Author: Harry Kraemer

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?

OK, three quick topics for this week’s blog post:

1) If you’re familiar with my third book, “Your 168,” you may be wondering why the title of this week’s blog post says “Your 169?” Must be a typo, you might be saying to yourself. But no, it is not a typo! Truthfully, I wasn’t sure either of the significance of “169” until my friend and former Baxter colleague, Kay McBrearty, explained to me that since we all (at least most of us here in the US) put the clock back one hour yesterday morning, we all have 169 hours this week! 🤣 I know you will be sure to make good use of all 169 hours! 🤣

2) As I stated in last week’s post, please make sure to vote before or on November 5th (that’s tomorrow). As I mentioned this morning to two of my friends who are military veterans, “thank you for serving our country.” We are blessed with the opportunity to exercise our right to vote. Please make sure you do!

3) If November 5th was not busy enough with the last day to vote, it is also the day my 4th book, “Your Values-Based Legacy” is released. In preparation for the book launch, Northwestern Kellogg published an article this week that summarizes some of the key topics in the book as well as a look at what has inspired me over the years to build my own values-based legacy.

Dear American friends, family members, and colleagues: please vote.

Spoiler alert: while very tempted, I am not going to advocate for one candidate or the other in this year’s elections. That choice is completely up to you as Americans. All I request is one thing: please take the time to utilize the tremendous privilege we have in this country that many countries around the world do not have: the right to vote for whichever candidate we choose.

With all the insanity going on in this election cycle (and I do mean insanity), it is very easy to lose patience, to get upset or to become totally apathetic. Some people cannot believe that in a country of 350 million people we don’t have better choices than we have, and therefore believe it may be better not to vote at all.

I have a very different view. As a student of world history, I like to remind my students and executives in the many talks I give that we are blessed in the United States to be part of the longest continuous Democratic Republic in the history of mankind. I believe we are in the 248th year of this grand experiment.

It is clear we have many issues and challenges to address, but I continue to believe that America is a great country. In spite of our problems, I find it interesting that America continues to be one of the few countries that people are trying to immigrate to (not from).

Whether in my classes at Kellogg or when speaking to companies, organizations, and schools around the world, I’m often asked to explain one of my core principles: self-reflection. As I tell people, this principle is foundational to being a values-based leader because if we don’t know ourselves, we cannot possibly lead ourselves; and if we cannot lead ourselves, how can we lead others?

Now, I’ll take it even a step further. Self-reflection is also the foundation of building a values-based legacy.

A legacy is not a goal or aspiration to be put off for “one day”—after you’ve advanced in your career, after you’ve bought a house or had children, when you have more money, when you retire… A values-based legacy speaks to how you live your life—right here, right now. You strive to make a difference, whether that means supporting a cause or volunteering in your community. Small actions can make a big difference.

The annual One Acre Fund (OAF) gala was held last Thursday evening, and it was a fantastic success!

A few significant highlights:
1) Andrew Youn, the OAF president, provided an update describing that the OAF is now supporting 4 million farm families with the goal of serving 5 million families by 2025, and 10 million families by 2030!
2) Matt Forti, the OAF managing director interviewed our Kellogg Dean, Francesca Cornelli. She provided a great summary of the work that Kellogg students and alumni are doing to make a significant difference in the world, both in the public and private sectors.
3) Last but certainly not least, the contributions from anonymous donors and a fun “paddle raise” enabled the OAF to receive donations for the night in excess of $1 million!!!

Upward and onward!!!👍🤣