It means having a plan the public can understand and accept. Good leaders capitalize on a 'God-given window of opportunity', which involves more than mere happenstance. Opportunity is cultivated. By understanding the underlying causes of the problems that plague your world, you can create an opportunity for conservative public policy solutions. Conservative Virginia leaders laid out a plan that would eventually become a centerpiece of Governor Allen's administration's achievements Finally, timing is everything.
Good leaders know there is a time to learn and plan, and a time to lead.
When the opportunity is presented, jump on it with both feet. Our major state requirement for graduation from high school was passage of a sixth grade test called the Literacy Passport Test. Virginia law says that every year the State Board of Education must report to the state how the schools are doing. The Board is empowered to approve criteria for determining educational performance and student outcome measures in our government schools. But before school performance criteria could be developed, clear measurable Standards of Learning had to be developed.