Now that he has slipped into retirement, Shell’s vice president for retail for the East Eliseo Santiago’s colleagues will surely remember the nuggets of wisdom he shared during his 38-year stint with the British petroleum giant.

In a recent interview, the Mapua Institute of Technology alumnus said the wisdom he shares is for the future leaders of the company.

Without question, there are lots of ways to be a leader. You need to look only as far as the freewheeling, straight-talking Herb Kelleher, who ran Southwest Airlines for 30 years, and Microsoft’s quiet innovator, Bill Gates, to know that leaders come in all varieties. Each one would give you a different list of leadership “rules.”

If asked, I would give you eight. They didn’t feel like rules when I was using them. They just felt like the right way to lead.

RULE 1: Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team, using every encounter as an opportunity to:

EVALUATE. Make sure the right people are in the right jobs. Support and advance those who are and move out those who are not.

COACH. Guide, critique and help people to improve their performance in every way.

BUILD SELF-CONFIDENCE. Provide your people with encouragement, caring and recognition. Self-confidence energizes, and it will give them the courage to stretch, take risks and achieve beyond their dreams.

RULE 2: Leaders make sure people not only see the vision, but live and breathe it.

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