Give a Damn

Last month during our Leadership West Virginia graduation, I told my class that I didnt feel like saying “they cared” did enough justice to how great of leaders I got to spend time with this past year.

It felt like too generic of a word. And of course leaders care.

I thought of other words like.. Compassionate And Conviction

I think these are good leadership traits, But I feel like lots of people fake compassion. And you can even fake conviction…at least for a short period of time.

The phrase I landed on was that my classmates “give a damn.”

They give a damn about what they do, The people they lead, Their families and community, And the great state of West Virginia.

They also showed this year that they gave a damn about each other. And it was particularly meaningful that I felt like they gave a damn about me, too.

So I encouraged them to keep giving a damn. Because you can’t really fake that.

Imagine my surprise this week when I got this gem in the mail from the one and only Ariana Shives 🌄 as a birthday gift. “I hope it reminds you of Leadership West Virginia” she said.

It will definitely remind me of that. And it will be a great reminder that giving a damn is one of the most important traits you can have as a leader.

I apologize for the repeated language. But I encourage you… Give a damn about what you do and who you do it for. That’s the bedrock of great leadership.