A new year has a way of inviting clarity. Not the kind that arrives with fireworks or declarations, but the quieter clarity that asks us to reflect before we rush forward. January 1 st  is a threshold; a moment to consider what we carry with us and what we choose to leave behind. As this year begins, recent headlines about the withdrawal of the National Guard from several major U.S. cities serve as a reminder of something leaders at every level eventually learn which is that