MARTINSBURG — Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s top advice for aspiring public servants: Learn to listen as skillfully as you learn to speak. On Thursday morning, Capito offered leadership pointers to a small group of junior and seniors enrolled in Mrs. Brianna Riffle’s leadership class at Spring Mills High School.
Spring Mills will be hosting Sen. Capito’s first of four “Academy Days” on Saturday. The event is for West Virginia students interested in learning more about admission to U.S. service academies and available ROTC scholarships.
“First, you have to learn how to listen,” Capito said. “Talking is easier sometimes than actually listening to people.”
Capito advised students that learning is an acquired rather than natural born skill.
“The ability to listen — to listen to your classmates, to listen your other members of the leadership team, to listen to your parents and to your teachers,” Capito said. “If you listen, it doesn’t mean that you have to agree. Just to be able to listen; I think that’s a great skill to have to be able to make decisions.”
According to Capito, in contrast to his public media persona, President Donald Trump is actually a very good listener.
“I learned that the very first time I met him –I was very surprised,” Capito said. “Because it’s not sort of his public personality — he doesn’t come through like that.”
Another valuable skill for would be public office holders, said Capito, is learning the subtle art of negotiation.
“You have to learn that you can’t get your way every time,” Capito said. “That’s what is great about you being in a group like this — you are already working at it.”
According to Capito, political negotiation — or more specifically, the lack of it — has become a growing problem in Washington, D.C.
“There’s developing a thought pattern in Washington, D.C. that ‘if I don’t get everything I want every time, that this bill does give me everything I want, then I’m not for it.'”
As an example, Capito pointed to former President Ronald Reagan, who she said learned the art of the political deal as a two-term president.
“Reagan once said, ‘if you can get 80 percent of what you want, maybe you have to swallow the other 20 percent,’ “ Capito said.
To gain hands-on public service experience, Capito advised students to get involved with a local political campaign.
“Find somebody that you like,” Capito said. “Then learn what it’s about. You learn how to campaign, carry a sign, stuff envelopes, deliver yard signs. It allows young people to learn. You can observe a candidate and decide whether this is something that I want to do.”
Another piece of advice offered by Capito for those aspiring to public office: Grow thick skin.
“Any kind of criticism is hard for some people to take,” Capito said. “If you are one of those people who has a hard time taking criticism, maybe you want to be the press secretary. You have to be willing to pick yourself up the next day and move on. That’s a skill very useful for a politician.”
Capito told students her own political passion is inspiring young women to pursue public service.
“I’m trying to inspire that next generation of young girls and women to want to do what I do — to be the next senator, to be the next participant,” Capito said.
As a means to do that, Capito spends time visiting 5th grade students throughout the state as part of her personal pet project entitled “West Virginia Girls Rise Up.”
“I pick fifth grade, because you’re old enough to understand — you’re receptive,” Capito said. “You’re not so old that you are going to be cynical about what I’m trying to say– it’s going to be exciting still for them.”
For those young women aspiring public office, Capito offered three principles to follow.
“One is education, two is physical well being, staying healthy and being well, and three — the hardest one — building self confidence,” Capito said. “For younger girls, it’s the ability to say, I’m confident enough to say ‘I’ve made a mistake.'”
