By Ruban Roberts
You can feel it everywhere. People are afraid. Some are willing to see others lose their rights if it means protecting their own sense of safety. Others are afraid that we may never find our way back from the edge we’ve reached. In a time when government offices are closed, jobs are being cut and even public servants are under threat, conversations that used to bring people together now turn tense or go silent.
Families, coworkers and neighbors are dug into their positions, certain that their view of the world is the only one that’s real. What used to be dialogue has turned into a contest of certainties, causing a fracture that’s widening by the day. More and more, people hold on to being right instead of finding a way forward.
What’s happening now is different. Disagreement has turned into something harder and colder, as if anyone who thinks differently is the enemy.
We’ve started seeing neighbors as threats instead of people, and community is disappearing. We’re no longer in this together. We’re barely in the same room. Leadership has to model something different. Not through slogans, but through example. By showing that people matter more than positions. It raises a question every leader should ask: would you rather be right, or be together?
That kind of leadership steadies people when uncertainty reigns. It restores balance and direction. It reminds people that progress is still possible. This work starts with listening, with paying attention to what people really mean when they speak. When people feel heard, they lower their guard. The tension eases. They can think about solutions instead of defending positions. A leader who listens gives others permission to do the same.
Leadership also heals through presence and accountability. It takes courage to name what isn’t working and admit where we’ve fallen short. People aren’t looking for perfection. They’re looking for honesty. When they trust the person delivering hard truths, they can face them. Accountability shows that trust still has a place in public life.
Admitting what went wrong or what needs work isn’t weakness. It’s how credibility grows. Leaders earn trust when their words and actions line up. Staying engaged matters, even when agreement feels distant. The willingness to remain in difficult conversations gives others reason to stay as well. I’ve watched communities recover because someone refused to walk away. Progress often begins with that choice, to keep talking when it would be easier to leave.
The work of leadership is, at its core, the work of helping people find their way back to one another. It happens in meetings, classrooms, neighborhoods and council rooms. It happens anywhere someone chooses to listen, tell the truth and stay present.
It comes through consistent actions that remind people they still share something larger than their differences. In business, government and communities, when leaders choose this path, people remember that community isn’t built on unilateral agreement. It’s built on respect and on the belief that progress is still worth the work.
Ruban Roberts is the founder and CEO of RER Consulting and Amplify Community Resources.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article312547825.html