A takeaway about what Jimmy V gave

The inspiring college basketball coach Jim Valvano (“Jimmy V”) had a great sense of humor: 

“I asked a referee if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. 

He said, ‘Of course not.’ 

I said, ‘Well, I think you stink.’ And he gave me a technical. You can't trust ‘em!”

It’s one of countless ways Valvano shined positive influence, no matter what the challenge.

He knew what other inspiring leaders know: When a negative episode sparks negative emotion, that’s just how the story starts. How it ends is what you do with it. 

Throughout his career, Valvano turned downturn into uplift.

He did it when he faced the ultimate challenge too. 

Shortly before he died from cancer at 47 years old, he gave a celebrated speech filled with inspiring moments, most famously his impassioned, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” 

My personal favorite from the speech is one he ad-libbed. When the timer showed he had half a minute left to speak, he said:

“That screen up there is flashing 30 seconds -- like I care about that screen right now, huh? I got tumors all over my body and I'm worried about some guy in the back going '30 seconds'?”

He finished:

"Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. I thank you and God bless you all."

Thank you and God bless you too Jimmy V. 

That’s the takeaway: Don’t give up. Give uplift.