition, we invited Pedro Gabriel to give us your perspective about Leadership and Coaching. And here it is!

Pedro Manuel Magalhães Leite Gabriel, an aviation professional with a passion for leadership, with over than 26 years of experience in different areas, ranging from engineering to safety, leading teams and projects in different roles, from Engineer to Director, in both civil and military organizations. Graduated from the Portuguese Air Force Academy with an Aeronautical Engineering Degree, pursued the military career for two decades leaving the Portuguese Air Force as a Major. During its military career, has led different teams in multiple projects and received several awards and medals, namely the Medal of Aeronautical Merit. Continuously striving for improving himself and providing additional value to the organizations he has attended numerous courses during its professional journey, including a Master in Business Administration (MBA). He transitioned from a military organization to a private multinational company, and led a team of 140+ people, in three different business units, supporting the company achieving unparallel growth and expansion and benchmark results. He strives to be an outstanding leader of a team of star performers and an inspiration to young people fulfilling their passion for aviation and in life. He is married and the proud father of three amazing kids!

« When talking about leadership we often look exclusively to our own interactions with others, and most commonly with the teams we are trusted with. We look ourselves through the eyes of others and how we are influencing other’s performance.

What we tend to overlook is that every time we interact with another person, we bring forward in others our outward expression of ourselves. That is why true leadership starts with one leading oneself to the possibilities one creates for its own life.

I am not talking about embracing a persona or pretending to be a character in a story. I am not talking about managing ourselves to fit a model and fighting all day long, while hiding our own humanity. I am not talking about manipulation or even forcing others to do our own way. Those actions will only lead to disguise and, sooner or later, to one being out of integrity with himself and others, and to break the foundation of leadership. When that happens, often value is destroyed and frequently others get the sense of betrayal and team spirit is lost.

I am talking about becoming our own vision, our own possibility and live that way every single moment. I am talking about doing that effortlessly in everything, that when interacting with others, they become present to our own vision and get inspired and enrolled.

The journey starts by looking at ourselves. Looking for what is missing. Looking at our own integrity and where we broke our word, where we have given up being causing the matter in our life and others. Then we take the step into action and we take the responsibility for being our own vision and to create it in every single thing.

The journey is long. In fact, it never ends. Although every discovery is ours to do. sometimes, we just need someone to bluntly put us in front of the mirror and make us look at it. And the breakthrough comes!

The journey is easier with someone by our side holding us responsible for our own life and standing for our success!

That is what coaching is to me. And that is why I am committed to being coached every chance that I get.

To become a leader in life we continuously create ourselves within our own possibility and we get into action. We continuously look for what is missing, and we reinvent ourselves in our own humanity.

When we do that, we get complete! We take out any meanings that constrain us. We take our ego out of the equation. And just then we are ready to lead others.

The value in coaching is supporting the development of leaders, that will in turn develop their teams and create breakthroughs in value and results. »