Day 43: Finding the will to change takes more than “willpower.”The fight for the top leadership role in Congress between two women politicians: Representative Nancy Pelosi and Representative-Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez goes deeper than media headlines. The media loves a good fight. This fight is different. 

This fight between two strong women leaders is about accelerating the SPEED of change, changing the entire culture of Congress, and getting it right, so that our elected leaders can break through the current gridlock in Congress and make government REAL again for people. 

To change how government WORKS, we need to change how government LOOKS.

Along with the 100 new women leaders entering Congress in 2019 imagine if the Democrats were to chose a new co-leadership team that would reflect both the diversity of America and our shared common values. That co-leadership team?  Pelosi AND Ocasio-Cortez.

Co-Leadership of the House of Representatives by two strong women would pair the power and experience of an incumbent with vision and purpose of a high-energy newcomer.

For example, Nancy Pelosi’s 31 years in Congress, representing San Francisco, California’s 12th District, might represent “the stable center” where change happens incrementally, over time, through diplomacy and concessions on both sides of the aisle.

Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, from New York’s 14 Congressional District is an educator and a fighter. Her cause is to make government REAL for people. She wants to remove the mystique of “being an incumbent,” cut through the “red tape of government,” and help people see themselves stepping into leadership roles.

It would require setting up a structural framework that recognizes the complexity and volatility of modern times. The new framework might require that co-leaders and policy-making teams represent a set of dynamic, opposite, yet complementary points of view.

Finding the will to change requires that “We the People” see ourselves stepping into leadership roles and then take the next step: ACTION! To become a leader requires that you set up daily habits that keep you focused on achieving your goal. 

Put simply, a leader is a person with followers. When people who chose leadership as a career path gain the courage and confidence to lead, then the real power of democracy, “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” will be restored.

Alexia Parks is CEO of 10TRAITS.com 10TRAITS Institute offers 1-Minute conflict resolution tools, research, and trait-based training programs for improved decision-making and organizational success. This blog is Day 43 of a series called Countdown: A 50-Day Personal Leadership Challenge.