Sometimes leadership alone is not enough. It also takes a network, and the networking skills to activate it to make a difference. That became tragically clear with Hurricane Katrina. Under the circumstances, Winston Churchill himself — arguably one of the best known leaders in the world — would have been hard-pressed to lessen the consequences of the disaster visited on the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. Three weeks later, the Mayor of New Orleans was sparring on television with Admiral Tad Allen, the new FEMA director; the system wasn’t working as it should.
What was painfully clear with this disaster was that it takes more than leadership alone to add value in situations that call for co-ordinated efforts. Skills to bridge outside our our narrow spheres of activity, skills to connect, are vital too...it was classic "silo syndrome" at work, an all-too-common phenomenon in a disengaged society....
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Darcy Rezac, CD is managing director and chief engagement officer of The Vancouver Board of Trade, Chief Executive of The Rix Center for Corporate Citizenship, speaker and author of Work the Pond! (Prentice Hall, 05). Co-authors and speakers, Gayle Hallgren-Rezac and Judy Thomson CA, (Prentice Hall Press USA, 2005). Darcy can be contacted at boardoftrade.com, Gayle and Judy at workthepond.com. The first version of this article was published in Sounding Board, Oct 2007
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