Richard (Dick) Celeste has an unusual career trajectory. Following his education at Yale and Oxford, he worked at the Peace Corps headquarters; as Personal Assistant to the US Ambassador in India; in real estate development; served as a state legislator in Ohio and as Lt. Governor.
After a stint as Director of the Peace Corps, Celeste was elected to two terms as Governor of Ohio. Celeste then headed a small economic development consultancy until 1997, when he returned to India as US Ambassador. From 1990 until his departure for India, Celeste also chaired the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable at the National Academy of Sciences.
In 2002 he become the 12th President of Colorado College, where he served for nine years. He has been and is a member or chair of a number of corporate and not for profit boards.
Here are some key insights from this week’s show:
- Loss is never an end point; you can always win after losing.
- A leader takes on the burden of difficult moments and never passes those off to others.
- Create the process so bad news travels up.
- The biggest challenges may not be on your radar.
- He who would never make a mistake, would never make a discovery.
- Non-Profit organizations are truly ‘for impact organizations’.
Prefer the video version? Watch it here: https://youtu.be/YTAFZtRruow