The US presidential election is over…what is our role now?

The 2024 presidential election is now behind us, and the Trump administration will take office in January 2025. Regardless of who you voted for, the majority has spoken. That’s the way a democracy is supposed to work. As my good friend Frank Baird reminded me, “I may not have voted for him, but he’s still my president.”

Since our nation remains highly polarized and deeply divided, there is no shortage of rhetoric about the results of the election. Rather than being drawn into endless dissection of how and why one candidate won and another lost, it’s time to consider far different questions:

Who are we? What do we stand for?

No matter how we voted, these questions should remind us to review our values. Secure in what we believe, we become more open minded toward others who think differently, even when their opinions and perspectives are diametrically opposed to ours. We seek to understand far more than we strive to be understood. (Remember St Francis’ quote).

From this common ground, we move to a third question: What can one person do?

Yes, there are many problems and challenges in our world, and solving them is beyond the capability of any one individual. However, when one person joins with another and then another, a critical mass of people and resources emerge that can, indeed, lead to positive change and make a significant impact.

I think of Andrew Youn, a former Kellogg MBA student who went to Africa with a desire to help farmers grow enough to feed their families and improve their communities. Today, One Acre Fund, which Andrew co-founded, supports more than four million farm families, with a goal of 10 million families by 2030. It seems like a very short time ago when it was only Andrew and a few people trying to make a difference. Without those early efforts, the One Acre Fund would not exist.

We don’t need to start an international NGO. We can help change the world, one community at a time.

Pat Commins, a young man I know in Oregon, saw a post on Instagram from a group of local tattoo artists who were collecting cold-weather supplies for people who are homeless. Wanting to be supportive of what seemed like a worthy cause, Pat went to Walmart where he bought a small tent, a couple of rain ponchos, and two sleeping bags. Then he added hand warmers and wool socks.

While waiting in the checkout line, Pat saw how meager these supplies seemed compared to the enormity of homelessness in his community and across the country. Suddenly, his efforts felt futile.

When dropping off the supplies he’d just purchased, Pat noticed how few goods there were in the collection bin. After he unloaded his donations, though, that bin was filled with gear and clothing. A few days later, Pat noticed another social media post—this time with photos of multiple collection bins around town brimming with cold weather gear and supplies. Here was tangible proof of the multiplier effect, an outpouring of care and concern.

This is the essence of what it means to step up to the challenges we see around us. It’s understanding that we cannot wait for someone else—the infamous “those guys”—to solve the problems. As I tell my students: “We are those guys!”

Each of us can and should do something. Even if we don’t have ample financial resources, we can give our time and talent. There is always something to contribute to others, and no effort is too small or insignificant.

No matter what else is happening, politically at home or geopolitically across the planet, we can turn our attention to the communities in which we live and work. There is need everywhere. Joining with others—no matter how alike or different we may be—we can share in building a values-based legacy for tomorrow.