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. And Kirk’s murder has only inflamed political tensions in America that were already dangerously overheated. That’s why it’s crucial to highlight how Cox, a moderate Republican, chose to exercise empathetic, unifying leadership. The Empathetic Bridge has four components: Acknowledge challenge, express empathy, narrate hope, and enable choice.