Leadership Practices

Last updated on: April 29, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

I know people who treat leadership as an intellectual exercise. We read about leaders and leadership. We talk about examples of leadership, analyzing and assessing. Many people study leadership, trying to distill key concepts and essential elements that strengthen leaders. We live in a time when our concept of what leadership is and how people lead is changing rapidly. It can be helpful to gain as much knowledge as we can about leadership and how it works. Reflecting on examples from the past... Read more

The Power of Gratitude

Last updated on: April 26, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

I am not always as grateful as I would like to be. Sometimes I see things, situations, even people, as obstacles. I do not look for what I can learn from them. I do not try to find how they can help me recognize my true self, know who I really am. I experience them as challenges to be overcome, as quickly and easily as possible. Sometimes I get tired or frustrated. I feel like I keep running into a brick wall,... Read more

Working the Land

Last updated on: April 24, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

I grew up with people who knew how to work the land. They knew the back-breaking work of preparing the soil, adding fertilizer, planting seeds, and clearing weeds. They knew the heart-breaking work of being patient, waiting for rain to fall and for the earth to produce a harvest. Life was not exciting, but slower and more deliberate. There is a natural rhythm to working the land that can be obvious. The good farmers I know appreciate when to work as hard... Read more

Leadership is Unpredictable

Last updated on: April 22, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

My life seldom goes according to plan. Once I saw the unplanned as an obstacle, a challenge that I needed to overcome. If only we had planned better, we would have foreseen that. If only we had been clearer, things would have gone more smoothly. The day I realized that exceeding other peoples’ expectations did not make me happy was a turning point. Since that day, I have become less and less adept at exceeding, or even meeting, expectations. I do not really... Read more

A New Easter

Last updated on: April 19, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

When I was growing up, Easter was about eggs and bunnies, candy and clothes. And church. Easter was an event. We bought new clothes. We dyed hard-boiled eggs which were hiding all over the house on Easter morning. We also had Easter baskets full of candy on a bed of green plastic “grass.” We got up while it was still dark to drive to an Easter sunrise service with special music. I knew specific facts about Easter that fit with the specific... Read more

My Best Work

Last updated on: April 17, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

I do not see myself as an artist. The idea of working away for years in a studio, alone, to create a masterpiece is not attractive to me. I can appreciate the focus, the attention, that drives some artists. I am sometimes envious that some artists create works that live on after them. I think, though, that seeing tangible evidence of my mistakes would bother me. I do not generally work with paint, or stone, or notes on paper. My... Read more

Leadership Looks for What is Next

Last updated on: April 15, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

The leaders who inspire me reach to hold firmly onto their core values while stretching to find new ways to put them into practice. Leaders need to remember who we are. They help ensure that we do not forget the values that light our hearts on fire. More than finding the right words or hitting the right numbers, our shared core values engage us. Goals which are not connected to who we are become frustrating and discouraging, not motivating. It... Read more

The Power of Tomorrow

Last updated on: April 12, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

We trust the power of tomorrow. We believe that tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow holds the promise to get us out of bed, even after a day that was one struggle after another. We are willing to work hard and sacrifice today for tomorrow. We live in a world that puts us in direct contact with combat, poverty and homelessness, natural disasters, terrorist acts. We know we are not immune. Our lives can be overturned in... Read more

Forging Ahead

Last updated on: April 10, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

The work I do flows out of who I am. It has taken me a long time to find the work that draws me into it. I have started off in so many directions, trying this and trying that. I learn the lessons of the past, exploring and discover my personal path. Each day is a step toward where I am going, including the days when I stop to listen. What I do and how I do it reflects my... Read more

Three Essentials of Leadership

Last updated on: April 8, 2014 at 4:40 am By Greg Richardson

I believe that each of us has the potential to be a leader. Each of us can do the work it takes to build essential leadership skills. Our leadership will not look the same as everyone else’s. Each of us will lead in unique ways. There are at least three things that are essential to becoming the leader you can be. Know who you are. The first, most basic step toward leadership is knowing who you are. Leaders understand themselves... Read more