Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
LEADERSHIP TEAMS
5 strategies keep polarization from derailing teams
By Jody Spiro and Lucas Held
Categories: Collaboration, Facilitation, LeadershipDecember 2024
Leadership teams increasingly have to deal with strong opinions on both sides of issues when working within the team and with external stakeholders. This should not be surprising considering historical trends. Since the 1980s, partisan political polarization has become a defining feature of our political system. Today, Democratic and Republican members of the U.S. Congress are further apart ideologically as measured by roll call voting than they have been since measurement began in the 1880s (Lewis, 2023). And at least when it comes to national issues, state and local officials once thought to be insulated from these debates are aligned with their party’s position, even more so than with their constituents’ beliefs (Lee et al., 2023). Debates over policy are often tinged by increasingly negative
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References
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Lee, N., Landgrave, M., & Bansak, K. (2023). Are subnational policymakers’ policy preferences nationalized? Evidence from surveys of township, municipal, county, and state officials. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 48(2), 441-454.
Lewis, J. (2023, October 23). Polarization in Congress, Liberal-conservative partisan polarization by chamber. Voteview.com. voteview.com/articles/party_polarization
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Jody Spiro (jodyspiro50@gmail.com) is a professor and author in education leadership and systems change and a senior advisor to Learning Forward.
Lucas Bernays Held is an independent, strategic communications consultant with more than three decades of experience leading communication teams with measurable results at three non-profits with national reach. A member of the Change Leadership Collaborative, he has led communications teams at The Wallace Foundation, Barnard College of Columbia University and Connecticut College. He holds a certificate in marketing management from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a B.A. from Haverford College.
Categories: Collaboration, Facilitation, Leadership
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