DVIDS – News – The Cuban Chief’s Recipe for Leadership

Speaking in a thick Cuban accent with a confidence suitable for her rank, Chief Retail Services Specialist Ana Marrerosuarez, from Miami, says that after a decade of serving in the Navy, she has the “recipe” for success as a leader.
That recipe begins with a hefty amount of hard work and discipline.
According to Marrerosuarez, these are values ​​ingrained in her from growing up in impoverished conditions, living with food insecurity and clothing scarcity in Cuba. In 2008, at 19 years old, she emigrated with her family from Havana to Miami.
“I grew up in a very poor country, I didn’t have food many days out of the month, I didn’t have clothes, I grew up poor,” said Marrerosuarez.
She explains that the benefit of working hard and having discipline is that it will pay dividends no matter what.
“Nothing can stop me because from an early age I was taught these values ​​which I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”
According to Marrerosuarez, a positive attitude is an essential ingredient for making a good leader. It is also a trait she associates with her mother.
“My mother is my biggest hero,” said Marrerosuarez. “She used to tell me that I can accomplish anything that I want to, that there are no impossibilities, and the only barriers are in my mind. As long as you have a positive attitude, you can go wherever you want, and everyone will want to work with you.”
Two years after coming to Miami, he joined the Navy not able to speak English, but with a goal to learn the language.
“I knew that if I stayed in Miami I wouldn’t be able to learn the language the way I wanted because everyone was speaking Spanish,” said Marrerosuarez.
When he got to boot camp, he recalled that when orders were given by the recruit division commander (RDC), he had to look to what others were doing in order to understand what was expected.
“I remember being in boot camp and because I couldn’t understand everything that the RDC was saying, I would have to follow what my bunk mate was doing,” said Marrerosuarez. “But if my she was wrong, then I was wrong, and we would both be shouted at.”
According to Marrerosuarez, an equally important ingredient for leadership is self-care. She emphasizes that taking care of oneself first is vital to the job of leadership.
“How are you going to be able to pour from your cup into another cup if you are on empty,” said Marrerosuarez.
Seven years after graduating from boot camp, he was back at Recruit Training Command, this time he was giving the orders as an RDC. As a fluent Spanish speaker, Marrerosuarez says she acted as a lifeline for recruits with similar backgrounds struggling with the added difficulty of communication. She would tell the recruits to trust her, that once they learned the language, nothing would stop them.
“I would talk to them and tell them that I was in their shoes once upon a time and that it got better, but it takes time, resilience, and dedication,” said Marrerosuarez.
The final ingredients to make a leader are balance and self-discipline, says Marrerosuarez. Balance, is a thing that she gradually learned from overworking.
“I would work, work, work, and neglect my family and my personal life,” said Marrerosuarez. “I teach my Sailors to give 100 percent when they are at work, but when they are home, they should be emotionally and physically present with their families, because family, often times, is their biggest support system.”
Self-discipline, she explains, is necessary to effectively channel one’s drive to succeed.
“Drive is something that we all have, but it takes self-discipline to accomplish things,”
says Marrerosuarez. “If you wait until you are motivated, you won’t go far. But if your self-discipline comes through, then you will be successful no matter what.”
Marreosuarez is going on her second year assigned to the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the command where she was chosen to join the ranks of the senior enlisted leadership as a chief petty officer. She says that making it to the rank of chief was one of her biggest accomplishments.
“Sometimes I look back and think it’s crazy how 15 years ago I was living in a country where I couldn’t express my ideas, where I didn’t have food and clothes,” said Marrerosuarez. “Now, I am a chief in the United States Navy, I feel so proud of that and how far I’ve come, from nothing to a leader, to be able to inspire and to help other people who have similar backgrounds.”
The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) is conducting a scheduled deployment in US Naval Forces Europe-Africa/US Sixth Fleet area of ​​operations, demonstrating the commitment and power projection capability of the Navy’s globally deployed force. The GRFCSG provides an inherently flexible naval force capable of deploying across combatant commands to meet emerging missions, deter potential adversaries, reassure allies and partners, enhance security and guarantee the free flow of global commerce. In total, the GRFCSG is deployed with more than 5,000 Sailors across all platforms ready to respond globally to combatant commander tasking.
Gerald R. Ford is the US Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier. As the first-in-class ship of Ford-class aircraft carriers, the CVN 78 represents a generational leap in the US Navy’s capacity to project power on a global scale. Ford-class aircraft carriers introduce 23 new technologies, including EMALS, AAG and Advanced Weapons Elevators. The new systems incorporated onto Ford-class ships are designed to deliver greater lethality, survivability and joint interoperability with a 20% smaller crew than a Nimitz-class carrier, paving the way forward for naval aviation.
For more information about the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), visit https://www.airlant.usff.navy.mil/cvn78/ and follow along on Facebook: @USSGeraldRFord, Instagram: @cvn78_grford, Twitter: @Warship_78 , DVIDS www.dvids.net/CVN78 and LinkedIn at USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).