The Cilantro Diaries

By Lorenzo Gomez III

Reviewed by Mari Weymouth

About the Authors

Lorenzo Gomez III served as CEO of Geekdom, Texas’ largest co-
working space, and is cofounder of The 80/20 Foundation, a
philanthropic organization dedicated to investing in the future of
San Antonio.

Despite having little college experience, he used valuable lessons

from his entry-level jobs to catapult himself into high-impact
positions. At the managed-cloud provider, Rackspace, he worked
closely with co-founder Graham Weston.

About the Book

Lorenzo Gomez, III is a clever storyteller who started off his career stocking vegetables at a local grocery chain
in San Antonio, and who shares his humble journey, the “Nine Fundamental Life Principles of Pops”, and his
13 guiding principles that got him to the top, which I will coin as the “Lorenzo Principles”.

The “Lorenzo Principles”, which he learned from others throughout his journey, including Graham Weston, to
serve as a guide to find a mentor, build a network, establish your brand, differentiate yourself, and aim for a
satisfying professional career.

“All of these principles were handed down to me from older, wiser, cooler, and everything-er people than
me, and that’s how I know they’re awesome – because they didn’t come from me. These ideas are little
treasures that are worth holding up to the sun and passing along to the people who are important to you.”

The Book’s ONE THING

Lorenz’s story, proves you don’t have to have an MBA or even a college degree to get ahead in business. All
you need is EQ, a support ecosystem, grit, intelligence, drive, creativity, and courage. But, most importantly, I
believe, the true value Lorenzo shares stems from the nine fundamental life principles, Lorenzo’s father,
“Pops” or “Pollo”, instilled in Lorenzo (aka “Lencho”) as a pre-requisite for living life.

BLUE SKY LEADERSHIP CONSULTING | 210-219-9934 | PETER@BLUESKYLEADERSHIP.COM

Blue Sky Leadership Consulting works with organizations to leverage Strategic Thinking and Execution Planning and we encompass many
of the principles in these books into our Four DecisionsTM methodology and development of your company’s Growth Roadmap™. Need
to grow top line revenue? Improve bottom-line profits? Build accountable and trusting teams? Improve cash flow? Develop leadership
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Copyright 2019 |Blue Sky Leadership Consulting | All rights reserved
Lessons from the Most Unlikely Places
“The Nine Fundamental Life Principles of Pops”:

1. Keep Jesus in your heart.

2. Marry a girl who will live with you in a cardboard box.
3. Nothing good happens after midnight.
4. If drugs and alcohol were good for you, I would have been the first to show them to you.
5. There’s nothing worse than a kid with no manners.
6. Dance with the one who brought you.
7. The only thing you can control is your attitude.
8. If in doubt, there is no doubt.
9. Who you choose as your friends matters.

“The Lorenzo Principles”: 13 Principles by Lorenzo Gomez

Creating Your Personal Board of Directors

The first three principles are about creating your own Personal Board of Directors. Lorenzo learned the concept of
a board of directors while at Rackspace, a multi-billion dollar web hosting company in San Antonio.

“Why should the concept of a board of directors matter to you as a young professional? Because, in the same
way a successful company has a board of director looking out for its best interests, you can have a personal
board of directors looking out for you.”

Lorenzo worked with Graham Weston, a philanthropist with an entrepreneur spirit, and one of the founders of
Rackspace, who served as CEO (on two occasions) and chairman of the board. When Lorenzo learned that even
Weston reported to a board of directors, he says it was like unlocking a bonus level of a video game.

Principle 1: Your Deputies Love You p.27 “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” –
Elbert Hubbard

Why a personal board of directors is important? - p31:

1. You want multiple people on your board because no one person can fill all the roles you need in your
life.
2. We crave community and closeness as human beings. Having people you can open up to create a
structure in your life that otherwise you'd be unable to tap. People often say to leaders that it's lonely
at the top. When you start your career, you are going to learn that it's lonely everywhere.
3. Your board of directors will be there to help you make better decisions, and provide different
perspectives - see the things that you would otherwise miss.

What kind of people make the best board members? – p34

1. You want to surround yourself with people who have your best interests at heart. This goes double for
your board members.
2. You will want to choose people who have expertise in the areas you lack. You want people who can
give you different perspectives than you'd otherwise have on your own.

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 3. You also want to choose people who accept who you are as a person. Remember, you need the social-
emotional support of your board members as much as you need their expertise.

Principle 2: Who You Hang Out with Matters p.53 “Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are.”
– Momma Gomez

Influence can be either a guiding light or a powerful weapon that others wield over you if you let them. The
people you spend time with will, inevitably, influence you, which is why who you hang out with matters.

Influences aren’t limited to the company you keep, either – what you read, what you listen to, and what you
watch all will influence you.

Most importantly, don't be afraid to break up with friends who are no longer good influences on your life and
career.

Principle 3: Crushes Are Not Mentors p. 69 “A mentor is someone who believes in your potential.” – Graham
Weston

Another important type of person you'll want in your life is a mentor. A mentor is somebody who
• has domain expertise that you want to develop
• is willing to share that expertise with you, and
• believes in your potential.

As you start your career, you'll need to avoid the trap of thinking of "crushes" as mentors. Being cool, popular, or
any other quality that isn't related to expertise in a field that will help you in your career, doesn’t count.
Most importantly, mentors are people who have considerable experience in their fields and can teach you things
that you wouldn't be able to learn in a textbook.

Understanding How Business Works

Now that we've covered how important it is to surround yourself with good people, let's move on to some truths
about the business world that they won't teach you in school.

Principle 4: It’s Not What You Know, but Who p. 81 “Reputation is currency” – Danny Gomez Jr.

As a young professional, you need to think about how you can build your reputation. Thank about how you’re
building it every single day, even every hour, at work.

Fortunately, you don’t need a legacy to build a good reputation. Whether you come from the hood or don’t have
an education, if you have drive and ambition, hard work is a social currency anyone can earn.

“Reputation acts as a sort of social and professional currency. Reputation can sometimes open doors better than
any money, degree, or experience – it’s incredibly valuable.

Many times in life you will be afforded opportunities strictly because of the people you know and who will vouch
for you.

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It's not what you know, but who you know that matters. This is holds more so these days because companies are
putting even more emphasis on hiring people with high emotional intelligence and work ethic, knowing that
anybody can be taught the technical skills required to be successful.

Principle 5: Stand Out from the Competition p. 99 “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” –Steve Martin

There are a few things you can start working on today to stand out from the competition.
1. You can specialize in a few skills. If you can become the go-to person in your office or professional
network for an in-demand skill, you'll start to earn a reputation.
2. You can do things that differentiate you from the other people around you. Lorenzo tells the story of
how he started to stack the lettuce as a pyramid while working at the grocery store. People started to
notice the little things he did that went above and beyond, and sometimes it's the little things that
make all the difference.
3. Always look for a job that is close to the customer. That's because the further away you are from the
customer, the more expendable your job will be, especially in hard times.

Principle 6: Dance with the One Who Brought You p.113 “There are friends who will help you move, and there
are friends who will help you move a body.” – Pravesh Mistry

When you join a business, you'll learn that in many ways it's a lot like high school. Choosing which clique you are
going to join will be in your career network forever. Loyalty is the glue that holds networks together, and can often
be the catalyst to open new doors in your career.

At some point in your career, your loyalty is likely to be tested in the form of a job offer to leave your current role
for more money. Unless you need the extra income because of extraordinary circumstances in your life, job
hopping for more money isn't a good career move, especially if your current boss spent some of their reputation
currency to bring you aboard.

The right time to leave is when you find an opportunity that will teach you new skills that you can’t acquire at your
current role.

Principle 7: No Man Is an Island p.131 “Nothing brings together a team like a common enemy.” – Khaled
Saffouri

There's a fallacy we see in all business success stories, that behind every epically successful business, one person
did it all. That's just not true. Not for Apple or Facebook, and certainly not for you. In order to succeed in your
career, you need to learn how to work on a team.
1. Figure out what you bring to the table beyond what's on your job description. Find as many ways as
possible to make yourself useful to your team and you'll eventually be accepted.
2. Figure out its social contract. These are the unspoken rules that govern the conduct of the team.
Violating unspoken agreements will cause you to be rejected like the human body rejects an organ
transplant.

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Living in the Real World

The real world doesn't operate like the school world, and there are some things that your teachers won't teach
you. What follows are some of the things that you'll be wise to learn before you learn them the hard way.

Principle 8: Have a Servant’s Heart p. 171 “The ability to change someone’s day is a superpower.” – L.G. III

Having a servant’s heart means wanting to help people. In the context of your career, this means helping your
customers. There are a couple baselines for having a servant’s heart.
1. Always give the customer what they pay for.
2. Remember that it doesn’t cost anything to smile. Serving your customers with a smile on your face
goes a long way.
3. Move with a sense of urgency. Moving swiftly with a sense of purpose is the fastest way to show a
customer you have a servant’s heart.

Principle 9: Everyone’s in Sales p. 197 “Everyone has to sell themselves and their ideas.” – Graham Weston

Lorenzo tells the story of listening to Graham Weston deliver a speech to the graduating class at Texas A&M where
he said:

“Everybody’s in sales. Whether you know it or not, even if you aren’t selling a product, you have to sell yourself and
your ideas.”

It’s a great principle that holds true in business and life. There are a few keys to making this work for you in your
career.
1. Think service first, and sales second. You'll always be better at selling your products, ideas and
yourself by doing it this way.
2. Never sell an idea with "I think." The surest way to kill all of your persuasive powers is to convey any
doubt in your pitch.
3. Understand the power of story. As human beings, we are wired to listen and respond to stories.
Always use a story to set up your pitch.

Principle 10: Don’t Spend What You Earn p. 215 “The bill comes due.” – Dr. Strange

The last thing you want to worry about as you are building your career or business is your personal finances. There
are a couple of surefire ways to create this unneeded stress in your life.
1. Not to spend all of what you earn. When you start making your first real paycheck, you'll be tempted
to start spending lavishly.
2. Do not lend money to the people you are closest to. If you are going to give money to friends and
family, always do it with no strings attached. You will almost never get paid back.

Avoid those two things like the plague, and you'll be off to a good start.

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Principle 11: You Can Only Control Your Attitude p. 231 “The key to humor is having an iron clad sense of
absurd.” – Bill Schley

Things will go wrong in your business and your life. There’s no way to avoid it. But what you can do is control your
attitude when it happens.

A specific way to control your attitude is through the practice of humility. The essence of humility is genuine
interest in others. Taking a genuine interest in other people is a choice that you get to make on a daily basis.

Principle 12: When to Be the Boss p. 251 “There is no utopia.” - Pops

There will come a point in your career where you've developed enough skills and experience that you will start to
think about starting your own company. The fact that there are significant ups and downs in every career will only
amplify these thoughts. This is an incredibly difficult choice.

Sometimes the right choice is to suck it up and stick with your job. The odds are stacked against your new business
succeeding, and even the ones that do succeed struggle far more than you'll ever know from the outside.

…if you’re never happy with your boss, you need to be the boss.

Principle 13: Wisdom & Discernment p. 255 “If in doubt, there is no doubt.” - Pops

Wisdom is the missing component in the conversations we have in life and in our relationships. We rarely talk
about wisdom, yet we see it all around us.

“…the epiphany I’ve had in my life that I want to share with you is this: you need to start on a journey to seek
wisdom. Wisdom is truly the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I wish someone had told me this sooner in
life, and I want to save you some time. One of the great odysseys of your life is to seek and acquire wisdom and
wise friends. You need to start that journey right now.”

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 Our Faculty and Our Sponsors

Actions What thought, or idea had the biggest impact on you today?

What is your ONE THING? What one specific action you will take
TODAY from what was discussed?

_________________________________________________
Calendar of Events
First Friday – Wittigs 2018 Avenue B San Antonio 7:30 – 9:00 [Sponsor: UTSA EMBA Alumni Association]
Feb 1st The Cilantro Diaries
Mar 1st Sleep Smarter
Apr 5th How to Fly a Horse
Wine & Cheese Wednesday – Wittigs 2018 Avenue B San Antonio 5:30 – 7:00 PM [Sponsor: Haworth]
Feb 6th SPECIAL EVENT – Oscar Night
Feb 13th Wisdom @ Work
Mar 13th Engaged Leadership
Apr 10th Employee Experience Advantage
Second Tuesday – Wittigs 401 William St. Corpus Christi 5:30 – 7:00 PM [Sponsor: Wittigs & Haworth]
Feb 12th Wisdom @ Work
Mar 12th Engaged Leadership
Apr 9th How to Fly a Horse
Fourth Thursday – Haworth 2 E Greenway Plaza #100 Houston 11:30 –1:00 [Sponsor: Haworth & Wittigs]
Feb 21st Mastery
Mar 28th Your Oxygen Mask First
Apr 25th How I Raised Myself from Failure To Success
Fourth Friday – Alpha Home 419 E. Magnolia Ave. San Antonio 8:00 – 9:30 [Sponsor: Alpha Home]]
Feb 22nd Mastery
Mar 29th Your Oxygen Mask First
Apr 26th How I Raised Myself from Failure To Success

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Copyright 2019 |Blue Sky Leadership Consulting | All rights reserved