By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A three-time Olympic gold medalist softball player, Leah Amico visited St. Joseph and spoke to residents at the Civic Arena during the National Day of Prayer.
Amico says she hopes what people took away from her message that their impact in the community matters
“That their voice matters, that they all have different positions to go out and to be used for God’s glory that he has placed them here,” Amico tells reporters. “And I want them to be the leaders that they’re capable of.”
Amico says she speaks in many different communities and to many different cultures and was humbled to speak to the St. Joseph audience
“I know that every place that I get to go that I’m going to take something away as well, so it’s been fun just seeing this town,” Amico says. “And I know it’s short, I’ll be here until Saturday, but it’s awesome, I’m very thankful to be here.”
Amico told stories to a crowd gathered at the Civic arena about her faith, perseverance, leadership, and purpose.
Amico says in her life some lessons she learned about leadership she spreads to others are that as you work to be your best, you want others to be their best as well.
“To many times people think they have to step on others in order to become great, but I really believe in the team mentality, win-win mentality,” Amico explains. “I think the best leaders are servant leaders, they work alongside those that they’re leading, and they actually show them how to do it better, they live it out themselves first, so to me that’s leadership is really the influence but mostly a positive influence.”
Amico won three gold medals with Team USA softball and two national championships at Arizona. She is a member of the Arizona Hall of Fame as well as the USA Softball Hall of Fame.
Amico says she believes the best leaders are the ones that not only persevere, but are also resilient
“I think that’s such a huge aspect of anyone that’s going to be successful, not just once but time and time again, and to me it’s not about getting knocked down it’s how fast can you get back up, not even just getting back up but how fast can you get back up, learning the lessons you need to learn in order to advance and move forward,” Amico says. “So, for me I talk about advancing through adversity, failing forward fast, and ultimately using the struggle to make you stronger.”
Amico was the keynote speaker during the 14th annual Mayor’s prayer breakfast which is held in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer.
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