What Are You Willing to Pay a Price For?

Former Virginia Delegate Randy Minchew

Former Virginia Delegate

“The Dark Side of Courage”

It’s easy to admire political courage from a distance.

But what does courage look like when the decision in front of you could cost you the support of people who helped elect you?

Or put you at odds with colleagues or allies?

Or even cost you your seat?

Former Virginia Delegate Randy Minchew calls this “the dark side” of leadership.

That phrase caught my attention, because local leaders confront their own versions of this tension all the time.

• How do you know when standing firm is an act of courage and when it’s simply certainty?
• Can changing your mind after hearing new information be courageous, too?
• And how do you stay true to your principles when the consequences of doing so become personal?

Randy has served in all three branches of Virginia state government, and our conversation takes us inside a decision where those questions weren’t hypothetical.

I won’t tell you how he answers them. But if you’ve ever sat at the dais knowing that the vote you believe is right may also be the one that makes people angry, I think you’ll find this conversation worth hearing.

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 brings elected leaders across Northern Virginia together to learn from one another and strengthen regional collaboration.

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