He’s Never Played Football. They Still Show Up.

Dorian has never played a single down of football. He's never worn the pads, never run a drill, never stood in a huddle.

But for two years straight, when he's posted about his cereal drive or his birthday cake fundraiser, Brewer Youth Football has shown up with a carload of donations.

It would be easy to credit a good ask. I don't think that's what happened. The relationship came first. Long before Dorian asked Brewer Youth Football for anything, he was showing up for them. At their games and around the community.

So when his cereal drive appeared in their Facebook feed, his name wasn't unfamiliar. Nobody had to wonder who he was or whether he was for real. They already knew him.

There's a leadership lesson in that, and I think we overlook it all the time.

We spend a lot of energy teaching people how to make the ask. How to write the pitch. How to promote the cause. How to get more eyes on it. Those things matter and I preach them but the best ask in the world still lands differently when it comes from someone you already know.

Visibility gets you seen. Relationships get you trusted and you need both. Relationships can't be built only when you need something. They're built in the months and years before the ask: by showing up, paying attention, supporting other people, and becoming part of a community instead of simply asking something from it.

Dorian probably wasn't thinking about any of that while he stood on the sidelines at a football game. He wasn't building a donor list or playing a long game. He was just showing up.

That's the part I want young leaders to hear. Showing up for others, with nothing to gain, isn't a nice extra. It's the foundation everything else stands on and like any leadership skill, it's built in reps.

Now, two years in a row, Brewer Youth Football has shown up for him.

Reputation is currency and Dorian's was spent well.

It helped stock the shelves of a food pantry. It put cake mixes, frosting, and candles in the cupboard on the pediatric floor of the hospital, where the smell of a cake baking and the joy of licking the spoon bring a little happiness to a hospital stay.

Dorian with Amy, Child Life Specialist at Northern Light Health

So here's my question for you. Whose games are you at? Whose events, whose wins, whose hard seasons? Not because you need something, but because they matter to you.

Go stand on someone's sideline this week. Cheer for something that isn't yours.

Because one day you'll make an ask. And it will land completely differently when it reaches people who already know your name.

Thank you Brewer Youth Football!