The Leadership Pike class of 2015 graduated Wednesday afternoon at the Troy Country Club. Thirteen leaders representing Pike County received certificates of completion finishing up their time in Leadership Pike by listening to Walter Givhan, senior vice chancellor for advancement and economic development at Troy University, speak about what it takes to be a leader.

“Everyone has a different style as a leader,” Givhan said. “You can’t really be a leader that you’re not. You have to understand who you are and become the leader that you can be. You have to know what your strengths and weaknesses are and how you compensate for those.”

Givhan served in the U.S. Air Force and learned most of his leadership skills during his service.

“You can’t find a better place to learn leadership,” he said. “You have to lead.”

Givhan shared what he calls “VC3” with the graduates. The V is for vision and the three Cs are communication, courage and compassion. He said that these are the key things to being a leader.

“Vision is the hard one,” he said.

He explained that vision can mean the mission for the organization or it can mean having the ability to know how to solve a situation.

“It’s something that not everyone has, but its something that you need to work with the team to get that vision.”

The next point was communication.

“Communication is simultaneously the simplest and hardest part of leading,” Givhan said. “You become a better communicator by communicating. Do it and do it often. Repetition is one of the most important parts of communication.”

Givhan stressed that it is crucial to be brief and precise when communicating with a team so that the organization fully understands the mission.

Courage is not necessarily the physical courage that is most commonly thought of, but it is the moral courage that is key for great leadership.

“Moral courage is a willingness to lead, take unpopular stands and to fight for what is needed,” Givhan said. “It’s also the courage to learn and change.”

The final thing Givhan said was an important quality for a leader was compassion.

“I define compassion as the understanding and appreciation of the human condition in all its circumstances,” he said. “Take care of your people and they will take care of the mission. Show that you care. Treat them with respect and treat them with interest. Give credit to the team and just watch what they will accomplish.”

Givhan said that the City of Troy and Pike County has a dynamic that shows the leadership quality that lies within the community that it is strong and has a lot of potential.

“The confluence of having the university here of Troy’s size and stature, having the industries and the businesses that we have that are working together with a common, progressive vision to leverage all of that capability – we have so much of an upside here.”

And that’s where the Leadership Pike graduates come in. They will work together and separately to continue to help Troy thrive and grow successfully. Nola Ernest, the Leadership Pike Class of 2015 president, said that her classmates are ready to do big things for Pike County.

“I am looking forward to being a part of writing the next chapter of our county’s success story,” Ernest said. “If we work together, we can accomplish the unexpected.”

Others that graduated with Ernest included Michael Bunn, Tammy Calhoun, Donnella Carter, Whitney Conrad, Michele Fannin, Donta Frazier, Kenneth Green, J. Chris Hager, Hannah Mason, Randolph Miller, Mary Kate Moring and Lauren Smith.

This class has accomplished many things over the past year, including hosting Pike County’s first kickball tournament to raise money for the Pike County Leadership scholarship. According to Ernest, the event was successful, as they surpassed the fundraising goal.

“Over the last 10 months, we have learned amazing things about Pike County,” Ernest said. “Some of the most valuable things we learned were about ourselves. We should be proud of where we are headed.”