Author name: Wes Roberts

Founder/CCO/Master Mentor Leadership Design Group. Wes is uniquely designed to encourage, grow, prod, and challenge others. He is wildly creative and able to imagine better futures for others and himself. Since 1967 his leadership mentoring has helped shape the future of individuals and organizations to grow their dreams into reality. Wes exercises his unique personality to serve others as Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Leadership Design Group, Leadership Design Associates and Three3rds Media. Wes has been mentoring individuals and teams since 1967 from a variety of backgrounds and on every major continent. The unique mentoring model that has deepened, enriched, challenged and changed many lives—in every third of life, is a cornerstone for all that takes place within Leadership Design Group, Leadership Design Associates and Three3rds Media.

Pencils in pencil holder

Leading from Creative Strengths

[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he (or she) grows up. — Pablo Picasso” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Sadly, creativity is too often relegated to either the whimsy of children, or the exceptional artistry of someone older or seemingly more talented. I do agree with Pablo, […]

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Man playing piano

A Family’s Financial Future and Composing Music Go Together

[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”In order to create a financial future it is essential to actually ignore any kind of future at all.” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] During your second third of life building a sound financial future is mostly about building sustainable healthy habit patterns. Ignoring the future is important because the sole focus of building

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Man in tunnel with torch lighting the way

Forging A Future For Realistic Growth — 30-45: A Time of Realization

[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”There is something about “the big 30” that scares some and energizes others. ” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] It seems like the future can be seen as unknown, a bit bleak, or full of opportunities that were hard to imagine moving through the decades of childhood, adolescence and being an emerging adult. Now

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Two people embracing

Mentoring Adults in the Second3rd of Life

[blox_column width=”1/1″][/blox_column][blox_heading title=”“I’m past 50. Why in the world would I need a mentor?”” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Have you ever heard someone say that—or something like it? It emanates from what we think is a skewed view of mentoring in our culture: mentoring is for children, adolescents and young people just starting out. This

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Boy holding grandparents hand

Three Keys to Mentoring Grandchildren

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”“If I had known how much fun grandchildren were, I would have had them first…”” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] An old joke, it remains in currency because each generation comes to understand it anew when entering the Grand-parenting scene as we did ten years ago.   Being a grandparent is a delight and

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Pencil on a notepad with words written on it

Using experience learning as the best teacher…

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”With this blog post we begin a series unpacking the Three3rds of Life. ” style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Here is a crucial question to ponder within the First3rd (see the previous blog post to capture all the age groups within the Three3rds), how are we educating those who will be the future leaders of

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Clouds in sky

Choosing Transformation Daily

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_text animation=”none”] Have you ever had a significant “ah-hah” moment? One of mine happened in 2008 in a large classroom filled with graduate students. “Students!” my colleague proclaimed, “Take notice. Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” In his book A Sense of Urgency, John Cotter states that “change is shifting from episodic to continuous.” 

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Hand on rainy glass

Allowing Pain to Transform Not Stop Life…

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”No one likes to suffer.” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Only a warped few enjoy watching others suffer. As this is written, one of the growing, significant emerging leaders I mentor is with his wife as their newborn son fights for his little life in a Colorado hospital. The urgency of things not going

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Man walking across wooden boards

The Myth of a Balanced Life

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”There is a yearning in all we humans for more, better, easier, fulfillment.” style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Waiting recently to board a plane back home to Denver, I was in an airport gift shop and had to smile at the amount of promises to life if one just purchased “that book,” or “that magazine”

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Worker standing at desk in front of keyboard

Mentoring is not just about your work

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”I read the mentoring blogs every week.” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] This morning’s are representative of the norm.  The top five blog articles are about mentoring at work:  “Mix N’ Mentor Comes to Jordan,” “Cuomo Touts NY Business Mentor Program, “10 Ways to Become a Great Mentor” (in business), “Mentoring for Scale” and

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The Circle of Life model by Leadership Design Group

Whole Person Mentoring

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”The best of mentoring is intentional, moving toward deep change, for one’s whole life.” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] No matter the age of the person being mentored, no matter the circumstance being discussed, no matter the desired outcome of personal growth, the best of mentoring will always keep in mind that our goal

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Older gentleman looking stern

Deep Change for Older Adults

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”Whoever first said that getting old is not for sissies, must have been getting older themselves.  ” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Any age has its issues. Any age has its challenges. Every age needs intentional attention in order to be fully alive for however long one’s days are granted to them. That this

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Goldfish jumping from one bowl to another

Nurturing Deep Change in Mentoring

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”Committed to deep change? In inches or leaps?” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] You and I have been created to change.  We have been endowed with the capacity to change.  Change is crucial to being fully alive, whether our commitment to change is in inches or leaps.  At LDG, we are committed to nurturing

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Infant baby holding adult finger

Getting from There to Here

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”In two short months a young lad by the name of Josiah will be 7 years old.” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] This picture (one of my all time favorites) was taken when he was one day old.  I have it where I look at it almost every day. Reflect back to a newborn. 

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Taking Risks in Mentoring

Taking Risk in Mentoring

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”The best of intentional mentoring can have an honest element of risk:” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Mentoring, abused, can be manipulative.  Unfortunately, some mentors set themselves up as the “one who knows all, sees all, predicts all.”  While mentors may have more experience and knowledge about aspects of life, the best of mentors

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Drawing gameplan on a chalkboard - The Best of Intentional Mentoring

Mentoring At Its Best Is Always Intentional

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”The phone call lasted 5 minutes…” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] The time, the issue, was focused.  He talked.  I listened.  The issue was strategic.  He talked.  I asked two questions.  He went into his day. Just before bedtime that day, checking my messages, there was a several paragraph text from him being thankful

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A Family and Marriage Annual Exam

A Family and Marriage Annual Checkup

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”What if we had Family and Marriage doctors? ” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] Well we do, I suppose.  There are family and marriage counselors in every phone book in every city in America, I am sure.  (Does anyone have a phone book anymore?) We all know what an annual physical exam is like.

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The Many Mentoring Environments of the Whole-Life Model

The Many Mentoring Environments of the Whole-Life Model

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”In what mentoring environments does the whole-life model work best? ” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] It’s been several years now since I gave a mentoring workshop in Guatemala for a major NGO/non-profit. This outstanding group provides care for children in almost 40 countries who are caught in significant poverty. They had gathered some

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What If My Annual Physical Was a Model for My Whole Life?

What If My Annual Physical Was a Model for My Whole Life?

[blox_row][blox_column width=”1/1″][blox_heading title=”Have you ever had an annual social exam? ” size=”h3″ style=”style5″ animation=”none”][/blox_heading][blox_text animation=”none”] I had my annual physical exam last week.  It went well, for one entering his seventh decade, due in part to my mentor’s challenge this year to pay closer attention to the physical dimension of my life. As I sat

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