Pride

Being proud of organizations to which you belong is something that's easy to say, hard to feel. A lot of folks mindlessly express pride at being a part of this group or that. It rings untrue oftentimes and I am disappointed in those who deceive themselves in such a way. If you're proud, show me how. If you aren't, show me that, too. I find it happens a lot with cycling and I roll my eyes. People say "Oh it's such a ridiculous thing to care about winning that much." And they turn around and pout about their poor placing. Or, they say "Wow, the sport has so many gossips. I just don't care that much." Then I overhear them saying, 10 minutes later..."Did you hear about Liz Hatch? Well, she was at..." and so on (and PS: I absolutely hate it when people speculate about the activities of my dearest Lizzer. Enough!).

It takes effort to live as you preach. And I see precious few doing so.

The Darden School showed me this week why I should be proud to be a member of the community. And I'm happy to say that my little heart sings with joy when I think about how awesome this place is.

As our faith in financial institutions crumbles, the business leaders at my school and beyond are rallying the troops and having candid conversations. Conversations about the failure of leadership that led to this mess. About the broken system of attaching true value to things. They generously include all of us.

This week, on one day's notice, Professor Susan Chaplinsky assembled a panel of 5 influential professors at Darden to hold a forum for the school. We had experts in Economics, Finance, Accounting, Ethics, and Leadership (not like they're distinct subjects, but whatever...) speak honestly about their point of view and their hope for the future in light of the lessons the USA inadvertently taught the world last week.

There are just over 600 students at our school. And the 400-seat auditorium was packed. I had a previous commitment, so I watched the webcast the next day (so glad they made it available. Just another reason why Darden rocks)

(PS: watch the webcast. I guarantee it'll be the best 40 minutes you'll spend all month.)

I guess this post falls short in illustrating just how proud I am to be a Darden student and a member of this community for the rest of my life. I feel so much hope about the future of leadership in this world if other business schools are doing even half as much as Darden to have a broad discussion about the effects of improperly placing value on things people cannot touch; let alone understand.

Kids, if you're looking for a reason to be educated in a place that strives through its every action to develop ethical leaders in the world of practical affairs, come to Darden.

(Believe me, they didn't pay me to say this. I paid them $120,000 to experience it)