by Donna Rae Scheffert
Once again I exited off the freeway just before driving onto the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis in 2007 (and now is rebuilt). That catastrophe killed 14 people and injured nearly 150 others. The bridge was rebuilt in record time. I used to drive this way all the time to my former job location at the University of Minnesota. Now I came this way because Dr. Ron Heifetz, a visiting professor from Harvard University, is speaking about his current research on “Leadership in a Crisis.”
Heifetz told us that “leadership will require new skills tailored to an environment of urgency, high stakes, and uncertainty.” These are the characteristics of times of crisis.
Good Samaritans that day were probably not thinking about the components of a crisis. They likely experienced it though, as they helped children get out of a school bus that was tipping precariously. Some got into the cold river to pull people from sinking cars. Others called 911. Many stories of risk and compassion accompanied the horror stories of the diaster.
The bridge incident came to my mind while the professor talked since it hit close to home for me. Others can relate to the concept of crisis leadership by thinking about New York City or Washington, D.C. during the 9/11 crisis, Oklahoma City bombings, or something else that they have experienced or witnessed.
I thought more about my own experience with the bridge collapse. Right after the incident my grade school child would ask me as I rushed out the door, “Do you have to drive over any bridges on your way to work today?” And, I did change my route to avoid one long bridge that the newspaper listed as “structurally insufficient.” Waiting in the line of traffic while feeling the bridge shake became very scary to me after the 'other collapse.'
And, although I did not use the bridge on a regular basis, I had crossed it twice the week it collapsed. My co-worker Joyce had a near miss. She left work and realized while sitting in traffic that she had left her purse in her office. She turned around, got the purse, decided to take a ‘faster route’, and crossed the ill fated bridge. Joyce estimates that she got off the bridge just minutes before the collapse.
During the time of the bridge collapse I was one of several consultants teaching a Leadership Academy for managers at the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT bridge department was under scrutiny after the diaster, as was top leadership and employees. It was a defining moment for the agency. While I did not work directly with this incident, my empathy was with the familiar faces providing response and leadership during this tragedy. The Professor's presentation applied more to these type of leaders than the Good Samaritans on the scene.
I learned from Heifetz that during crises times leaders must first respond to the emergency and then focus their energy on the underlying problems that led to it. He identifies five tasks of leadership during the emergency phase: 1) presence – authorities must be present; 2) speak to people’s experience – be in touch with where people are at with pain, fear, and loss of loved ones; 3) poise – people will read you to see if this is a ‘containable’ situation and to find faith in the collective capacity to make it through; 4) drive the prepared organizational responses-use the plan to reduce panic, and 5) improvise – as needed to the extent that is possible in the situation.
After you have stabilized the situation, you enter the adaptive phase. Often issues are a bundle of problems. For example, in the case of the collapsed bridge, some of the factors may be public funding for transportation infrastructure, design specifications, inspection protocols, and prioritization of improvement projects. Sorting amongst the factors, you must set your strategic priorities and work toward them.
In the adaptive phase, Heifetz identifies a two step process. First, tackle the immediate adaptive challenge and then build an adaptive culture by “continually enriching who you are; you are not a museum piece.”
The two phases he outlined reminded me of my daughters dancing - after a performance in the spotlight it is back to several hours a week of grueling training building the fundamentals required for great performance. It is easy to forget the second phase as a parent when you drop the child off with the teacher; it is also easy after a public incident to forget the daily work of public leaders and employees.
One memorable line from the professor was, “If you get so good at the emergency response, people may become complacent and challenges may be ignored, avoided, or only partially fixed.”
I also intend to pay more attention to Heifetz’s parting shot: leaders may get into the habit of comforting people and have to relearn how to discomfort them to adapt to challenges today.
How can and should residents be involved in making changes after an emergency - when the grueling hard work is usually done out of the focus of the public?
For links to an article in the Harvard Business Review and books by Dr. Ronald Heifetz see Blog Links
Photo Credit: Mat_the_W at Flickr
Leadership development expert & educator, Donna Rae Scheffert knows how public action by others for others improves lives - she helps people to get involved and provides tools to propel them toward their goals easier, faster, and with more fun. Read more from Donna Rae at Online-Leadership-Tools and follow Donna Rae on Twitter
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