Character, courage and enthusiasm when it counts

Sharing Experience: Mario Garcia, Achilleus Security

In reality, spirit is much more practical than that. It’s what keeps you moving when the pressure is on, the stakes are high and you have other people depending on you.

As an entrepreneur, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Achilleus Security with my wife Cathy, I have seen firsthand that spirit is not built in the easy moments – it is revealed in the difficult ones.

Under pressure

Over the past six years, our growth has taken us from 150 team members to more than 800 today, with a clear path towards 1,400. That kind of growth is exciting and challenging, and it tests everything: your systems, your leadership, your resilience, your belief and your values. It asks a simple question every day – as you grow, will you hold strong and maintain your standards, or will you dilute them?

For me, that is where character comes in.

Character in business is not about image. It is about being clear on what you stand for. In our world of security, stewarding and crowd management, professionalism and accountability are not optional extras, they are the foundation. Clients place huge trust in us. The public often relies on our teams without even realising it. Character means doing the job properly, leading honestly and never losing sight of the responsibility that comes with growth.

Courage matters just as much.

There is courage in starting a business, but there is also courage needed in sustaining one. In a husband-and-wife partnership, it can mean holding each other up when you have had enough and feel like you can’t go on. When they say leaders eat last, that is so true!

Courage is making decisions when there is no perfect answer, and sometimes when you don’t have an answer. It is taking responsibility when challenges arise. It is investing in people, structure and service before the results fully show themselves. It is also having the confidence to say no to shortcuts that might win in the short term, but damage the business in the long term.

That same spirit sits behind Achilleus Shield, our manned guarding and mobile security services division. Expanding into Shield was not about doing more for the sake of it. It was about responding to client needs, with the same standards, the same mindset and the same commitment.

And then there is enthusiasm, which I believe is often underestimated in leadership.

Simon Sinek says everything starts with one question: why? So, what’s your why? Our why is what gives us our reason to do what we do; it’s building a future that protects people, property and reputations.

Enthusiasm is what drives you forward when the early starts, long days and constant pressure could easily wear you down. It’s what keeps you focused on the bigger picture, even when you are dealing with the immediate challenges of running a business.

In business, spirit is not what you say while under no pressure; it is what you do when things get tough and everything is on the line.