Key points

Cox's leadership style aligns with Harvard leadership professor Marshall Ganz's "Empathetic Bridge" framework.

Cox's response has refrained from blaming others, instead opening a wider discussion about American discourse.

As chair of the National Governors Association, Cox led the "Disagree Better" initiative.

After conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated this month in Utah, the state’s governor, Spencer Cox, delivered a response that ought to be taught in leadership courses for years to come.

“I think we need more moral clarity right now,” Cox said during a powerful press conference two days after the shooting. “We hear all the time ‘words are violence.’ Words are not violence. Violence is violence.”

Kirk’s murder came after plots or attacks in recent year

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