Today in the news:
Christine M. Riordan, who holds the Luther Henderson Chair in Leadership at Texas Christian University’s M.J. Neeley School of Business, said that by his own actions and comments, Bush “has not really helped the people recover from this disaster.”
“During a threat, a leader needs to be visible, show compassion and understanding for what others are facing and also show strength,” Riordan said. “It is important for leaders to get into the trenches and listen, empathize, communicate and support those that are affected by the crisis. A lack of visibility and communication from a leader erodes confidence. High visibility and compassion demonstrate interest, concern and caring on the part of the leader during crisis. Confidence and trust are heightened when a leader is present with those that are affected.”
Scrappleface, last week:
Fears increased today among hundreds of thousands of refugees from the hurricane-ravaged gulf coast as they faced a Labor Day weekend with little hope of an eloquent speech from President George Bush.
As today’s New York Times editorial indicated, the president “gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom”.
Instead, the president devoted his first major post-Katrina address to laying out what the federal government is actually doing to help with disaster recovery.
One New Orleans man, currently living in the ‘Plaza End Zone’ section of the Superdome as he awaits news of his missing family members, said, “I can survive for some time with little water, no food and highly unsanitary conditions…but if I don’t hear some poetic words of comfort and stirring verbal imagery from the president pretty soon, I’m a goner.”
Flame away.