An Interview with Dr. Lenny Marcus

Spring 2008

Dr. Lenny Marcus is the codirector of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. On February 7, 2008 Dr. Marcus gave a presentation on "Meta Leadership: What Works Before, During and After a Crisis," to presidents and senior administrators from throughout the State University of New York. During his presentation Dr. Marcus (pictured at left) discussed his work with senior staff at the White House and with organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The following interview, conducted by Barbara Viniar, ICCD's executive director, provides a glimpse into Dr. Marcus' work on crisis leadership and his advice to those of us in higher education.

BV: When you go to these meetings at the White House or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, do they ask you for your opinion? Are you offering advice or just observing?

LM: I’m mostly observing. I try not to offer advice or ask leading questions because that corrupts my work, but afterwards I do offer advice on some of the leadership problems I think they will face going forward. That's why the White House had us lecture there, because we have collected a pretty rich selection of leadership thinking about what some of the problems and obstacles are to leading through these types of crises. Part of our thinking comes from our colleague in Israel who thinks we here in the United States are really naive when it comes to dealing with major disasters or acts of terrorism. We don’t have a lot of experience in dealing with crises of this magnitude and it is vital to understand that it is a very, very different kind of enterprise.

BV: I went to Paris in January and there were metal detectors in every public building and every museum I walked into and I had to open my purse each time. It took me aback because I would expect it in Israel, but not in Paris. It made we wonder why there is so much less of that kind of security here. I don’t like the idea very much, but I don't understand why those measures are not more widespread.

LM: Here, no one will pay attention to an empty package and the consequences can be disastrous. We need more collective vigilance. If we’re a little more alert in places like airports, we’re more likely to spot something before it turns into a tragedy.

BV: Your background is in conflict resolution. How does what you do now relate to that and how did you get involved?

LM: After 911 and the subsequent anthrax attacks, the Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were significantly expanded to address bioterrorism threats. The office gave 25 unsolicited grants to schools of public health across the country to work on bioterrorism preparedness and I, along with colleagues, were funded to work in this area.

As we began to study some of the conflicts and the importance of negotiation across the agencies, we became more and more intrigued with the leadership issues. Our work was brought to the attention of CDC and other national leadership and we migrated pretty quickly to a focus on leadership problems and their implications for national preparedness. In November 2003, we were asked by the CDC to create here at Harvard University a leadership platform that would engage agencies across the federal government along with state and local leadership. This was the genesis of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, which I codirect with David Gergen at the Kennedy School of Government and which is a joint program of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Kennedy School. We've been conducting research, doing trainings, developing a curriculum and providing a platform upon which leadership issues regarding emergency preparedness and response can be addressed.

BV: How is what you talk about different from what higher education leaders are already doing, especially since Katrina and Virginia Tech? They have put together teams, and they’ve installed alert systems on cell phones and email. What’s different about what you do?

LM: The work that's been done since 911, Katrina and Virginia Tech — three really important incidents on the radar screens of people who are in college and university leadership positions — is all very important. In addition to that, people who are in leadership jobs have to recognize that if something happens on their campus, they are instantly turned into a crisis leader. Having great cell phone systems is very important. Having security personnel around the campus is very important. However, what the cell phone systems will do and what the security personnel will do is a function of the decisions made by people who are in leadership positions.

For the most part, people who have not undergone extensive training — or any training — in crisis leadership are making decisions, assessing situations and coping with circumstances that are far different than anything they have experienced in day-to-day academic administration. What's done in those critical moments can mean life or death for many people. It will certainly affect the long-term well-being of the campus and will be etched in the memory of that leader from that point on. So to consider how one can prepare oneself to best perform as a leader under those very, very difficult situations is time and attention well spent. Leaders and leadership matter in a crisis.

We hope that people will never have to experience the type of tragedy we’ve been seeing on college campuses and other parts of the public arena, not only in this country, but other countries as well. However, if someone in a leadership position does experience that kind of crisis, we hope they will be prepared to do as well as possible under those types of circumstances.

BV: What can someone like me who is responsible for developing new leaders be doing? I know crisis management is a topic at many conferences, but it is usually geared to the more practical applications. What should we be thinking about in terms of incorporating your kind of work into leadership development?

LM: It should be a part of the leadership curriculum and integrated into the other areas that are already part of preparing someone to be a leader, such as personnel management, supervision and strategy. These are all important. Potential leaders need to develop the capacity to work in a crisis. They need to be able to cope with their own fears, to effectively assess a situation with information that changes quickly and to engage other people to try to resolve the crisis. Often, these behaviors are learned during the many crises that are not catastrophic but which can be very emotional and can affect a lot of people. Crises regarding personnel, information technology or the budget, which most leaders do face, are opportunities to practice crisis leadership skills and capacities. How a campus handles closing in a snow storm can be a good predictor of how it will respond to a major crisis.

For more information on Dr. Marcus' research, visit Meta Leadership (pdf) or contact ICCD at ICCD@cornell.edu.