The American midterm results raise a question that reaches well beyond the United States: Can people see a credible path to a better future?

Early voter polling points to widespread economic anxiety and frustration with the direction of the country. Affordability matters immediately. So does confidence that effort, education, and work can lead somewhere.

This is where the central message of The Missing Bridge becomes especially relevant. We ask people to prepare for their futures. Yet too often, we leave them to connect schooling, employment, and adult life with uneven guidance, limited experience, and little continuity of support.

Career agency grows when people have opportunities to discover their strengths, explore possibilities, build relationships, try things, and take informed next steps. It requires both personal capability and institutions that open doors.

The mid-term election was not a referendum on career development. But the dissatisfaction it revealed should sharpen our attention to economic security, dignity, belonging, and opportunity. Career development cannot solve every affordability problem. It can help make the promise of opportunity more tangible, and give more people a meaningful stake in their country’s future. That requires sustained cooperation among schools, employers, governments, families, and communities.

Hope becomes credible when people can see a path forward and count on support along the way. That is why career development is nation building.

AI Acknowledgement: I conceived and wrote this post, with creative and editorial assistance from my partner, ChatGPT.