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