As the corona virus swept through the world, media highlighted women heads of government whose leadership saved thousands of lives. I read these articles searching for themes in the behaviors they were lauding. When I found these themes – reliance on science and technology, swift decision-making, calm truth-telling, showing empathy -- they spelled S.M.A.R.T. -- Strategic. Moral. Achievable. Resilient. Transformative. I created the concept of S.M.A.R.T. because experience taught me that the traditional “hard” and “soft” power alternatives to address transnational and human security problems did not work in many cases. I use it now as a prism through which to … [Read more...] about S.M.A.R.T Women Leaders Facing Coronavirus
Crisis Management
Understanding Group Behavior After Disasters
I arrived at my first ambassadorship in Nairobi, Kenya in 1996 with a leadership agenda that included inter agency teamwork and raising community morale. Like all U.S. embassies, our teams changed membership at least once a year. My last article looked at the different phases of group behavior as noted by American psychologist, Bruce Tuckman. I experienced those stages every time we moved in the Foreign Service, as a child and adult. In good times, I was comfortable with them. The Disaster Two years after my arrival in Kenya, at 10:30 on an early August Friday morning, thousands of people in office buildings around the downtown Nairobi railroad station and the … [Read more...] about Understanding Group Behavior After Disasters
5 Tips to Recover from Difficulty: Resilience in Challenging Times
When terrorists detonated the truck bomb in the small parking lot in back of our embassy building in early August, 1998, I was on the top floor of a high rise building next door. The building shook while the teacup on the table rattled. Then stability returned. The resilience of the Cooperative Bank Building saved us. Over the next few months another form of resilience helped me to function – the capacity to recover. Beth Payne, a former colleague and resilience expert, makes five recommendations on resilience. Comments from my personal experience as a survivor and leader follow. HOW TO RECOVER FROM DIFFICULTY #1 Practice Self Care Only I could do that for … [Read more...] about 5 Tips to Recover from Difficulty: Resilience in Challenging Times
When Transformational Leadership Worked
Around 10:35 am on August 7, 1998, al Qaeda operatives detonated a pick-up truck loaded with explosives next to the U.S. embassy building in Nairobi, Kenya. The explosion left over 200 dead and 5,000 injured. Inside the embassy, we suffered 50% casualties, including 46 dead. Kenya had no 911 and it took 36 hours for American rescue workers to arrive. The people who crawled out of the embassy alive organized themselves and went back in as first responders. One team searched morgues and hospitals for missing co-workers. Another picked up the body parts of the dead. A third informed frantic family members of the death or injuries of loved ones. All of us had to … [Read more...] about When Transformational Leadership Worked
Surviving an Attack on Our Community
My heart goes out to communities in our country that are in the process of creating a new normal (for themselves) in the wake of a violent attack. That challenge confronted the Kenyan and American community in 1998 after al Qaeda blew up the U.S. embassy in downtown Nairobi, killing 215 and injuring thousands more. This is some of what I learned: Two skills and one value are essential. The skills are 1) asking powerful questions and 2) listening to the answers. When the hormones cut off and the honeymoon phase ended, life was just plain hard. The only way I knew to work in sync with the community as we moved ahead was to ask questions and pay attention to the … [Read more...] about Surviving an Attack on Our Community