Turn the Page
Lessons from the American Presidential Election
“Life is like a book. Some chapters are sad, some are happy, and some are exciting. But if you never turn the page, you will never know what the next chapter holds.”
?- Izuudon
Last week, we conducted and completed the quadrennial American Presidential election.
As a result of any election, people are now left elated or dejected. A slightly larger than majority group now has the candidate they voted for as the President-Elect.
The other group, nearly half of the US voting population, their candidate lost.
This is not a new occurrence. It happens at every election.
But it sure feels and seems like this time is different.
From the news media to social media and coffee shop waiting line conversations, the stakes for this election were higher than those for previous elections.
Maybe because one candidate was a combination of racial and gender minorities that collectively had never reached the final stage of the election as Kamala Harris did.
Another large factor was that a former President ran again for office after being beaten in the previous election.
Turn the Page
In her concession speech, VP Harris uttered the words many other lawmakers and pundits had shared—words I found myself elated to speak: It's time to Turn the Page.
Maybe you prefer the Metallica version, like I do, or the original by Bob Seger. Either way, the lyrics are the same, and on a lonely, lonely highway east of Omaha, the page is turning.
Trust me, this is not a track to convince you of anything political.
Like every other one I share, this newsletter centers on my experiences and how to apply leadership lessons to every facet of our lives.
We can want the page we have been on to continue. I could very well have wished and desired that the days before my brother died would extend much longer and farther into the future, but they didn't.
At the same time, there have been tumultuous times when I eagerly desired to turn the page, shoot, and skip chapters of my life to get to better days.
We can't get stuck on a page trying to create a narrative, adding words between the lines to change the story to our preference.
In the same way, we must communicate and lead.
Earlier this week, in my IDL Roundtable sessions, we discussed how leaders fall short during times of change when they don't communicate and allow others to fill the narrative void.
I have seen this happen so often and severely that it never surprises me, and I can almost predict the fallout.
A round of corporate cutbacks and layoffs without the leader owning the measure equals reduced performance, more requested time off, lower employee engagement, and increased turnover.
Vision
The Impact Driven Leader framework has three components: Awaken - Grow - Lead.
In the third triumvirate, Vision is the keystone to leading. Only with a clear and expressed vision can a leader encourage others to go with them to achieve a mission.
We tell our kids to avoid getting into a car you don't know where it's headed. This only leads to disaster and bitter consequences.
The same is true in other places of life; people won’t join you in the quest if you can’t clearly articulate what life will be like at the end of the book.
Everyone who leads someone, including yourself, is now in a place to curate and articulate a vision of what life is to come.
Will you read this page and turn to the next, or will you keep underlining and highlighting the page we have been on in hopes that the story stays that way?