You're It Read online

  Fulfilling your potential as a leader requires a keen awareness and understanding of how your personal experiences—your decisions, stumbles, and triumphs—got you to where you are now. Each prepares you for the moment when “you’re it.”

  Meta-Leadership

  The theme of this book—and what we hope you’ll achieve—is meta-leadership. This framework and practice method we developed is key to your expedition. You will learn to look at problems, opportunities, and solutions from a “meta-” perspective.

  The overarching prefix “meta-” encourages you to seek a bigger picture. You perceive beyond the obvious toward an understanding for how multiple connected factors act and interact with one another. With that, you begin to grasp the complexity of what is going on and you take action. A lot is happening and it demands your attention.

  Meta-leadership consists of three dimensions for shaping this holistic view of your leadership:

  1. The person—you the leader

  2. The situation in which you lead

  3. Connectivity in the network of stakeholders you lead

  You will learn to use the three dimensions to define the complexities, relationships, and interdependencies that determine your success or failure, and that of the others on your team. The practice method incorporates strategic concepts and practical tools for engaging these stakeholders. Once you master it, you’ll work on exercising your leadership effectively throughout your expanding network of influence. Meta-leadership is a force multiplier for all that you and others hope to accomplish together.

  The “you” in “you’re it” deliberately has a double meaning. On the one hand, “you” is singular, a reference to one person, as in “you are the leader.” Singular “you” highlights your personal leadership responsibility, accountability, and opportunity. It points to your development, experiences, and learning. The meta-leader is personally willing to assume the challenge of thinking and acting broadly. You are intentional about leading with both depth of understanding and breadth of perspective.

  On the other hand, “you” is also plural, referencing the many other people with whom you lead—as in, you all share a problem, opportunity, or challenge in which you choose to engage. Together, “you’re it.” Your meta-leadership manifests in convening people to work collectively on a matter of shared purpose. Plural “you” also refers to being part of following, leveraging, or contributing to others who share complementary objectives. Rallying and engaging people to that meta-purpose emerges from your relationships, mission, and accomplishments and from the trust you build.

  In this way, “you’re it” is a mutual endeavor to do more than you could do by yourself or as separate entities working in isolation (often called organizational silos). The practice of meta-leadership is about forming the plural “you” to achieve the objective. Not everyone grasps the benefit. The meta-leader understands what motivates these many stakeholders and aligns those motives to shape the common you.

  This premise shapes our definition of leadership: People follow you. And when circumstances require the opposite, the phrase can be reversed: You follow people.

  Astute meta-leaders grasp this double meaning, which defines and animates both the personal “me” and the collective “we.” Your meta-mind-set is one of personal responsibility combined with the strength and advantages of leveraging a wider crowd.

  The meta-leadership framework and method grew out of our observations and research conducted with leaders during times of crisis and change, as well as from our own experience leading in routine, day-to-day situations. As a physician, Barry Dorn led the response to life-and-death events and made decisions as a hospital executive. Joe Henderson, following the 9/11 attacks, was a key national leader of CDC bioterrorism preparedness efforts and was later instrumental in reorganizing CDC operations. Eric McNulty and Lenny Marcus have studied numerous US and international crises and change situations. Together we integrate practice realities and academic perspectives into a tool box designed to advance your meta-leadership development.

  Through our research, we were given the rare opportunity to accompany leaders—or catch up with them as quickly as possible—as they faced momentous disasters and maneuvered to cope with them. Some leaders rose to the challenge. We learned a great deal from them, and what you read here is a compilation of those insights. We also learned a great deal from leaders who stumbled. From the outset, we never judged an individual as a “good” or “bad” leader. Effectiveness is often circumstance-contingent. Instead, we identified the pitfalls along with the opportunities that leaders and others can expect to face in the midst of a crisis or significant change.

  Our work is based at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI), a joint program of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Center for Public Leadership. The NPLI was established shortly after the 9/11 attacks. The federal government asked Harvard University to invest intellectual resources and research in studying and teaching leaders in crisis. Lenny Marcus and David Gergen of the Kennedy School were the founding codirectors. The mandate was to “join the country on the steep learning curve of preparedness and response leadership.” Hence, the case illustrations you find here stem from our work in “joining” leaders in the midst of crises.

  Our work began with an after-the-fact study and analysis of the 9/11 attacks. Early field research also included on-site observation of the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We later watched our students put the meta-leadership lessons learned into action. Alumni from our NPLI executive crisis leadership program were schooled in meta-leadership and led the CDC response to the first stages of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic in the United States, as well as the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Super Storm Sandy in 2012, the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, the domestic response to the outbreak of Ebola virus cases in the United States in 2014, the transformation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in 2016, and the series of devastating hurricanes in 2017. We also observed and interviewed students in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors on their use of meta-leadership in response to more localized crises or predicaments. These were crucible moments for the organizations and communities affected, and certainly crucible moments for the careers of these leaders.

  This research took us from practice to theory, not the other way around. We studied the disaster preparation and crisis response actions of leaders in high-stakes, high-pressure situations, as well as during the normal give-and-take of organizational and interpersonal problem-solving. The circumstances through which they led and their openness to our analysis allowed us to observe and assess both their thinking and their actions. From those investigations, we formulated the three dimensions of meta-leadership that can improve the performance of leaders. These dimensions are not a simple checklist or set of characteristics. They are pathways to knowing yourself, the context in which you lead, and the full range of assets, resources, and relationships necessary to succeed.

  From Everyday Leadership to Leadership During Change and Crisis

  Although meta-leadership was developed through the lens of crisis leadership, its value extends to everyday routine and transformational situations as well. Like Olympic athletes, meta-leaders do not begin their practice and performance on game day. For you, this book is a guide to both the ordinary and the extraordinary.

  There is another distinction between meta-leadership and other approaches to leadership. We begin with the belief that no two meta-leaders are identical. Some are introverted, some extroverted. Some are left-brain-dominant, others right-brain-dominant. Whether you work in an entrepreneurial start-up or an established organization, the three dimensions help you fully inhabit yourself as the leader you are truly capable of becoming. We don’t believe there’s such a thing as a “born leader.” Rather, we find that certain personal characteristics can be cultivated and leveraged to enhance your ca
pacities. The most important—and perhaps the most obvious—is your willingness to lead. Combining that with development of your own expansive meta-leadership outlook, you will grow to understand how you—not some mythical perfect leader—can act quickly, confidently, and with maximum effectiveness.

  The author and systems theorist R. Buckminster Fuller once asked, “If the success or failure of this planet, and of human beings, depended on how I am and what I do, how would I be? What would I do?” Although you might not cast your endeavors in such grand terms, ask yourself a parallel question: When everything is on the line, how will I be? What will I do? The three dimensions of meta-leadership are a guide to answering these questions in terms distinctly suited to you and the many tests you face as a leader.

  To be sure, there are those who, acting in isolation and with detached authority, believe themselves to be “leaders.” These individuals believe that the formal authority of a lofty title or position confers the mantle of leadership. They order and they command, viewing their work in transactional, self-serving terms. They expect the world to conform to their expectations. They employ boasting, fantasy, and self-promotion to reaffirm their perceived position. They lie and lack integrity. These people aren’t leaders—they’re autocrats. We’ve met and worked with such persons, and no doubt you too have your own book of experiences with the type.

  There are others who genuinely perceive, engage, connect, and generate influence far beyond their span of formal authority. They earn the designation of “leader” from their followers. They are authentic. They know and understand themselves and help others do the same. They perceive themselves as part of a larger system. They think deeply. They practice leadership expansively. They grasp a puzzle, shape a strategy, and courageously guide others on a path barely seen.

  It is these remarkably captivating people we call meta-leaders. You will encounter them throughout this book. You too can choose to be one.

  Becoming a Meta-Leader

  We, your authors, have woven our perspectives and experiences into the concepts, tools, and stories in this book. The real author of your leadership experience, however, is you. Experience the book. Don’t simply read it. If you passively peruse these pages without actively integrating what you learn into your mind-set and practices, you will not derive the full benefit of the time and effort you invest.

  Leadership is active, not passive. So too is the process of expanding your leadership capacities and capabilities. We suggest that you keep a journal—a record of your thoughts, experiences, victories, and challenges. It will be a powerful exercise in reflection and revelation as you explore what meta-leadership means to you. We get incredibly positive feedback from our students once they try it. When you keep a journal, you reflect on yourself in ways that are both surprising and reaffirming. You take responsibility. This is part of what “you’re it” means.

  Your journal doesn’t need to be a fancy leather-bound volume, and your entries don’t have to go on for pages. You may only jot down a few bullet points at a time. The aim is to learn more about yourself by taking a moment in time to document your experiences as a person and as a meta-leader.

  To help, we provide you open-ended questions at the end of each chapter to launch and inspire your thinking. Ideally, you will ask yourself throughout the reading: What am I learning about myself? What am I missing that hinders my ability to accurately assess what is happening around me? How can I learn best from the mistakes I’ve made? These are tough questions, and many leaders avoid them because they are embarrassing and sometimes painful.

  The journal is just for you. It is a gift you give yourself. If our questions don’t motivate you, ask yourself different ones. There are no right or wrong questions. Make this book your own, a guide and a challenge to develop knowledge and ways of being a meta-leader when it matters most.

  ONE

  102 HOURS IN CRISIS

  The Boston Marathon Bombings Response

  Monday, April 15, 2013, 2:49 p.m., Boston, Massachusetts. It is a mild, sunny day—perfect for running a marathon. The elite runners finished the course a couple of hours earlier. Now the rest of the runners are making their way down Boylston Street to the finish line in front of the Boston Public Library. The flags of every nation with a participating runner flutter above the cheering crowd.

  Suddenly, there’s a flash and a deafening sound: as a bomb detonates in front of a running store across from the library. The explosion reverberates through the city’s historic Back Bay neighborhood. People scream. Others, shocked and confused, are silent. Smoke billows into the air. Fourteen seconds later, a second bomb blast, one block west. Windows shatter. Shrapnel flies. The injured fall to the ground. Everyone realizes that something is horribly wrong. The crowd panics. First responders leap into action.

  On Friday, April 19, at 8:42 p.m.—102 hours later—the second of two suspects in the bombings is captured in suburban Watertown, nine miles west of Boylston Street. After an exhaustive manhunt, the terrifying story comes to an end.

  In between, 102 hours of grief, grit, heroism, and resilience have passed—102 hours that tested leaders and their followers.

  The bombs on Marathon Monday instantly killed three people and injured 264, many with life-threatening wounds. Survivors were dispatched to waiting trauma centers for urgent care. On Tuesday and Wednesday, hospitals treated the wounded, an investigation began, and Boston remained in shock. On Thursday, April 18, law enforcement officials released grainy photos of the suspects, their faces obscured by the brims of their baseball hats. Hours later, the two launched a crime spree, murdering an MIT police officer.

  The attacks were the work of two brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Early Friday, Tamerlan died during a wild shoot-out with police officers in Watertown in which another police officer was grievously wounded. Dzhokhar vanished into the night.

  The next day a voluntary shelter-in-place directive was issued for the metropolitan area. Boston was a ghost town populated only by law enforcement officers. The exception to the quiet was Watertown, where heavily armed officers worked door-to-door, looking for the younger Tsarnaev. After a daylong manhunt, he was apprehended huddled in a boat stored in the owner’s backyard.

  There was great tragedy that week. For those who lost loved ones and for those injured, the pain endures.

  Leadership Lessons

  We studied the leaders of the response to the Boston Marathon bombings, a number of whom were either graduates of the NPLI executive crisis leadership program at Harvard or had participated in meta-leadership seminars we offered locally. These people were eager to share what happened, what they did, how they applied meta-leadership lessons, and what they learned from their experiences. Our research uncovered valuable lessons that can be applied to both crisis and routine conditions. Our interviewees included law enforcement and emergency response officials, political leaders, businesspeople, and citizens—in other words, those who shaped those turbulent hours. We sought to understand what happened in the response, why it happened, and what impact it had. Our work was exploration. From the outset, we were not sure what we would find.

  There were stories of remarkable leadership and courage. Amid the tragedy, there were successes. Despite staggering injuries, all who survived the initial bomb blasts lived, a remarkable achievement resulting from diligent planning and practice by medical responders, care providers, and their leaders. The suspects were captured in 102 hours, ending an ordeal that gripped the city. And Boston was resilient. “Boston Strong”—the slogan that rang through the city and beyond—meant something. That strength was modeled by astute leaders in their behavior and in their interactions. They methodically worked together, exemplifying the principles and practices of meta-leadership. The decisions and actions of these leaders together rallied a city reeling from shock and eager to help.

  We opened all our interviews at the same place: the minutes just before the attacks. “It’s 2:45 p.m. on Monday, April 15. Where
are you and what are you doing?” we asked. And then, “What happened next?”

  The responses portrayed an extraordinary series of triumphs. These people had intentionally prepared themselves to lead. What they achieved was by no means an accident. For years, major public events in Boston—Independence Day, New Year’s festivities, championship celebrations, and the Marathon itself—had served as practice drills to test system strengths and weaknesses. What if calamity struck? How well would the many different responding organizations and their people work together? These exercises had given leaders the chance to build relationships as they pondered the dire circumstances they might face together. The deliberate exercises readied them to lead.

  Their collective experience translated into a sense of leadership confidence. We heard over and over that, with the initial news of the bombings, there was a quick moment of shock. Then, in an instant, their training and preparation rang reassuringly in their minds: I can do this. As they moved into action, their faith in others and the system resonated as well: We can do this. And they got to work.

  Exemplary meta-leadership practices were evident during the event, providing us with important real-world examples and lessons. While you likely will not guide the response to a terrorist attack, these lessons apply to coordinating the high-stakes work of many different people and organizations when both the process and outcome of your combined work is unknowable. The response we observed in the extreme circumstances of the Boston Marathon bombings can inform day-to-day leadership scenarios as well. We found consistent principles and practices that you can harness to increase the collective success of the endeavors you lead. We share and explore these findings in later chapters of the book.