Leading Through Polarization II: Accentuate the Positive
E-lim-inate the negative...plus a 24-25 TOOS update
Welcome, new subscribers! It’s great to see you here! Many new folks have joined us here after the Parent Communication in a Time of Polarization webinar offered by Blackbaud this past week. Take a look around and I hope you find some helpful insights as you start the new school year.
Leading in a Time of Polarization II: Accentuate the Positive
One of the most read TOOS articles this summer was Leading in a Time of Polarization, published in July.
I’ve done some workshops since then. And a few other things in the landscape have changed and I have (surprise, surprise) a few more thoughts.
As opposed to a month ago, I for one am feeling better because the ambiguity in our environment has lessened, at least in regards to presidential politics. It’s much better to have things be clear, even if you are not thrilled with what you see; at least you have some sense of what you’re dealing with.
The other things I have found interesting is that I have noticed some attitudinal shifts. I had a great interaction with a participant in a workshop recently who pretty passionately made the case for standing up for the values in our schools we believe in rather than giving in to a parent demand we’re not entirely comfortable with or avoiding conflict by not engaging at all - and having a sense that connection was, indeed, possible if we started with empathy. What struck me was the energy behind the argument - it didn’t have the “braced for impact” fearful quality that so often surfaces in these conversations.
Overall, I’ve sensed a bit less exhaustion and a bit more energy to engage. This is a small sample size and I admit I’m working on vibes here, but I have also had a number of people (in the “outside of this work” world) who expressed just being tired of negativity.
It is unavoidable that for anyone in schools during the 2016 election to not have trepidation. This experience left a mark. The atmosphere and the downstream effects were unlike anything we’d ever dealt with before. I hear this over and over again as people think about this fall and I understand it, believe me.
But then I was also thinking about how we prepared for the 2020 election and we created a bunch of opportunities and structures no one took advantage of, in large part because we were all preoccupied with navigating COVID. And now 2016 is now eight years ago, which seems like forever. I barely knew what Snapchat was in 2016. Taylor Swift was merely very popular rather than a generation-defining pop culture monolith you can’t escape. And I never, ever thought about wearing a mask in public when I had a cold.
So I have two additional thoughts to share and I think both are on the side of optimism.
All Politics Are Local
This is a quote from the late, great Cambridge, Massachusetts native Tip O’Neill, an old fashioned politician who was Speaker of the House for ten years, 1977-87. And what he meant was that all people really care about are the conditions and situations in their immediate environment. My colleague and friend Lauren Castagnola said to me recently, “the biggest piece of advice I’d give to communications directors right now is to spend time really understanding where your constituents are at.”