Rico Sharp speaking at HRM Leadership Conference June 2026. Bringing out The Best in You!

Hello, everyone. My name is Alicia. I am a professional diversity and inclusion program analyst at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, here to serve as your session host today. This afternoon, we are here for today's session, Leading Through Change: Transformational Strategies for Diverse Teams, Dynamic Times, and Continuous Growth, with Rico Sharp. Before we begin, I'd just like to go over a couple of quick reminders. Please, please, please take a moment to silence your devices. Thank you for your cooperation on keeping this a noise-free session today. Likely, we will not have time for questions, but as Rico mentioned, he does have a book signing at 4:45 this afternoon, so you can catch up with him there. With that, he's also submitted his materials in the portal. So you can take those and use those at your leisure. And you will also receive a survey about your experience. So we look back— look forward to seeing your results there. So with that, thank you all and welcome Rico.

Excellent. Great. Thank you. I am very honored to be here with you today. This is a special moment, obviously, for each of us. Many of you have traveled from several countries. I've met people from several countries here and from many states across America. So thank you so much for coming to Sherman and allowing for your gas tank to be filled up. All right, I'm gonna ask you if you would do something with me. If you would just stand to your feet. All right. I'm going to ask you if you will repeat after me, please. Say, I have something special. I have something special. I have greatness on my life.

I have greatness on my life.

Nothing is impossible. Nothing is impossible. I can accomplish. I can accomplish. As a leader. As a leader. Any leadership requirement.

Any leadership requirement.

And I can accomplish. And I can accomplish.

As a person.

As a person. My dreams. My goals and my aspirations.

Yes.

Do you believe that?

Yes.

Give yourself a round of applause. Thank you. You may be seated. The first thing that I would like to say to you today is that leadership is not what you do. Leadership is who you are. Just think about that for a moment. Being a leader is not what you do. Being a leader is not a part-time job. It's not something you clock in and clock away from or clock out from. It's a full-time responsibility. So you are a leader on the job, but you're also a leader at home. You're a leader everywhere you go. Leadership goes with you. Everywhere you go, so you are a full-time leader. And for years, I have believed that leadership is not just about managing people, but about developing people, growing people, helping people to discover their greatness, their uniqueness, and then being able to soar to wherever their destiny will lead them. And so as a leader, you have a responsibility to not just grow and develop personally, professionally, and interpersonally, but you also have a responsibility to help other people to do the same thing. And so while you focus on bringing out the best in you during this conference, you have to go back and help other people To bring out the best in them. So today I want to talk to you not so much about your role and your job functions and the duties and the things that you do back home. I want to talk to you about you. I want to talk to you about the weight that you carry, the burdens that you bear. I'd like to speak to you about the pressure that is on your life and how to manage and balance that pressure. Oftentimes, being an HR leader who has to balance the corporation and the teams and the employees, you're oftentimes overlooked, overworked, and underpaid, under-respected, under-evaluated. And sometimes you find yourself feeling like, man, does anybody see me? Does anyone hear me? Does anyone know what it's like to be me, to carry out this role from day to day? Does anyone understand that this is a job that requires me to go the extra mile, to sacrifice, all just so that other people can be happy and get along, sometimes at the expense of your own comfort, convenience, and happiness. You're standing in a position making sure that everyone else have their needs met when oftentimes your need goes unfulfilled. And then at times you have to take the stress of work at home, trying not to like dump all of the work stress onto your family members, like your husbands and your wives and your children and your friends. But sometimes it does happen, doesn't it?

Mm-hmm.

Sometimes when you walk out of that door going to the parking lot, even though your physical body is walking, your mind is running, trying to get to your car. So you can get out of there because it was a toxic day. It was a burden-bearing day. It was the kind of day that really pushed you to the limits. It was the kind of day that made you feel like, man, I don't know how much of this I can take. It's the kind of day that sometimes that you have where you feel like it's not fair for me to give so much.

Amen.

and oftentimes get so little in return. Because being in HR, it's not about paycheck. You have to have a deeper sense of passion and calling to work in HR. It's not about a paycheck. You can find other places that will require less work of you and pay you more. But yet you are where you are because you realize that this is a calling on your life. And that if you were not there, a whole bunch of things will fall apart. And I want to digress for a moment to say thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you for not quitting. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for going the distance. Thank you for putting up with a whole bunch of nonsense sometimes, day after day after day after day. Thank you for juggling and balancing the weight that you have to balance. When you are dealing with your superiors, and then oftentimes you're being falsely accused by the people you serve. Sometimes you're being misunderstood. Sometimes your good is being evil spoken of, and you have to deal with that sometimes from day to day. And so I want you to know something, and what that is is that I see you. I hear you. I hear you. I understand. I know what it's like to be a bridge builder, a gap stander, somebody that's trying to juggle all the weight with everything that they have. And sometimes you're doing it with just fumes left. And your gas tank. Sometimes the weight is so heavy that it feels like it's gonna weigh you down. Sometimes you have to go to the bathroom just to take a moment and decompress and just kind of collect yourself again, take a deep breath and go back in there. And other people, when they see you, they think, oh, she's a superwoman. Oh, she's a superwoman. He's a Superman. And they don't realize that you hurt, you cry, you get tired. They don't realize that sometimes you got your own stuff at home to deal with and you really don't want to deal with everybody else's stuff. But yet day after day you show up. Day after day you live to make a difference.

Thank you.

And you hold fast to your commitment. And sometimes your husbands have to hear about what happened that day. Your wives have to hear about what happened during the day. Sometimes your kids don't get that private one-on-one time with you because oftentimes you have to deal with things at home, deal with things at home that related to work that deprive them of their time with you. And I just wanted to come in here before I go any further, put my hands together and say thank you. Thank you for being a changemaker. Thank you for being a burden bearer. Thank you for showing up and doing all that you do. Can you put your hands together for yourself? Thank you. Okay, so a couple of things I want to say to you really quick here. As I mentioned before, my brand is called Bringing Out the Best in You, and we're talking about leading through change. A few years ago, I was interviewed by some key leaders in the federal government And they wanted to have a leadership workshop, and they were looking for a leadership expert to come in and to train their employees. And my name came up, and they set up an interview with me, and they said to me everything they needed to say about what their requirements were and what they expected from their leadership facilitator. And after all the things that they had to say, that they laid out for me very clearly, they looked at me as a team of 5 and they said to me, Mr. Sharp, do you feel that you have what it takes? And I looked at them and I said, no, no, no, no, I don't. I I don't have what it takes, but I am who it takes to get the job done. Oftentimes we are sized up and measured by other people's measurement. They size us up in terms of our gifts, our talents, our skills, our education, our degrees, And they look at us and characterize us based upon how well we do this or we do that. They look at us oftentimes and they just want to know, are you a person who has what it takes? I'm so sorry. Versus being a person who knows their value and their worth. And so today I want to talk to you a little bit about I'm not allowing for people to judge you and to size you up based upon your performance, because there's so much more to you than what you do for the company that you work for. There's so much more to you than your talent and your gifts and your skills and how articulate you are or how educated you are or how good you are with figuring things out. There's so much more to you You're more than a person who is gifted and talented. And oftentimes, because you are sized up by how well you perform, people fail to give you an opportunity to introduce to, to them the true you, the full you, or the whole you. There's so much more that is within you than what most people realize. When we talk about people like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, you and I don't know them personally. So when we look at them, we see them based upon their talent, their skill, and how good they are with playing basketball. But when these gentlemen go home to their families, they're not looked at as being a talented basketball player.

That's right.

They're not looked at as being a person who have won championships in the NBA. They're looked at as a husband, as a father, as a sibling, as a friend, because there's so much more to them than what they do. There's so much more to you than what you do, and because there's so much more to you Oftentimes the true you, people never really make a connection with. Just like on your job, the people who you oversee and you lead and you serve, they know you as the HR director. But if they only got a chance to know the true you, the whole you, they would know you as a wonderful individual. And I believe That's what bringing out the best in you is about. And with that, my first slide: before you can bring out the best in others, you must first bring out the best in you. Here's a here's a truth. Some people would tell you, and I've heard this, you've heard this, that you got to become. the better version of yourself. When they say that to you, they're saying to you that we've measured you, we've sized you up, and we realize that this is where you are. Like, this is how big your talent is, this is how big your gifts are, this is how skillful you are. And they'll say to you, you got to become better, you got to become better. And so the thing about better is that better really doesn't have a definitive point. You can chase after better the rest of your life And still never fully arrive. I want to say to you, don't worry about trying to be the better version of yourself. Just open up and become the best version of yourself, right? How many of you follow me? Just just because there's so much more to you than better. There's a best you somewhere inside of there, and as that person that is on the inside of you begin to come forth. In the form of the best you, well, your leadership is going to become more impactful in the workplace, more impactful at home, more impactful in the community. And one of the things that is so important to understand is that leadership growth, it requires some very valuable insights. Like self-awareness, emotional intelligence, personal accountability, and intentional growth. I began to realize I'm an international speaker, and I've been training leaders all over the world for many years. And as an international speaker, I get a chance to go to corporations and certain places to speak and train leaders. That gives me the privilege to get to build relationships with people. And one of the things that I found out is that when I get a chance to build a relationship with someone, whether it's in Nassau, Bahamas, whether it's in Asia, whether it's in South Africa, whether it's in Chicago, the quality of my leadership that I bring to others always begin with the quality of leadership that I bring from within. You cannot give what you do not have, but you can give and disperse what you possess on the inside. I also speak to educators. I train CEOs, CFOs, executive assistants in colleges and universities. And one of the things I said to educators in an educational leadership conference is You can't rely on your degree from 15, 20, or 30 years ago to inspire and to educate students today. Because if you do, your degree, which has cobwebs on it, that's been sitting on the shelf, it is outdated. It has expired. The kids in your classroom know more than you do about the stuff you're talking about. And I want to say to you that as an HR leader, you can't rely on things that you you accomplished years ago. You have to continue to innovate and reinvent yourself so that you can produce on the level that is keeping everything moving and flowing in the workplace. Because the truth is, that workplace, it flows and balances because of you. And without you, the top would collapse.

That's right.

and the bottom would fall out. So what I need you to do is to continue to bring forth your very best. So here's a reality: dynamic times, which is what we're living in right now, requires resilient leaders, leaders that have the confidence in themselves to know that I can handle whatever is placed before me. In fact, one of the reasons why it's so important that you don't let people define you by your gifts and your talents and your skills and your degrees is because all that stuff manipulates your personal confidence. It manipulates your confidence in yourself. Anytime people can define you by your talent and your skill, they can compare you to other people and have you feeling like, well, I'm not like them. I'm not good enough. I can't do it like they do it. And And then you start questioning your self-worth, and you start feeling like, man, who am I? I have nothing to offer. Resilient confidence means believing in yourself during times of uncertainty. There's going to always be times when you don't have the answer in terms of what you should do next or how to handle this. But guess what? Even though you don't know the answer, you are the answer. Because you don't have to have what it takes when you are who it takes. Even though you may not know the solution right now or have the figures to the equation, but because you are the solution, all you need is a little time to come forth with whatever you need to deal with whatever you're dealing with. And so one of the things that we do is we grow when there are times of setbacks. We grow when things fall apart. We grow when pressure is on us. We expand when we're finding ourselves going through difficult moments. Why? Because when we lead, we bring out the best in us. Even during times of uncertainty, even during times when circumstances are at an all-time high, even during times where everyone else is hysterical and panicking, And does not know what to do and how to do it and when to do it and where to do it. And when they call on you with that hysterical voice, they're expecting for you, Mr. Clark Kent, to come out of your phone booth with your cape on, with a big S on your chest. They're expecting you, Miss Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman, to leap into action and make things happen. And you know what? You can do it! You got this. There's nothing you can't do. All you need is a little time to be yourself and to bring out the best in you. Now, will there be times where you're sweating? Absolutely. Will there be times where you're chewing off the little bit of fingernail that you have left from last week? Absolutely. Will there be moments where you're walking and pacing the floor at night when you should be in the bed sleeping? Or you're sitting at the coffee table just trying to drink yourself into a solution? Absolutely. But guess what? You'll get it done. You'll figure it out. You'll be able to say, it was hard, but I did it hard. It was complicated, but I did it through the complications. It was difficult, but I fought through the difficulties. Why? Because you have on the inside of you—

The power.

the best version that fears no task or assignment. And it is through these moments that our confidence is built. When life is easy, you don't need confidence in yourself. When life is easy, you don't need the best in you. But when you're dealing with times of uncertainty, your confidence needs to rise to an all-time high. So believe in you, operate with stability, and focus on what's on the inside. Here's something that is very important: give it all you've got. I've had many people to ask me questions About how do you bring out the best in you? Here's the answer: give it all you got. Do not hold back. Do not hold back on what you have to offer, even if people do not value you and the sacrifice you make from day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year. Give it all you've got. Why? Because your leadership impact is based upon your ability to connect with people through your heart. So much so that if your heart is not engaged in your job, then you're just going through motions, cycles, and calendars. The difference that you make in the workplace, it's not about How smart you are, how educated you are, how intellectual you are. It's about how passionate you are, how loving you are, how caring you are. And it is true that 80% of Americans serve with their minds and leave their hearts at home. And that's why we have disenfranchised organizations. Where although there is 2,000 members in this corporation or this organization, oftentimes we are scattered and discombobulated and no one knows each other and no one cares about one another because we come to work with our brains, our degrees, and our education, and we leave our heart and our love and our compassion at home. That's not the case with you because as an HR leader, you have to care. In fact, even if you don't want to care, you're going to be forced into caring because your job duties will eventually bring love from within. Rico, So we lead with passion, and when we do, we improve the lives of others. This is a true statement. People may not remember what you say to them or anything you said, but they will remember how you made them feel. When Susie come to you and tell you about her problems and, and how she's been harassed or how she's been treated a certain way on the job by another employee, and you let Susie know, hey, Susie, I'll get to the bottom of it. I'll deal with it, and I'll get back to you. Right there, Susie felt cared for. She felt loved. She felt heard. And she trusts that you would do what's in her best interest. And that's the person that you are. You care deeply about others. Here's something that I realized: no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Let me push the rewind button and say that one more time. No one cares about how much you know, how smart you are, how educated you are. Until they learn first how much you care. And so we've learned some things so far that is so important to our job functions in terms of bringing out the best in us and leading through change. Now we focus on repositioning and reinventing ourselves through change. Dynamic times requires renewed leadership. The strongest leaders are willing to reposition themselves and reinvent themselves. You see, we're living in a time now where so much is changing so fast, especially with AI, that we can't come with old systems and think that old systems is going to pass the test of time. We have to go back to the drawing board. We have to learn how to do things and to introduce principles and policies and to solve problems and, and to deal with circumstances and situations in an all-new way now. And I know many people are concerned about whether or not HR is going to deprive them of their employment, but I can certainly assure you this, that HR could never take the place of a compassionate, caring individual because HR— I'm sorry, AI can never take the place of a compassionate individual because AI doesn't have a heart. You have a heart. And as long as you have a heart and you show that you care, you'll always have employment. Well, there are some things that needs to shift, like our mindset. What habits do we need to improve? What leadership approach needs to evolve? Where do I need to grow? Sometimes change is not asking you to quit. Change is asking you to do things different. Sometimes you have to back up, assess the situation, and come out with an all-new strategy to rectify the situation. So in other words, we need tomorrow's thinkers in today's workforce— somebody who can think ahead and bring solutions into our present that would help all of us to succeed. And you have the position to be able to do just that. Your mindset, your habits, your leadership approach will help all of us to grow to the next level. This is very important. We as HR— and I put me in it even though I'm not an HR leader— I feel like one from time to time, but we stand in the gap, right? We're bridge builders, right? We're like mediators. We're people who juggle 2 worlds, 2 systems. So leadership begins with example. You cannot ask other people to become what you're not willing to become, to do what you're not willing to do, or to give what you're not willing to give. We lead by example, and as a result of that, sometimes we must change the way we want others to see us by changing the way we see others. We must become the seed to the harvest that we want other people to reap or benefit from. What does that mean? Sometimes you have to make sacrifices that brings benefits and gain to other people. Sometimes you have to do things that may be out of your comfort zone, maybe sacrificial, but every time you do it, you're helping someone else. I know that when you do what you do from day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year, It's not easy. It's not. But yet you show up every day. And every time you do, even under pressure, you're bringing out the best in you. You're leading through change. You're dealing with dynamic times. And you're helping other people to survive whatever they go through.

Thank you.

So think about a seed, because that's what you are. You're a seed sown into the lives of others. Think about a seed. When a seed is planted in the ground and dirt is thrown over the top of it, and that dirt is compacted over the top of that seed from the bottom and the top, from side to side, it is compacted together. The more that dirt compacts that seed, cause— that seed begins to push back against that dirt. The pressure from the dirt that is on the seed caused for the seed to begin pushing, and as a result of that, what's on the inside of it begins to make its way through the outside. And we call that germination. It starts coming out. The pressure on the seed is what causes the seed to germinate. You are a seed. You got pressure from the top, pressure from the bottom, pressure from the left side, the right side, and all of it is suppressing you at times all at once. And the more that pressure is on you as an HR leader, the more your greatness begins to push back against that weight. The more your uniqueness begins to push back at that weight, the more you begin to grow. So don't run from the pressure. The pressure is there to help bring out the best in you. The pressure is there to help you to look within and find talent and find skills and find gifts and find creativity that that you didn't even know you had. But as an HR leader, you were loaded with it. Now we just gotta get it out of you. Say this with me, I'm bringing out the best in me. I'm bringing out the best in me. You stand in the gap, you lead by example, you model growth, and you become what you hope to inspire. We lead through change, but we do it with leading ourselves. Before leaders can navigate change externally, we must first navigate change internally. Here's something that is important: dynamic times requires leaders that are willing to grow through uncertainty, to adapt with wisdom, To stay emotionally grounded and to continue developing. And as a result, we are able to not only bring out the best in us, but at the same time, we bring out the best in others. So this is the truth: the way you lead yourself through change determines how you lead others through change. Again, we grow through uncertainty. We adapt with wisdom and we stay emotionally grounded and we never stop developing. Leading diverse teams starts with the renewed you. What does that mean? That we have to focus on these 3 components. Number one, personal development. We have to continue to focus on Our attitudes, our perspective, the way we see our responsibilities, the way we see people. We have to continue to focus on our integrity. We have to continue to discipline ourselves and to stay grounded. We have to continue to do things that builds us up as individuals, and then we bring that into the workplace, and that's where professional empowerment comes in. What we gain in private, we now share in public, and we inspire and encourage and empower those who follow us as leaders, those whom we serve. We bring our strength and we give it to them, and then that's where interpersonal empowerment comes. And so while you're working, you're using your gifts, your talents, and your skills to get the job done, but yet you're inspiring other people along the way. Different does not mean that you have to be difficult. Neither does it mean you have to do things difficult. It simply means you just got to be yourself and just let the best come forth. The stronger you become internally, the more you're able to lead externally. Now, are we dealing with different generations and different times? Yes. Are we dealing with different systems?

Yes.

But you can handle whatever comes your way. Do you believe that?

Yes.

So we bring out the best of us or the best in us during times of pressure. We understand that dynamic times often brings change, uncertainty, fatigue, frustration, and stress. It's part of the job. That's part of the job environment. But times of uncertainty can also bring strength, character growth, and adaptability. So you get to choose whether you're going to allow for your job duties or the time that you live in or the people that like sometimes gets on your nerve, are they going to bring out the worst in you or are they going to bring out the best in you? Is your employer that is condescending and is a narcissist— I won't even say the word— Do they bring out the worst in you or do they bring out the best in you? The people who you labor to please, do they bring out the worst in you Or do they bring out the best in you? You get to choose. Pressure does not create leadership. Pressure reveals leadership. What pressure is on your life right now, and what is it bringing out of you? Leadership leads to legacy. How you serve, how you lead, will determine how you will be remembered. Leadership is influence, impact. Leadership is what remains after you leave the room. So ask yourself, what will people say about my leadership when I walk home— I walk to go home that day, when I walk out of the office that day? What would they say about me? What are they saying about me at lunch? Not that you need to know, but what you do need to do is to make sure that you're giving all you've got to give. Somebody said this to me as a young man, 19 years old. I was speaking at an event and I was dealing with this emotion of mine, wondering if I did a good job after I spoke to all these people. And as I was going to walk out, somebody stopped me and said these words. They said, young man, when you know you've given your best, you don't have to have anybody to tell you you've done a good job. I say to you today, when you know you've shown up with your heart and you have done all that you could do, nobody has to pat you on the back to say good job. Pat yourself on the back and keep on keeping on because That's what legacy is about. It's about making sure that you are giving your all, because when you do, you're bringing out the best in others. And that's what people will remember you for. They will remember you based on how you made them feel and how you were able to elevate them and how you were able to strengthen them and encourage them and make them feel loved and valued and heard and seen. And when people talk about you and the impact you made, it will be all good. Why? Because you didn't just did or do what it takes. You didn't do what it took. You became the difference. You made the difference. So say this with me again: I don't have what it takes. I am who it takes. Do you believe that?

Yes.

You develop people, inspire growth, build confidence, and you leave other. Stronger, and that's what matters. Now, and we'll wrap it up here, continuous growth is leadership responsibility. Growth is not optional. Leadership development never ends. The best leaders continue to do these 5 things. 1, grow. 2, learn. 3, adjust. 4, evolve. 5, develop. If you're not growing, learning, adjusting, evolving, and developing, then you're not bringing out the best in you. But you are growing. That's why you're here. You are learning. That's why you're here. You are developing. You are evolving. And you are bringing forth your best. So I would say that when you go back to your city, to your family, your family members are going to get a new you. When you show up to work next week, your family members are going to get a new you. When you do whatever it is you do and you engage with whoever you engage with, they're going to get a new you. Not a better you, not a tired you, not a broken you, not a bitter you, not an angry you, but a best renewed you.

Amen.

Who realizes I don't have to have what it takes. I am who it takes. I'm bringing out the best in me. I'm giving it all I have. I'm leading through change. I'm doing my best through times of uncertainty. And I'm laying it down right now that you are someone special. You have greatness on your life. There is nothing that you can't accomplish. And I believe that you are a tomorrow's leader in today's world. And I'll close here. Maximize your potential. There is more in you. There's more potential. It may be undeveloped or underdeveloped, but it's there. But the more you develop your potential, it changes everything. So ask yourself these 3 questions: What gift remains undeveloped within me? What strength still needs to grow? And what leadership level still exists inside of me? And be honest with yourself, because these questions can only be answered through honesty. And if you focus on growing and developing, you'll be able to rise to the level. You have greatness on your life, and this greatness on your life is not only going to change your life, but it will change the lives of others. Greatness is already inside of you. Passion is already inside of you. Again, you're no longer defined by how talented and how gifted you are. You are who it takes to get the job done. You're the right person for the job. Always reach for the moon, because even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. Be willing rather to aim high and hit nothing instead of aiming low and hitting everything. Most people fail in life, ladies and gentlemen, Not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit. Always strive to be on top because it's the bottom that's overcrowded. Your attitude towards life determines life's attitude towards you. So give to life the dream you aspire, and life will give to you the greatness you desire. Other people's opinions of you matter not— matters not to The determination of your potential nor the dictation of your destiny. So walk not in the shadow of those you admire, but discover your own greatness and dare to aspire. For then you will realize your destiny and live a life that inspires. For life is what you make it. When the opportunity comes, you take it. You be sharp now and maximize your life and make yourself—

Inspire.

a great leader. And think sharp, talk sharp, plan sharp, dress sharp, walk sharp, talk sharp, live sharp, and you'll be sharp. That's my time, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much for having me today. I really do appreciate it. Thank you, thank you, thank you very much. I would love to have questions, but I gotta run down here to this bookstore for my book signing. Feel free to join me.

Thank you so much, Rico.