Colorado Politics presents eight contributed essays offering guidance to Colorado’s next chief executive from some of the state’s best political minds. CLICK HERE for more.

Congratulations, Congressman Polis and Secretary Stapleton, on winning the nomination of your party for governor of the state of Colorado.

The most important elected officials in America work in a capitol like the one on Colfax Avenue.

I know that from personal experience. After working in senior-level positions at all three levels of government for more than 25 years, I know that governors and state legislatures make decisions and take actions – or engage in inaction – that can solely determine the direction of the entire state, regardless of what actions are being taken by the federal government or local governments.

That critical role of governor will be filled by one of you in January. Upon the conclusion of your oath, you will be one of the 50 most powerful people in the country. With that power comes a heavy responsibility but also a tremendous opportunity. Yes, an opportunity to not only further your policy agenda, but also an opportunity to unite your state and become a national example of how to govern in a transformative and unifying way.

As you have seen as you have traveled the state, our politics is broken, and the state is terribly divided – a dangerous division that will limit your success and influence, which not even your title as “governor” can overcome.

Position and title do not necessarily equal power. If it did, Pharaoh would have not succumbed to Moses; the bus driver would have tried to control and move Rosa Parks, and Sheriff Bull Connor would have locked Martin Luther King, Jr. away forever in the Birmingham city jail. Your power, like the power of those historic figures, will come from a unifying purpose, not your position.

Therefore, the driving underlying purpose in your first term should be seeking opportunities to unite the state; that does not mean you have to forgo your principles or abandon policies and lose the trust of the Coloradans who voted for you. How do you remain authentic and unite the state? The key is to build a healthy and productive relationship with the legislature.

The governor needs to trust the legislature, and vice versa. A fractured relationship with the second floor, regardless of which party controls the legislature, will play into every stereotype the public believes about public servants and our inability to see above or beyond our personal interests and political ambition and continue to erode and deepen distrust and partisanship.

But you cannot trust who you do not know.

The first thing you should do as governor-elect is to invite the leadership of the other party, as soon as leadership elections conclude, to a gathering and discuss everything but politics. Get to know these leaders on a personal level because they are your partners for the next two years. In his famous speech on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, President Barack Obama said the most important word in our democracy: “we.” You have to develop a “we” mentality between the first and second floors.

Then, a week later, do the same thing with the entire caucus – and, before the session even starts, do the exact same with your own caucus. One of my favorite things to do as a legislator, especially as president of the Senate, was to sit on the “other” side and talk to my colleagues about everything except what was happening on the floor in front of us. These chats helped me see that my colleagues were not the enemy but individuals who happened to serve in the Senate with me, ones with whom I could find common ground. This helped me obtain a sense of “we.”

Once these relationships are firm, you can collaborate, through trust and purpose, to find solutions to the issues facing the state – Colorado public schools were transformed by a group of Democrats and Republicans who had a deep abiding relationship with each other that allowed us to trust one another to find common ground on how to empower parents and give students a variety of public school options. Colorado is now a national leader on education reform, but, more importantly, Colorado’s students are better off because of the power created by our relationships, not our titles.

Forming those relationships will be the most difficult task during your time as governor; the current political winds will be blowing you in a more divisive direction, and it will be uncomfortable to push back. But leadership should be uncomfortable. It will take courage and humility to listen and hear, embrace other ideas, and adjust your thinking. If you can stand against the gale-force winds of partisanship, and if you can stand the discomfort, you will be outstanding. The Danish designer Alrik Koudenburg said, “To be outstanding, get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

For the next four years, the people of Colorado need you to be very uncomfortable.