Come What May, We Will Find a Way

The day before the presidential election, perhaps the only thing both sides agree on is that the good in the world as we know it could vanish if the other side wins tomorrow night. The stakes may feel even higher for school administrators who have bonds and levies on the ballot. If you’re one such leader, it’s understandable to feel nervous. But this is the week to draw on the leader within each of us and find reassurance that, come what may, we will be alright—we will find a way.

Modern marketing, desperate to capture our fragmented attention, has bred sensationalism, which news organizations and political campaigns have adopted and amplified. In the coming days, political strategists and the media will be working overtime to stoke anxieties. Sadly, that’s their business model. This is an opportunity for district leaders to do what they did so spectacularly well when hopelessness enveloped the world in the form of a pandemic in 2020: reassure our communities that we will be alright.

It’s history, not rose-colored glasses, that leads me to this conclusion. Historian Jon Meacham, in The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, reflects on moments in history when America faced high-stakes crises and concludes that despite deep fears and division, America has an enduring capacity to find its “better angels” and move forward. Meacham is hardly alone. Jill Lepore, writing on the Great Recession of 2008; Steven Hayward on the political upheavals from 1960 to 1980; Rick Perlstein on the Nixon era; David Kennedy’s analysis of the Great Depression; and Doris Kearns Goodwin in Team of Rivals—all conclude that steadfast and principled leadership ultimately prevails.

Thank you, K12 leaders, for reassuring our communities that we will be alright. And if your capital project suffers a setback at the ballot box, talk to someone who’s turned things around after a temporary failure. If you don’t know anyone, drop me an email or fill out this form, and I’ll help make a connection.