In this keynote, Rico Sharp opens with an interactive affirmation exercise and then delivers a passionate message that leadership is not a job function but an identity that permeates every aspect of life. He emphasizes that true leadership involves developing and growing people, not merely managing them. Sharp then shifts focus to the specific challenges faced by HR leaders, describing the heavy emotional and practical burdens they carry—being over‑worked, under‑appreciated, and often forced to sacrifice personal well‑being for the sake of the organization and its employees. He underscores that many stay in HR not for pay but for a deeper sense of calling, and he thanks the audience for their perseverance, resilience, and willingness to be “bridge‑builders.” Throughout, he calls the audience to recognize their own greatness, to balance self‑care with the responsibility of uplifting others, and to celebrate their contributions. The talk concludes with a collective acknowledgment of the audience’s impact and a reminder to continue supporting one another.
Chapters
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.
Thank you.
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 going to ask you if you would do something with me. If you would just stand to your feet. 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. I can accomplish as a leader any leadership requirement, and I can accomplish as a person my dreams, my goals, and my aspirations. Do you believe that? Give yourself a round of applause. Thank you. You may be seated. The first thing that I would like What I want 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? 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. 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 and oftentimes get so little in return. Because being, being in HR, it's not about paycheck. You have to have a, 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 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 in your gas tank. Sometimes the weight is so heavy that it feels like it's going to 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, 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, and you hold fast to your commitment. And sometimes your husbands have to hear about what happened at the 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 deprives 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?
