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September, 2005 |
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Three Disasters. Three Leaders. When disaster struck New York, Chicago and New Orleans, how did leadership respond? Just two weeks shy of the fourth anniversary of September 11, our country experienced another epic disaster, Hurricane Katrina. Our political leadership was challenged to respond. The contrast in results will be studied for years by political historians. Here are three cases of disaster leadership. What can we learn?
New York: 9-11-01
Chicago: January, 1979
New Orleans 2005
What leadership lessons can we learn from these three municipal crises? There's the obvious need for improved preparedness: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When challenged, ineffective systems will eventually be exposed. Any grandstander can assess blame after the fact. What else is there?
Leadership, simply stated, is getting results through others. In the end, that is how the skills of these three or any of us will be evaluated. | ||
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Tom Lemanski of Vista Development serves as an executive coach and performance facilitator. Our clients tell us that they have significantly improved their ability to manage, sell, grow and profit. |
Mayor Rudy Giuliani emerged from 9-11 as a leader of epic proportions. He
has become a noted author and speaker on the subject of leadership.
While the 9-11 disaster shined the national spotlight on NYC, Giuliani's
previous achievements were perhaps more impressive than anything he did in the
wake of the tragedy. From my prospective, he personally polished the big apple
in miraculous fashion. His achievements include the quieting of infamous,
incessant horn honking by NYC cabbies. And, he cleaned up a graffiti laden
subway system and maintained the newly established cleanliness. Two municipal miracles! If his health had not
prevented him from running, I don't believe Hillary Clinton would currently be
a New York senator. Mayor Giuliani had accumulated up too much political capital in
his state.
Those
of us who were in Chicago during the 1979 blizzard and the rein of Mayor
Michael Balandic witnessed what slow response to a natural disaster can do to
a political career. The Chicago Democratic machine's successor to
Richard J. Daily was subsequently defeated by Jane Byrne who preyed upon the incumbent's
arrogance and indifference to unplowed streets and closed airports during the crisis. The
blizzard exposed the ineffectiveness of the Democratic Machine's
political patronage system. The defeat of a machine-backed Chicago
mayor was previously unthinkable. Some believe that the blizzard of '78
altered the history of Chicago politics enabling both Mayor Byrne and Harold
Washington to serve in the office. I contend that
Michael Balandic's political problems stemmed as much from arrogance and integrity shortfalls
as the blizzard itself. 
If
there is an American city that is historically more politically corrupt than
Chicago, it might be New Orleans. So whatever Mayor Ray Nagin can
accomplish might also be considered miraculous. To be fair, his task of
restoring normalcy to his city dwarfs the issues faced by either Giuliani or
Balandic. Heavily armed, released prisoners and street gangs that turned the
streets of The Big Easy into Bayou Baghdad, compounded by a natural disaster that cut
lines communication, public utilities and transportation in a poverty-stricken,
welfare state. Mayor Nagin has had to overcome the incompetence of a Federal disaster support team
led by
the disposed legal council for the 