Leadership Greater Topeka | Lucas Ryan

Compiled by LAUREN JURGENSEN | Photos by BRADEN DIMICK

What motivates you?  
I have a deep need to serve the community and believe in leaving this world a little better than it was when I entered it. I hope that I can make it better for as many people as possible, and seek to find as many ways to do that as I can. 

What characteristic do you most admire in others and why? 
Kindness. We live in a world full of stressful, anxiety-inducing things. If you can navigate the chaos we live in and show up with kindness despite how tired or beaten down life may make you, it shows a level of strength and empathy that is admirable. 

What do you collect? Why? 
Books. I have over 350 of them, ranging from nonfiction to fantasy, romance and sci-fi. There's hundreds of little worlds and narratives that we can learn from.  

What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today? 
A lack of good-faith efforts to engage with change. I think there is a level of exhaustion and frustration that has grown across all factions of society, which has lead to many people tuning out or lashing out at the political process. Politics, at its core, is supposed to be about us coming together to work to resolve the issues that face our communities. I think day-to-day life has become too complicated and demanding for most people to have the energy to approach it from a place of curiosity and growth, which sets us up for conflict. 

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