Leadership Quote by Bill Janklow

Janklow’s line lands like the folksy version of a civics lesson: go see what you haven’t seen, and don’t confuse your home horizon with the whole sky. The “mountain” is doing the heavy lifting here. It’s an image that flatters rural common sense (you don’t need a philosophy degree to understand terrain), while quietly warning against the political sin of provincial certainty. “Both sides” is also a subtle rebuke to the reflexive us-versus-them posture that politicians often profit from. He’s selling curiosity as character.

The intent feels paternal, almost gubernatorial: an older hand telling younger South Dakotans that leaving isn’t betrayal, it’s education. Janklow built his brand as a hard-driving, plainspoken executive with a reputation for force and impatience. Coming from that kind of figure, the quote reads as an attempt to widen his own myth: not just the tough local boss, but the realist who knows policies look different depending on where you stand. “In your lifetime” adds a moral deadline. This isn’t “travel if you can”; it’s a charge to earn perspective before it’s too late.

The subtext is political strategy, too. A leader in a sparsely populated state has to argue that national and global awareness can coexist with local loyalty. The mountain becomes South Dakota itself: you can love it deeply, but you don’t get to pretend it’s the only side that matters.