In this election, we're reaping what we've sewn

As someone who's spent decades in education and leadership development, I see our current moment with painful clarity: We're reaping what we've sown.

For generations, we've:

📉 Prioritized comfort over courage
💰 Rewarded wealth creation over wisdom
🏆 Celebrated individuals over collectives
🌍 Bred insularity over interconnection

The evidence is stark:

❗ 90% of Trump voters believe he's a "strong leader" while only 7% think he's trustworthy. Let that sink in.
❗ "America First" passes for foreign policy in a world desperate for engagement, not isolation.
❗ We still equate leadership with command and control, not curiosity and compassion.

What we're witnessing isn't just political polarization – it's the predictable outcome of an education system that:

⚠️ Divorces learning from meaning
⚠️ Champions competition over connection
⚠️ Emphasizes U.S. exceptionalism not global citizenship

The winds of fear are strong. Fear of change (though things will never change this slowly again). Fear of the unknown (though the future will always be unknowable). Fear of discomfort (which our devices let us bypass with increasing ease).

We've lost the ability to sit still. To get quiet. To feel our feelings. To find common ground in our shared human experience.

Why would we be surprised that authoritarian promises are gaining force worldwide??

But here's what gives me hope: We've never had a clearer mandate – or opportunity – to reimagine how we prepare the next generation to lead.

We're out of time for tinkering. We need an entirely new operating system for equipping young people lead their lives – and to use their lives to lead.

We face real choices:

❓ Will we distract ourselves to death – or learn to sit with discomfort?
❓ Will we chase simplistic answers – or embrace the wisdom between certainties?
❓ Will we train the rising generation to follow the loudest voice – or find their own?

This moment of breakdown? It can be our breakthrough – if we're brave enough to seize it.