Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andres Bradway. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Andres thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
First off, I would like to say thank you to Canvas Rebel for having me. This is a wonderful opportunity and I’m incredibly happy to be here! Success is often defined as achieving something from completing a specific task, goal, and/or path. Success is going to be different from person to person. Success for one person might be waking up in the morning and making it to school or work on time every day. Success for another person could be leading a sector in positive gains for the quarter. Being successful requires someone to look within themself and determine what their path looks like. What does a good path look like? What does a bad path look like? What is your end goal? My view on success has actually had more impact from failing or watching people fail. There are so many lessons that can be learned from failure and giving up. I have some key takeaways that have helped me tremendously on my path to success. To be successful you have to analyze your path and set out to grow each and every step. There will be setbacks, but setbacks can still be used for growth. Success requires us to look at adversity and find a way through. What matters most about achieving success are the values and skills that you need to be successful. I believe you should utilize initiation and strength. Utilizing initiation allows you to start just about anything. In a setback, initiate the step forward. Analyze what happened and initiate the efforts to move forward on your path. Strength can be used to stand up when it feels like all the weight is on top of you. Sometimes the weight of a setback falls, and it falls hard. It can be incredibly difficult to stand up again and move forward. To be successful, you have to utilize your strengths in different areas to lift that weight. Be strong and do not let the weight keep you down or keep you away from your end goal. You have to believe in yourself and know what limits you can push. Once I have set a goal, to be successful I tell myself that only I can stop myself because as soon as I give that ability to someone else, I have lost. To be successful, you have to look within yourself and believe that you can do it with your heart and mind. Don’t just say it or think it but be about it. Be the success story, be the person who hits their goals and stands as the definition of a success story.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Well, there are two parts to what I do, one in the professional sense and the other as a hobby and passion. As a professional, I serve as a Cybersecurity Project Manager. In this role I focus on leading project teams through successful completion of tasks to reach an end goal. I monitor the scope, planning, budget, and deliverables. I ensure the project delivery meets the success criteria of the stakeholders and/or customers. Funny enough, I found this role while transitioning from active duty to the reserves. I had interviewed for a few other roles in cybersecurity but while I was completing my last set of active duty orders, my resume was circulated around the company of those other roles. Next thing I know, I am in an interview and I land the job. Many aspects of this role are similar to what I did while serving in the Navy. I carry a special set of skills that allows me to have excellent time management and a great drive to win. I solve many different problems that can range from a decrease in budget to replacing a project team member. It’s all about facing adversity and staying calm in the storm. I love overcoming a challenge and watching my team meet the success criteria. Watching team members win and conquer challenges drives me to be better. I love a solid win, but most importantly I love seeing a project team win. Outside of my professional work, I love creating content with a camera. I wouldn’t say I go above and beyond to create content for social media, but I really enjoy making videos and taking pictures. Being able to tell a story with a camera is such a unique experience. So many aspects come into play and provide countless abilities to create a story. I tell stories by filming weightlifting and filming vacation vlogs. Weightlifting and powerlifting are such a huge part of my life story and who I am today. Being able to record that and edit those videos allows me to tell a story of passion, love, fear, and growth. Vacation vlogs show a story of new journeys and never-ending happiness. These stories allow my wife and I to reflect on the amazing experiences we have shared with each other. Travelling with my beautiful wife is such a wonderful experience and one of my favorite things to film and edit.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Having to unlearn a lesson can be an incredibly difficult task. Learning something at a young age and applying it for most of your life can make it difficult to unlearn. It’s not so much of a lesson that I had to unlearn as it was a habit built from lessons. For most of my younger age, I handled tough situations with aggression and anger. I had this idea in my head that if something was tough, it would be easier to handle it by closing myself off and becoming angry. This would then lead me to be aggressive and handle uncomfortable situations with an overly aggressive attitude. Having a tough childhood is a huge part of why I went this route and thought that it was the best way to conduct myself. This was also a product of immaturity and lack of awareness as well as a lack of self-reflection. As I got older, I quickly learned that this was such an unhealthy way to handle situations and conduct myself. I started placing my focus on staying calm and finding more effective paths to express myself. I focused on controlling my temper and reactions instead of letting it control me.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Managing a team is already tough but maintaining high morale throws some extra twists and turns in there. Every team is different, and this requires leaders to understand their team. How does each individual learn? What is their communication style? What is their work ethic? Managing a team requires the leader to be adaptive and intuitive. You have to lead and respond to the team in a way that incorporates the members as an entire team and as separate individuals. Praise in public and correct in private. While there are times when call outs or corrections in public are necessary, taking advantage of this can quickly ruin morale. No one wants to feel belittled or be forced into embarrassment in front of their team. You must take the individual to the side and correct the situation in a healthy manner. Set goals and expectations right from the start. Level set with the team and ensure there’s an understanding of what you’re looking for and what they’re looking for. Communication is key and maintaining effective communication can mean the difference between winning and losing. Build your team into winners and treat them as such. One last thing, never stop learning. Every day make it a goal to learn something new about your team, about leading, about maintaining high morale. Ensure that you are being honest with yourself and applying what you’ve learned to your leading style. Be passionate about what you do and believe in your team. As I have said many times before, be the change you want to see in the world.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @tuff_cl
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andresdbradway/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVlSmgZgqiIZY_VX3–lG2w