Leading by Example Initiative

          I’ve always believed that being a good lawyer in your community means being a lawyer that betters your community. I have tried to spend my professional career making this belief a reality. I’ve tried to get involved with different organizations and charities that work towards making the community better. I have even made the mission statement of the Borghardt Law Firm, “lawyering by example.” I have done this because I believe the legal profession is ideally situated to be instrumental in making things better, and I want to serve as an example of that belief. 

          Recently I have been reflecting greatly on my community. Our community. I have been reflecting on what it means to make things better. More particularly, I have been working on a vision of what needs to get better. A clear vision. My conclusion, 2018 is going to be spent dedicated to a simple principle - Leadership.  

          When I think of the sort of community I want, I think of the sort of community I want for my son, Fisher. When you become a parent, your goals become generational. To build and better the sort of community I want for the future, it has struck me that we need leaders. We need an environment that attracts and retains leaders from far and wide, but we also need to cultivate leadership here at home in the community. 2018 is about leadership because my firm’s goals are now oriented towards finding community leaders and sharing their message. This is the “who will  our leaders be” portion of the goal. 2018 is also about finding ways of planting seeds of leadership that will take root as they are nurtured and encouraged. This is the “who will are leaders be” portion of the goal.

          With that being said, the Borghardt Law Firm is going to spend 2018 on leadership. How? I am going to start this journey of finding, promoting, and cultivating leaders with an age old and effective method of simply, “leading by example.” I am not going to reinvent the wheel. I am going to share it. The wheel will be assessable and shared. This will include supporting and sponsoring community projects that are oriented towards developing leadership in the community’s youth. This will include interviewing and showcasing leaders in the community that are willing to share not just how they became leaders, but how others can start their journey towards becoming leaders. Lawyering by example means leading by example, and 2018 is going to be about leading.

Franz N. Borghardt