As we come upon President’s Day, I always like to think about our current leaders, our future leaders and what I can do to help that chain of leadership grow stronger.  Being a good leader is not easy.  It is not consistently well rewarded.  It also is not always visible when done properly.

It is pretty easy to spot poor leadership.  We have the Italian cruise ship that went aground.  The Captain of this mighty vessel was found on shore while many of his passengers and crew were still on the ship struggling to find their way off the boat.  We watch our politicians taking shots at each other in order to get the evening news sound bite without any consideration of how taking that shot looks from the voters view.

I have been fortunate enough to work for some good leaders over the years and hopefully have picked up a technique or two in the process.  My son bought me the Band of Brothers DVD set for Christmas this year.  I have watched it a lot over the years prior to having the DVD.  So now as I watch it with him, I can point out the great examples of leadership that these men used to make a difference in their battles.  The examples of “putting your team above yourself,” or “leading by example” are all around us if you look for them.  I love to catch them and share those moments with others.

In Leesburg, there is a new group of business leaders that are called “Lemonheads”.  These successful business leaders spend time helping new business leaders identify and solve problems.  They have accepted the concept that helping other businesses grow is a great way to help your own business succeed.  The lemonhead name is based on the old cliché about turning lemons into lemonade.  Each challenge should be looked at as an opportunity.  I fell into this mold, in a way, as we started making our Pear wine from the fruit that we used to run over with the mower.  We also use our old barrels to make wine bottle racks giving the customers a great way to hold more of our product and making them gives the staff here a warm, winter job when the vineyard is a little too cold to work.  Sharing leadership and working to build leadership skills in all of our young people is important for us to bring our society to a more balanced and sustainable future.  Helping create the rising tide that raises all boats is a little different way to do business than I was taught a generation ago.  Smaller businesses with more entrepreneurial spirit are where I see the growth and stability of our future.  The competitive spirit that we teach our young people on the ball field is important but the win lies more in a great game than a blow out on the scoreboard.  Great leaders in the small business world understand that good local business builds sustainable economies.

Wine Words:

As we have been featuring our vertical tasting of Cabernet Franc this past month, I have received some great feedback from some regular customers.  They truly enjoyed the format of the tasting and the ability to compare as winemakers do, the different wines side by side in a more professional setting.  I forget sometimes how fortunate I am to taste so many wines and see the dramatic and subtle differences that show when comparing wines.  I am looking forward to creating and sharing more opportunities to learn about wine in a more controlled environment than in a tasting room.  I want more classes, tasting groups and opportunities for folks to grow their experience in wine right along with the wine industry growing into our culture.  We will be looking at blending trials again, (I missed doing this last year), more education on food and wine pairings as well as comparative tastings of wines from around the world.  Here, we have created a little bubble of wine people that live to make, taste and share great wines.  We will be looking to share a little more.  Thanks for reading and sharing in your way.

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