In a business landscape obsessed with hustle, optimization, and output, Justin Ricklefs is making a compelling case for a different kind of competitive advantage: genuine human connection. After nearly two decades of building brands as the founder of Guild Collective, Ricklefs noticed a pattern that flew in the face of conventional grind culture.
"The organizations that thrive aren't the ones that grind the hardest," he realized. "They're the ones that care the hardest."
This observation became the foundation for his book, *Give a Damn: The Catalyst for Caring Companies*. In a recent conversation, Ricklefs expanded on his philosophy, explaining how leaders can trade anxiety-driven hustle for what he calls "Give a Damn Effort"—and why doing so is a strategic imperative, not just a soft skill.
Moving Beyond the Hustle: Energy with a Purpose
For Ricklefs, the modern definition of "effort" is broken. Too often, leadership rewards visibility over value, equating late nights and busy work with commitment. He draws a stark line between this performative grind and intentional service.
"Give a Damn Effort is deliberate energy directed outward in service of people and purpose," he explains. "Hustle culture is usually anxiety-driven performance, or some level of posturing to display hours worked as a badge of honor, often at the expense of wisdom, relationships, and longevity."
The results of these two approaches are polar opposites. Hustle, he argues, isolates and drains, while genuine care is generative and fosters connection. Leaders who only reward visible busyness, he warns, "train their teams to perform instead of produce."
This extra, uncoerced effort—what his colleague Mark Josey calls "additional discretionary effort"—cannot be commanded. "Manipulation tries to extract and enforce extra effort through pressure, fear, or guilt," Ricklefs says. "Inspiration creates the conditions where people want to give it because the work feels meaningful and they feel respected."
The Leader as a Fountain, Not a Drain
To visualize the impact a leader has on a room, Ricklefs borrows a metaphor from former MLB player Rex Hudler: "There are two types of leaders. Drains and fountains. Drains pull the energy out of the room. Fountains spring up and give life to everyone around them."
Helping a leader identify which category they fall into doesn't require a personality audit; it requires reflection. Ricklefs suggests a simple diagnostic: "Describe the last three conversations where someone left your presence feeling either more energized and encouraged or more depleted and discouraged."
The goal isn't to accuse, but to assess impact. "It shifts the focus from 'you are a drain' to 'what is the net effect of your leadership on the people around you?'" he notes. "Most leaders already know the answer."
The Discipline of Curiosity in the Age of AI
Central to Ricklefs's philosophy is the practice of curiosity. Quoting the famous *Ted Lasso* line, he champions the shift from being judgmental to being curious as a foundational leadership skill.
In practice, this looks like asking "What are you seeing?" instead of dictating "Here’s what I think." It means actively inviting the quietest person in the room to speak first. Ricklefs treats curiosity not as an innate trait, but as a muscle that "can be trained, strengthened, and grown. It can also atrophy, weaken, and wither."
Despite the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, Ricklefs believes this human trait is becoming more valuable, not less. "AI is terrific at giving answers," he admits. "But a human who displays curiosity to another human leaves one of them feeling more known, seen, understood, and valued. Those bonds can't be built over prompts and AI outputs."
Many leaders default to judgment because it feels faster and more certain. But the cost of skipping curiosity is high. "People armor up and stay defended. Trust is low, and skepticism is high," Ricklefs warns. "The cost is hidden: lost ideas, withheld effort, disconnection, and problems that surface far too late."
Why Care Is a Business Strategy
For skeptical executives, Ricklefs offers proof that compassion pays. He recounts a conversation with a friend who ran a Chick-fil-A franchise, who shared advice from founder Truett Cathy: "Care and commerce can coexist."
Ricklefs sees this as the ultimate business thesis. "Care is a competitive advantage, not a soft skill," he asserts. "It shows up in the types of team members you're able to recruit, how long those team members stay, how invested and committed they are while they are there, and how they delight and serve the clients you want to attract."
The Art of Connection Before Correction
One of the most difficult challenges for leaders is delivering hard truths without damaging morale. Ricklefs argues that the failure usually occurs in the moments *before* the feedback is given. Leaders often skip "connection" because it feels slow or vulnerable.
"Bypassing connection makes the coaching or correction land with more shame, distrust, and embarrassment," he explains. "People don't resist feedback as much as they resist feeling unseen, criticized, or judged first."
The solution can be as simple as asking for permission. A question like, "Are you open to feedback?" instantly changes the power dynamic. "It turns feedback from something done *to* someone into something done *with* them," Ricklefs says. "High performers, especially, crave candid feedback. It's the only way they learn how to grow."
The Spark: Building Culture One Interaction at a Time
Ricklefs rejects the notion that culture change requires a massive, top-down initiative. Instead, he views "every conversation, every meeting, every decision" as a culture-building moment. This removes the excuse of waiting for a new framework or strategy session and places the responsibility squarely on daily behavior.
When asked where a CEO should start, Ricklefs returns to a simple yet striking image: "We all walk into every situation with a box of matches. We can strike the match and cause harm to ourselves or others through criticism, judgment, a harsh tone, a defended ego. Or, with that same match we can give our power source to someone else's match and light theirs through Curiosity, Compassion, Clarity, and Consistency."
In a world where algorithms can analyze data and AI can generate content, Ricklefs is betting that the future belongs to leaders who can do what machines cannot: make people feel valued. "All it takes," he says, "is one spark."