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husband John. "One of your most valuable assets is your incredible sense of humor and sense of fun. It helps to make very challenging work easier for all." 2. BRAND YOURSELF BEFORE OTHERS BRAND YOU "You have a sense of style that sets the pace of professionalism for the organization. You set a high standard that sets a tone for RCAP' 3. CREATE A REPUTATION FOR WHAT OTHERS CAN EXPECT "You are a supportive leader and trust your team to do their jobs." 4. CUT YOUR LOSSES SOONER THAN LATER "You are pragmatic in your approach…. most of the time." 5. BE WILLING TO GIVE IT ALL AND RISK LOSING IT FOR A PURPOSE "You prioritize your fiduciary responsibility and adhere to contractual agreements and priorities. You have enormously succeeded when others have struggled or failed." 6. BE RESILIENT "You are a motivational and inspirational leader. Whenever things become challenging you have motivated us and inspired us" "You are adaptive in an ever- changing environment with rapidly changing situations." 7. CANDOR WITH KINDNESS "Empowerment/giving employees the opportunity to grow" You allow staff to lead and make mistakes, there are so many lessons to be learned from both good experiences and mistakes and you allow your team to grow and expand their roles organically." "You trust and empower us to make decisions on our own as long as there are "no surprises" at which time all hell breaks loose. "Firm but fair & focused" "I have always felt wiser or better equipped in handling a situation after discussing with you." "You care about your team and everyone in the organization. You are thoughtful about how things will affect staff and consider ways to improve quality of life for all. Examples include the vacation account for staff who need time off to care for family; merit increases even when the budget is tight; repairing morale after funding cuts; encouraging staff to vote and get flu shots during work hours." 8. THINK ABOUT THINKING ABOUT IT "You are a good listener who weighs the facts to make sound fair decisions. When you make a decision, you stick with it and you are decisive." "You are a confident leader who genuinely cares about RCAP's success. You elicit feedback to develop achievable and realistic goals." 9. FROM THE REAL PEOPLE WHO KNOW "You lead by example and mentor with purpose. You set a tremendous example by your actions, your dress, your presence and your advice." Your ability to mentor staff and provide resources. Many of us have started in other positions and have grown in the organization. I never thought the first day I walked through the door I would be where I am today." "As a manager you allow your employees to grow without restriction and support areas of growth that they are interested in developing. You continually support these initiatives including the employee's ability to make mistakes and learn from them." "You share your experiences and your story of growth to support employee struggles, learning curves and successes. This is especially important when you are a woman in business and the hurtles that may be faced along the way." "I appreciate that you practice what you preach. Your family comes first and mean it." Honesty. We know exactly where we stand and there is open communication." I have never misunderstood your leadership or vision." "You are a good judge of talent and character and this is why I have worked for you for 12 years." Worcester Business Journal Hall of Fame SCOTT RICHARDSON, President, Gorman Richardson Lewis Architects • On leadership – a leader needs to be compassionate, humble, an excellent listener and focused on empowering their employees to become leaders as well. A company cannot grow successfully if there are not employees that want to lead and are encouraged to lead. As a business leader my goal is to ensure that all my staff are continually challenged and encouraged to grow and take on more responsibility on a regular basis. • On Family – family is everything – and I am fortunate to have a large and loving family who help each other on a regular basis. We are always there for each other and we realize that time spent with each other is invaluable. I am so proud of all of my children as they grow and develop their interests, look for feedback and guidance from me and further pursue their goals and dreams. • Commitment and Passion for what you do – if you are not totally enthusiastic and committed to what you are doing it will never be as rewarding as it should be. Find something that you really love to do and pursue it relentlessly. Enthusiasm is contagious, so surround yourself with like-minded people at work and you will have more fun and be more successful. • Trust and Respect – I believe that these are 2 of the most important words in business as well as life. You have to be truthful in all aspects of life - whether it is at work, at home or in your community. If you cannot be trusted, then people will not want to do business with you. Respect is a 2-way street – you have to be respectful in order to receive respect from others. It does matter. • Be Brief and Concise – in this fast-paced world it is even more critical to be succinct in all communications – I always recall an author's excuse for writing a 20 page letter instead of a 5 page letter because he did not have the time to write the shorter more concise letter. Brevity and clarity takes a bit more time, but it ultimately saves time for all. • Teamwork – teamwork is at the heart of all that we do at GRLA and it is always more successful when all of the team is on the same page. Check in with staff on a regular basis to ensure that they understand the what and the why of their part of the project and clarify on an ongoing basis. We value great teamwork skills very highly. • Community Involvement – as architects we become very connected to our clients and their respective communities through the design work that we do. We also become connected to our community through the work we do with local clients and non- profits in our community. GRLA has a long-term commitment to assisting non-profits to support the important work that they do in our community. I am currently the chair of the United Way of Tri-County Board and support them in any way that I can as they play a key role in this area and especially in the critical aspect of food security. • Social Justice – I am passionate about improving the social justice aspects of this country. We have come a long way since the 1600's but we still have a long way to go to recognize people of color as equals and with equal rights for other minorities. I support the Equal Justice Initiative out of Montgomery for the incredible work that they do to free wrongly imprisoned people and work tirelessly to improve the criminal justice system in the USA. • Climate Change – I have been committed to focusing on the world climate crises we have to deal with and am thankful that it is finally getting the exposure that is needed to help solve this crisis. I am a trained speaker of Al Gore's Climate Reality Project and speak on climate reality at various community groups, colleges and industry events. Our GRLA team is equally focused on designing the very best and sustainable projects for our clients. This is a critical problem we all need to fix for our children's children to enjoy a sustainable planet again. • Optimism and Humor – I am usually accused of being the eternal optimist but that is what gets me through every day – I usually can see the upside of any situation and I am always striving for a positive solution for all. And of course, last but not least is to always keep your sense of humor and don't take yourself too seriously – laugh, have fun and get the job done along the way. • Quote – one of my favorite moral compass quotes is by FDR – "the test of our progress is not whether we add to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide for those that have little." "Best Ideas & Key Philosophies" from 2020 Business Leaders of the Year

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