Rebuilding Leadership: A Lesson in the Aftermath of 9/11

“He has tried to find the right balance between remembering and rebuilding," says one NYC official about the current mayor, Michael Bloomberg. There may be no better model for anyone trying to lead people out of a difficult past into a new kind of future. And, according to a story in the New York Times today, he has taken his share of hits for it. That is partly, anyway, what leadership is about.

Many of the family members, friends, and co-workers of those who died on September 11, 2001 have dug their heels in about the need to keep remembering and, even, reliving the events of that horrible day. On the anniversary each year, for example, they have insisted on standing right on the site where their loved ones died. A four hour long ceremony includes the annual reading of all the names of those who perished. Mayor Bloomberg has done his best to honor these requests but has been steadily laying the groundwork for something new. This year, because "Ground Zero" is a construction site, the ceremony will be held in a park across the street. When asked about the fact that, for the first time, TV stations will likely not air the entire four hour event, Bloomberg announced that "change" is needed...in order to keep the day meaningful and relevant.

Most importantly, from the beginning of his term in 2002, Bloomberg has tried to keep the focus on the future by addressing practical issues like the need for increased security in the city, and getting SOMETHING...ANYTHING...built at the site of that black hole in Lower Manhattan that had been threatening to swallow up the city's spirit for good, and beefing up the city's shaken economy which took a hit as potentially deadly as the ones that felled the towers.

He showed sensitivity to those who were still grieving but, for the sake of the city, he kept them all moving forward.

Very few of us will ever have to deal with such a catastrophe in the organization we are called to lead. But many of us will find ourselves in this hard, in-between place that calls for sensitivity to those who grieve, on the one hand, and a fierce determination to embrace a new future on the other.

Today, on the 6th anniversary of September 11, Rudolph Giuliani is running for his Party's nomination for President of the United States largely on his reputation as a leader because of how he responded in the midst of the crisis. In many ways, his face and his voice make us remember, calling up everything we all felt that day. But one day it may seem obvious that his predecessor was the real story here because he was the guy who rebuilt the city, coaxing and sometimes dragging his fellow New Yorkers into a new day...even when it would have been easy for so many of them to stay huddled in the anger and terror of yesterday.

Are you a leader who finds it easier to be with people in the midst of their grief and loss? Or are you more alive when you are coaxing and dragging people into the future with you? Are you more likely to "remember" or to "rebuild?"

What are you going to do about that?

Kelly Fryer