These are my top lessons in leadership and resilience.

By Ovidilio Vásquez

In this fast-moving world, leadership must be visionary, resilient, and purpose-driven, creating social value and impact in every aspect of business. As a keynote speaker, I share the lessons I learned as a child farmworker in Central America with leaders across the United States.

Building the Foundation

Born in the ‘90s in a small Central American village, I grew up without electricity until I was 8. We farmed all our food — beans, cassava, plantains, corn, and other crops — and worked hard. I learned about grit and the importance of working diligently from sunrise to sunset. After arriving in the United States as a teenager, I learned English because it was a great equalizer for education and work. There were so many obstacles to learning this language, but it was paramount for me to learn it.

After that, I immersed myself in formal education, graduating from high school in three years while working a graveyard shift to support my family back home. These years developed the ability to focus amid distraction and tiredness and expanded the work ethic — a family trait I learned from my grandmother — that would define me. I earned a bachelor’s degree in management within two years and was accepted into Harvard Business School Online. Hard work and a belief in one’s potential can propel a person beyond what seems conceivable.

The Power of Education and Technology

My career as a keynote speaker has taken me to some of the globe’s most forward-thinking companies — Apple, Tesla, Salesforce, and Uber — where I witnessed bleeding-edge product development, revolutionary approaches to workforce management, data analytics, and real-time human-machine collaboration. Through these experiences, I learned how technology can make the world a better place while cultivating a culture of innovation.

In 2022 I released a mobile app that would serve as the hub for $5 million in available scholarships for underserved and underprivileged students to help them build a bridge between potential and opportunity through technology.

Resilience in Leadership

Now, leaders are expected to be resilient and develop resilience by consistently learning from life’s challenges and opportunities. My career followed an unplanned trajectory that blended a fast-paced educational track with misfortune, and finally with a family. As a husband juggling my business, three children, and a desire for lifelong learning, I wondered how resilience could be taught to the next generation.

Fostering a resilient culture is an essential task for any current leader. As I learned in Resilient Leadership — A Case Study of Sir Winston Churchill by A. Kishore Kumar and K. Ajay Kumar, resilient leaders push their teams to master challenges, build strength from failures, and increase team performance.

Sowing Seeds for a Better World

My work contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through youth motivational speaking, systemic thinking, and innovation that drives social impact, especially in schools. My highest purpose — to plant seeds of hope — contributes to SDG 4: Quality Education. Innovation and technology can scale solutions and impact people’s lives and businesses.

When redefining business as usual, the leader will ultimately catalyze more effective and sustainable societal development. Concurrently, they will ensure that the company is well- positioned to be more resilient, more reputable, and more resourceful over the long term. The success of a company is ultimately tied to contributing to a more successful and fulfilled world.

Embracing the Future

From farmworker to national keynote speaker, I have witnessed firsthand how education combined with grit, resilience, and enlightened leadership can transform not only myself but our planet and the pervasive social challenges we face. Let’s share this vision and believe that better leaders will create a better world.

As we become adept at learning, adapting, and regenerating, executives must embrace sustainability to ensure the long-term well-being of their organizations, communities, and humanity. We are ready to lead.

Ovidilio “Ovi” Vásquez is a social entrepreneur, author, and national motivational keynote speaker who champions the profound transformative impact leaders have on our next generation. He made the 2023 Real Leaders Top Keynote Speakers’ Ones to Watch list.