My political sins, if you will, have been on full display for decades. Through the pages of my career’s open book, I have been anything but transcendent – although not for a lack of trying. By the time I arrived in Utah 18 years ago, I was determined to lead differently. In time, I created the Transcend Series at Sutherland Institute to help elected officials and community leaders overcome politics as usual. I often reached across the philosophical aisle in an attempt to raise civil dialogue.
But, in many glaring respects, I failed. I own it. The fault is mine. I often failed to be my better self even as I was asking others to do the same. I am a public witness that there is no other factor — no cause, no idea, no master, no amount of money — that can justify not being your better self in caring for and governing a state or a nation.
