Craft Brewery Pilgrimage Arrives!

Last updated on: October 4, 2011 at 5:04 am By Greg Richardson

The Strategic Monk 2011 Craft Brewery Pilgrimage arrived at its final destination over the weekend. One Saturday each month from May to October, a thirsty band of pilgrims, and designated drivers, braved the freeways and surface streets of Southern California in search of the best craft brews. Inspired by the historic connection between brewing great beer and monastic life, and by the explosive growth of craft and home brewing in Southern California, we visited six great examples of the craft... Read more

Book Review: Run With Me

Last updated on: September 29, 2011 at 5:04 am By Greg Richardson

I first met Jennifer Luitwieler a few weeks ago, on Twitter, at exactly the right time. I was beginning to run again after taking a break for several years. I believe that almost nothing is worth doing unless you can buy a book about it before you start, and I needed a good book to get me started. My approach to running is focused on getting more healthy, not finding my inner sprinter. I was looking for a book that... Read more

Don’t Do Anything I Wouldn’t Do

Last updated on: September 28, 2011 at 5:06 am By Greg Richardson

Fairly often, I finish a conversation with a saying that echoes my Midwestern roots. As I take my leave of someone, I encourage them by saying, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” I get a wide variety of responses. My favorite so far was the person who told me that they were still trying to think of something I might not do! I thought it might be helpful to put together a list of some of those things, as a... Read more

Leadership is Like Creating a Craft Brew

Last updated on: September 27, 2011 at 5:04 am By Greg Richardson

One of the principles behind my Craft Brewery Pilgrimage is that leadership has a lot in common with creating a great craft brew. Being an effective leader begins with pulling together the best ingredients. Those ingredients include the resources you need to lead; the finest skills, financial resources, perseverance, the leadership qualities within your self, the best people you can find. You put ingredients together in creative new combinations. You try new recipes, discover new approaches, and develop new flavors.... Read more

So, What is a Spiritual Director? How is that Different from a Leadership Coach?

Last updated on: September 22, 2011 at 5:04 am By Greg Richardson

When I tell people that I am a leadership coach and a spiritual director, there tends to be some questions. Some people have a general idea of what a leadership coach does, but there are quite a few people who have very little idea of what a spiritual director might do. It does not help that spiritual directors often work on issues that are not particularly “spiritual,” and that they tend to have a fairly nondirective approach. Though spiritual direction... Read more

Running for My Life

Last updated on: September 20, 2011 at 5:03 am By Greg Richardson

I started running again a couple of weeks ago. A few years ago, I trained for a marathon. I bought a book about marathon training for nonrunners, and followed the program for 16 weeks. On the day of the race, smoke from wildfires here in California caused the organizers to cancel it. The last training run was the last time I ran, until a couple of weeks ago. My knees and ankles are in good shape, but walking does not... Read more

Sometimes Life is Simple

Last updated on: September 15, 2011 at 5:04 am By Greg Richardson

We tend to understand our lives as having ever-increasing level of complexity. Nearly instantaneous access to information from anywhere in the world at almost anytime shapes, and shatters, our thoughts and feelings. We connect with ever-growing networks of people who live in distant places; more and more diverse perspectives influence our own. We live in a world where there are always new things to discover, new ideas to explore, new experiences to try, new challenges to meet, new skills to... Read more

An Attitude of Gratitude

Last updated on: September 13, 2011 at 5:06 am By Greg Richardson

I was talking with some friends last week about being grateful. We agreed that being grateful is a good thing, and helps us become better people. We also recognized that our feelings of gratitude, which tend to be strongest when we take the time to reflect, often do not get translated into our actions. We may see ourselves as being very fortunate, when we take the time to appreciate it, but we generally do not pass the benefits of that... Read more

The Ocean is Like God

Last updated on: September 8, 2011 at 5:08 am By Greg Richardson

I spent some time near the ocean last week; the ocean is like God. The ocean is vast and powerful. It seems to ebb and flow, sometimes calm and peaceful; sometimes crashing on the shore. The ocean is buoyant, and lifts me up. The ocean can be overwhelming, and I can feel like I am drowning. The ocean can sparkle with light, or it can be shrouded in mist and fog. Sometimes the ocean is very loud, and sometimes you... Read more

What on Earth Does a Leadership Coach Do?

Last updated on: September 6, 2011 at 5:07 am By Greg Richardson

When I tell people that I am a leadership coach, the ones who are most honest will ask something like, “What on earth does a leadership coach do?” I help people become better, more authentic, leaders. While not everyone is a leader, everyone could become a leader. Each of us searches for the leader that is within us, and seeks to become the leader that grows out of our truest self. I help people become those leaders. That help takes... Read more