From his home in Scandia, Minnesota, 40 miles from Minneapolis, author, speaker, and counselor Richard Leider overlooks the St. Croix River and acres of woods-the kind of natural environment that he says contributes to better decisions about work and life. A founding partner of The Inventure Group, a Minneapolis-based training firm whose mission is to help individuals, leaders, and teams discover the power of purpose, Leider counts among his clients such high-powered companies as AT&T, Caterpillar Inc., General Motors, Motorola, and 3M-organizations where he both coaches executives and teaches in executive programs. His books include Repacking Your Bags (Berrett-Koehler, 1995, with David A. Shapiro) and The Power of Purpose (Berrett-Koehler, 1997). He also publishes On Purpose, “a journal about taking charge of your work/life.”
What has distinguished Leider throughout his three decades as a career coach and counselor is the philosophy he brings to difficult decisions about work and life. Leider’s activities as a long-time board member of Outward Bound and his annual backpacking safaris to Tanzania, East Africa testify to his conviction that interaction with nature is an important part of reflection and self-knowledge. At the heart of his approach to counseling is a belief that each individual is born with a reason for being and that life is a quest to discover that purpose.
Fast Company spoke with Richard Leider about his “laws” for making decisions on purpose.
1. Life is a spiral.
