Here's to a welcome New Year in what remains an unsettling world.  In our business communities here in Currituck, it looks to be another strong one whether around Moyock or on the jam-packed Outer Banks.  It's a great problem to have--we remain a great place to live, work, learn, and visit.  To meet the demands of our citizens and visitors, we'll have to bring our "A" game as leaders.

From a leadership perspective, the beginning of the year is a great time to revisit the fundamentals of how we create value in the lives of others.  Let's start with trust--it's the bedrock of much of what we do and yet there are distinctly different kinds of it.  Think of it as the "three C's" of trust:

Character--this is the fabric of who you are and how you behave.  In many cases, this is the most important.  For example, there's a reason COA just named the new EMS building in Barco after Stanley Griggs.  Said differently--will you always do the right thing?

Capability--This is the trust you generate because you can do something well.  Note the distinction here--for example, you may not ask your most trusted electrician or ferry captain to perform surgery on you.  It's not that you don't trust them in other circumstances, it's just that you don't trust their capability in a particular field.

Consistency--Do you do things well consistently?  Can you be trusted to get things done?

In short, as we assess our goals for 2022 let's start as leaders by understanding how we add value and how we can be trusted by our fellow citizens, visitors, and neighbors.  It's a great place to start a great year.