Tonight I commenced from the TDG Leadership Legacy Forum (LLF).  This process has been a year long process that involved a lot of my time and effort (reading, presentation prep), travel/time away from the family, and some real reflection into who I am and what impact I can have as a leader.  For me it was a very personal process that I went through with a great group of attendees from companies large and small.  The commencement was a small ceremony in our hotel attended by the graduates, their sponsors, and some of the new attendees who are now entering the process.  All the graduates had a chance to make their comments and look ahead to the future we will each spend as leaders at all levels working to make a difference in our work lives and our personal lives.

The commitment of my employer and the others during these tough financial times demonstrates the importance of the effect leadership can have on a businesses success or failure.  Tonight I am grateful to my boss, my sponsor, and my organization for investing the time and money which helped me to grow and learn and will ultimately help me bring back new perspectives and experiences to benefit our organization.

This is the end of one journey, the first in a series that has still unknown twists and turns.  I am looking forward to the years ahead and the challenges they bring, optimistic that the things I have learned and how I have grown will help me to provide valuable leadership to stay above zero and get the real work done.

To the other forum graduates I salute you and look forward to seeing where your journey takes you.  To Dick Dooley, our facilitator, I thank you for your mentoring and opening up your network to us and letting us learn from your and your peers experiences; lessons I will take with me throughout life.

I’ll close this post with two quotes that I think tie to my experience with the LLF:

"Nothing ventured, something lost"

"No sacrifice, no victory"