Does your future seem bright? Are you filled with positive hope for the future of our world? One of our core beliefs at Reaching Higher is that we believe our future can be positively impacted by reaching youth with personal leadership development opportunities, such as our Reaching Higher 4 Youth (RH4Youth) program. We believe personal leadership development is a powerful, transformative journey that today’s young people need more than ever.

As a middle school principal for 20 years in Hartland, Mich., I saw firsthand what happened when young people stopped believing in themselves – grades dropped, attendance plummeted and behavioral issues increased. We as caring adults seemed powerless to help. We tried rewards, punishments, meetings – all so

Have you ever wondered what prevents us from accomplishing more and being more? I sure have – and discovered for me, it’s me! 

I say this as I have to intentionally fight the tendency of making life more complex than it should be. If the tendency to add complexity wins, I find myself feeling less in control and sometimes even powerless. It is a state where I’m directing my energy toward things which are unable to foster a positive outcome. This thought frames today’s blog, Reaching Higher’s Leadership Belief statement of:

— We believe “simple” can be very powerful and shouldn’t be confused with easy.

If you search the term “leader” on the Internet, an endless list of opinions will pop up explaining what leadership is. With such an overwhelming amount of information, it’s no wonder some people resist the label of leader. Today, we will share with you what leadership means to US.

We believe leadership isn’t a formula or title, but are foundational principles which to build one’s life off of. Let’s start with what leadership isn’t. Just because someone possesses a leadership title, doesn’t mean they are a leader. Why? Let me answer this with a follow-up question for you to consider: have you ever been positively influenced and inspired by someone who lacked integrity or were unable to “lead&rdq

Welcome to our second blog, featuring Reaching Higher’s belief statements. So you may be wondering: are belief statements really needed in addition to our Vision, Mission and Core Values? Our response: a resounding YES! Let us share with you our why.  

In our first blog, we discussed Reaching Higher’s Guiding Stars, which are comprised of our Core Values, Vision and Mission. These Core Values outline what we believe about ALL  individuals, while our Vision and Mission communicate our desired impact on both the individual and the world. However, these statements alone don’t tell you ANYTHING about our beliefs regarding leadership. 

Our Belief Statements act as

Reaching Higher is launching our leadership blog. With this new initiative, we hope to encourage and inspire individuals on their journey to reach their potential. Whether you are a Reaching Higher program graduate, or are new to Reaching Higher with a desire to grow, we hope this blog will serve you and offer guidance as you continue your journey.    

Today, we invite you to get to know us deeper as we share our core and cause – what we call our “Guiding Stars.” They outline What We Do, Why We Do It and How We Do It. The culmination of these Guiding Stars, coupled with our Belief Statements, together represent our Cause. 

Why name our blog &ldq