Leadership - A discussion of traits, characteristics, and current news of leaders.

Michael Brown, former Director of FEMA, didn’t have much upside to take the blame and learn anything from his Hurricane Katrina performance as he fidgeted for six plus hours in front of a Congressional hearing yesterday.  However, I thought he might comport himself with a little more dignity.  He was the “go to” man in the worst natural disaster in history.  Responsibility for leadership in such an overwhelming situation would severely test anyone and some failures would be expected.  I certainly did not expect perfection but I did expect more leadership. He is quite a contrast to Rudy Giuliani and  9-11, who faced a similar unprecendented disaster yet performed admirably.

My conclusion based on his performance is that he was not qualified to direct the emergency response of the Federal Government. Perhaps, we learned as much about him under the bright lights of the inquiry as we want to know.  His responses were self-protective and sadly at times immature.  In the face of the pressure of this hearing, he was uncomfortable, defensive and befuddled.

I thought he would have made more of an effort to look better and more in control - maybe take this opportunity to save some face. His comments were not constructive or helpful to making FEMA better.  Under pressure, he does not have the calm, clear thinking, decisiveness that a leader must have in times of crisis. Under pressure is where true leaders shine.  Michael Brown seemed quite dim after yesterday.