July 2018 - BEN RANKIN

BEN RANKIN

Bio: Meet our July leader, Ben Rankin, a sophomore at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ben is working towards a double major in Political Science and Finance with a minor in Economics. He currently consults for the Center for Civilians in Conflict, where he researches U.S. policies affecting armed conflicts abroad that result in human rights violations. As president of UMKC College Democrats, Ben has grown his leadership and student organizing skills. His experiences with the Leadership and the American Presidency Program and The Great Communicator Debate Series helped prepare him for these roles.

Ben describes his LTAP experience as a “once-in-a lifetime,” citing that the curriculum, internships, and visits to Washington-area organizations gave him “nearly endless opportunities to grow as a leader, student, and citizen.” In the Great Communicator Debate Series, he finished as a national quarterfinalist. To Ben, learning about President Reagan offered profound insights into leadership. Ben is pursuing a career in finance, and he has recently accepted an internship at a financial planning firm in Kansas City.

INTERVIEW WITH BEN RANKIN

What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?

You have a responsibility to nurture your team and ensure that they feel valuable and respected. It’s easy for a leader to fail if they don’t put in the effort necessary to keep their teammates motivated and engaged, and I would encourage every first-time leader to be very aware of that.   

What are you passionate about?

I’m really interested right now in legislation affecting how the United States prioritizes human rights in conflicts abroad. I study Congressional authorization for the use of force, arms sales, and defense legislation, and report on those issues in a weekly blog for the Center for Civilians in Conflict.  

What are you reading right now?

I just finished The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham last night, and I thought that its argument for value investing was incredibly engaging. This morning I picked up A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel, and I can’t wait to get started on it.

How do you approach challenges?

I believe in problem-solving through listening. When I’m confronted by a new challenge, I learn as much as I can about it from people who have faced it before. There’s a point, however, at which one has to make a choice based on limited information, and I have to remind myself not to deliberate an issue to the point of indecisiveness.