Relationships Are the Currency of Leadership

David Ramadan

Former Virginia Delegate &

Professor of Practice, George Mason University

“Relationships Are the Currency of Leadership”

LDavid Ramadan once represented a Virginia legislative district that leaned heavily Democratic.

He was a Republican.

And while serving in a Republican-controlled legislature, he helped pass an election reform measure with bipartisan support.

So I wanted to know: How?

David’s answer became the central idea of our conversation: “Relationships are the currency of leadership.”

But I didn’t want the slogan. I wanted to know what that actually looks like when people disagree about consequential things.

That took us from an Indian restaurant in Northern Virginia to the back rooms of the Virginia legislature, with some baklava, political arguments, and, unexpectedly, moonshine along the way.

More importantly, David challenged me to think differently about what it takes to work with someone whose views may be fundamentally different from your own.

What changes when you disagree with someone’s position, but refuse to question their intentions?

That’s the conversation I hope you’ll join us for.

This episode is part of our ongoing series sponsored by RELI, the Regional Elected Leaders Initiative at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, which works to strengthen public leadership and regional collaboration across Northern Virginia.

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