By Dr. Paul Pierpoint, Dean, Community Education

Deploring the lack of leadership in the hours and days following Katrina, Parker shows the stark contrast between the powerful and effective response of public leaders following the terrorist attacks and the pathetic performances in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. While Mayor Giuliani of New York rose to the occasion in the days following the attacks of September 11, 2001 , Parker bemoans “there was no such rush to competence this time around…”

The people of New Orleans and thousands of others devastated by the storm were poorly served by their public leaders – and so were the American people. We expect competence from our leaders. We expect effective response to crises. And maybe most importantly, we expect empathy – we expect our public officials to understand the challenges everyday people are facing and to humanize the experience, to make it less painful, more understandable.

We have written a lot in Performance News about the power of leadership in shaping an organization. We have profiled examples of great leadership right here in the Lehigh Valley . Leaders don't make excuses. They don't hide behind bureaucracy. They don't trivialize the suffering people endure in times of crisis. They inspire, give hope, show strength, and they make things happen.

They understand that everyone else in an organization is constrained to one extent or another by the rules of the bureaucracy. Only they are in a position to break loose from policies and procedures manuals and move the organization to its highest purpose. That did not happen in New Orleans . Not at the city level. Not at the state level. And not at the national level.

Parker is indeed right, “The man at the top of the food chain does not have to play by bureaucracy's rule.” In fact, there are times when they must not. Katrina was one of those times.

* Kathleen Parker, “Shock, awe,” September 7, 2005 Copyright (c) 2005, Orlando Sentinel

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