It’s a good thing Patricia Richards loves mountains. While visiting a friend in Utah, the Illinois native decided to pack up her studies at Northwestern and move to the Beehive State after seeing the natural beauty the state had to offer.
After arriving in Utah, she was hired at First Security Bank and became the first female bank officer in the state. Her career took her to several leadership positions at the bank, which eventually merged with Wells Fargo, where she retired as a senior vice president over wealth management in 2009.
Richards helmed the Utah Symphony as it merged with Utah Opera. She eventually left that position, and in June 2014, she became the chair of the board of directors for the League of American Orchestras, which is based in New York City.
During her time at the bank, Richards also served as chair of the United Way of Salt Lake Board of Directors.
As part of the Eccles School’s Profiles of Leadership class, taught by Dean Taylor Randall and Al Landon, Richards was invited to share some of her experiences with Eccles business students.
Here are five leadership tips from Patricia Richards she shared based on her business and nonprofit leadership experience:
1) Be courageous. A leader must have courage to determine what needs to be done, and then do it. If you do it right, you’ll forever earn the loyalty of those who report to you.
2) Ignore hierarchies. Below, Richards describes why partnering with your superior is a much better approach to a working relationship.
3) Take risks. Some of the best career advice Richards received was from the then-dean of the Eccles School, John Seybolt. As Richards was debating over whether to take a higher position in a new department at the bank, she said he told her this: “You’ve got to learn to take a risk, and that’s got to be part of your job. There’s nothing in that department you can’t learn in six months.” She made the leap and never looked back.
4) Serve on a nonprofit board. “The skills you gain and the personal growth you achieve by serving on a nonprofit board can be huge. You need to take advantage of that opportunity,” Richards said. She said her experiencing leading the United Way of Salt Lake Board was a crucial part of her leadership career. “I went in as a manager and came out an executive,” she said. “I learned how be in charge of a group of very in-charge people. It was terrifically important to my career. I learned executive presence, which is something very hard to learn and needs to be experienced.”
5) Be very comfortable with change. Three times during Richards’ career, her job was eliminated and she had to create new focus and vision in a new position. “Change will be constant, and there will be ambiguity. You won’t get all the answers, certainly not from executives. Create your own answers, find your own vision, find your own future,” she said. “Being proactive is the answer.”