The physical presence of a top-ranking leader plays an important role in managing a crisis and its consequences. The leader’s role is to define the strategy for managing the process of handling the crisis in alignment with the organization’s values and mission. The leader also estimates the priority level for each process and allocates required human, financial or material resources. Additionally, in a crisis, the leader fulfills one’s function of establishing a connection with stakeholders and acting as a source of vital information, providing detailed information on the situation and measures taken. Judging by the example of the consequences of Hurricane Katrina, designing a crisis plan before experiencing a crisis is necessary to manage the crisis and its consequences. Designing a crisis plan provides a faster response to the crisis and helps to cooperate in conditions where the informational connection could be interrupted with no opportunities for supervision.
One of the recent examples of a top leader responding during a crisis is president Biden’s response to the tragic Surfside condominium collapse in Miami, Florida, on June 24 in, 2021. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) information, President Biden signed an emergency declaration that authorized federal assistance to the state resources in the search operation. However, President Biden was only allowed to visit the site on July 1 due to possible disruption of the rescue operation. During his visit, the president evaluated the measures taken and proposed for the federal government cover the total cost of the rescue operation which took 30 days. The president also met with the victims’ families and praised the cooperation of local and state resources in the tragedy (Giella). While in organizations majority of crises are preventable, some crises in real life happen instantly with no opportunities for interference. Are there many types of internal organizational crises that occur without influence from external factors that offer no opportunities for prevention and interference?
Works Cited
FEMA. “Federal Response to Surfside Building Collapse in Florida.” FEMA, 2021, Web.
Giella, Lauren. “What Happened During Joe Biden’s Visit to Surfside.” Newsweek, 2021, Web.