Sean Ortiz once helped grow a company from $900,000 to over $6 million in sales with a gross profit of about 35 percent.

He says one thing that helped him accomplish this achievement was his ability to develop plans, steps, and timelines.

“I see the full picture,” says Ortiz.

Ortiz has a background in distribution management and supply chain management, a Bachelor of Business and a Masters in Leadership Management.

But Ortiz’s success doesn’t come from his credentials.

He says his success comes from habits and his natural ability to lead people.

“Leading people is something I’ve always risen to,” says Ortiz.

“I always fell into the role of people looking to me to make decisions or find solutions.”

In a world where many businesses are struggling, Ortiz has proven to be able to manage businesses, develop actionable plans and keep them moving forward.

These skills have allowed him to develop and grow not only businesses but people too.

Since Ortiz has proven experience growing businesses while maintaining leadership roles, we decided to interview him to discover his top five leadership skills.

These are skills Ortiz thinks every leader should have, or at least find and develop over the long-term.

Ortiz says the first thing leaders should do is learn.

“Leaders should always be learning and consistently improving themselves and the people around them,” says Ortiz.

“Never stop learning because there’s always something new to learn.”

Ortiz says his second rule for successful leadership is the ability to adapt to change.

“Get used to change. Change is inevitable. Once we get comfortable and complacent, we can fall behind. Look at Kmart and Sears,” says Ortiz.

Ortiz says nobody is invulnerable to change and every business needs to adapt to changes in society, technology, and consumer demands.

“My next trip is to go above and beyond,” says Ortiz.

He says it’s not enough to simply measure up.

You need to work as hard as possible if you want to be a leader and you need to surpass goals.

“Always shoot for excellence,” says Ortiz.

Speaking of hard work, it happens to be Ortiz’s fourth tip.

He says hard work is unavoidable if you want to be a leader because people are looking up to you.

As a leader, you need to drive results and hard work is what drives desired results. `

“At the beginning when you start something, you need to set the pace and set the tone.”

“You lead the way,” says Ortiz.

Ortiz says his last tip is one of the most important ones for anybody who wants to be successful in business and leadership.

“Communication is key,” says Ortiz.

Ortiz says communication goes both ways: explaining your own thoughts and ideas in a clear manner, and also active listening.

One of Ortiz’s final tips is to encourage other people to be successful and never be envious of them.

He says your goal should be to help others and be the best that you can.

To learn more about Sean Ortiz, you can visit his landing page at: about.me/seanortiz