An Idea in the Making

It’s 3 p.m. on a Sunday in August and I am logging onto my first work call of the week. “Work on Sunday afternoon?” you might ask. Yes, because this call is special. It is the first meeting of the 2024-25 Aspire Leadership Consulting Youth Advisory Board. I am about to spend two hours with some of the highest-achieving high school juniors and seniors from across Virginia.

Aspire’s Youth Advisory Board (YAB) is a dynamic group of future leaders, whose perspectives and innovative thinking have provided invaluable insights into my consulting practice. They have challenged my assumptions, refined my perspective, informed the counsel I provide my clients, and changed my approach to facilitation, team building, and leadership development. Stay tuned, because we will begin sharing some of those insights in the coming months!

But first:
How did my firm end up convening a Youth Advisory Board?

I was invited to be the Service Leadership speaker for Virginia’s Hugh O-Brien Youth Leadership (HOBY) Conference just as I returned to my consulting practice after a two-year battle with cancer. I founded Aspire Leadership in March 2022. In June, I was the closing speaker at HOBY.

As I prepared for that speech, the founding mission of my firm was bright in my mind: help leaders create the world we want our children to inherit. If that is our core mission, shouldn’t I invite our youth to provide counsel and insight as our firm launched? I decided to close my speech with an invitation: if you want a seat at the table now, apply to serve on my brand-new firm’s Youth Advisory Board.

Twelve rising Juniors from Virginia’s HOBY conference took me up on my invitation and joined the inaugural cohort of Aspire YAB, which we launched in August 2022. Today, then are freshmen in college and Aspire YAB alums. As my firm enters its third year, the third class of Aspire YAB members is also underway. I have been meeting quarterly with these top-performing students, and I cannot begin to express the value of their counsel.

Lessons Learned

What I have learned from them over the last two and a half years has transformed me and my approach to leadership. Today, our firm’s counsel is steeped in the perspectives of the emerging generation. Every aspect of our work has been impacted and influenced by our YAB program: from succession planning and strategic execution to the recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, and professional development strategies we recommend. We are committed to ensuring the leaders and organizations we partner with are ready to lead the next generation of talent effectively.

Why the YAB is Important to Aspire

This is our mission: we are a future-focused leadership and organizational development consulting firm, challenging our clients to navigate their business decisions and strategies with the next generation in mind. We ask tough questions so leaders can navigate the intersection of ethics and excellence. Today, we are proud to offer our clients the insights they need, so they are prepared to be relevant and ready for the future.

Be sure to follow the Aspire YAB on Instagram.