Leadership Lessons Learned from Katrina: A 10 Year Retrospective

I spent much of Saturday struggling with my emotions. The last 10 years of my life, the years following Katrina’s devastation, were some of the most difficult and turbulent ever. The rebuilding of my neighborhood, my city and the lives of vulnerable people have exacted a toll on me. Along the way I learned some lessons that I would like to share with you about doing good when times are bad.

1. Leadership is costly. Taking a stand and speaking out leaves us vulnerable. My post-Katrina speaking opportunities ranged from neighborhood meetings to congressional subcommittees. I championed my community and my city at every opportunity. Along the way I was frequently criticized. It is not the criticism that is expected, however, that is the most difficult. Rather the slights and challenges that emerge from those we thought were on our side are the tough ones. There were many days I wanted to move far away to a small, safe place where I could lick my wounds and heal. Many days I wondered if I was cut out for leadership, I often wondered how politicians who are constantly being scrutinized manage to survive.

2. Many gifts come with strings. I am so grateful to those who gave without conditions, those were the ones that kept us going. Not all gifts are unencumbered, however, many have expectations attached. I failed miserably at giving credit to all those who expected it. Even today, fully 10 years after the storm, some of them are angry that we didn’t do a better job of publicizing their efforts. In the midst of having lost much both personally and professionally, and being focused on rebuilding a community, I sometimes neglected the well-to-do who didn’t experience the loss and tragedy that we had. While I wish I had done a better job of making everyone feel they were important, we were personally struggling, trying to survive our tragedy and it sometimes made us myopic. I completely understand not getting the credit you deserved because we didn’t either.

3. Doing good is rarely rewarded. I attended the K-10 anniversary events and read the coverage in the media. Lots of people were given credit, big names who gave lots of money or organizations with a national presence and big P.R. machines. I didn’t see many of the real heroes like Pam Dashiell, Hal Roark, Reggie Lawson, Urban Impact, St. Roch Community Church, Joe Sherman, little people who gave everything in the midst of great personal loss. I am so grateful to Habitat for Humanity, the Kingdom of Qatar, the Rockefeller Foundation and others like them who helped immensely and are mentioned at every turn. Yet I was so sad that the neighborhood champions who truly rebuilt communities and gave their lives to do so were never acknowledged. These people should be getting the key to the city. My wife tells me our reward is in Heaven, I’m holding out for it because nobody seems to remember these folks here.

4. Disaster relief may have disastrous emotional consequences. My first attempt to re-enter the city after the storm was repelled by the military waving M-16s. My first successful attempt was in a boat and we got lost because all the landmarks were covered in water. My wife’s first entry into our moldy home was with the news media in tow recording her every emotion. Everyone in our neighborhood, Hollygrove, was affected. For months we lived in a community with only half the lights on, wondering if the police protection was sufficient to keep us safe. We built an organization from inside coffee houses with working internet as our homes were flooded and unlivable. I started smoking too many cigars. Often I was emotionally drained. I suspect many were hurt by my emotional distance, something wrought out of the need to survive the daily onslaught of pain and human misery that surrounded me. Many who worked for me felt that I didn’t adequately meet their emotional needs. Some are still bitter and angry. I wish I could have done things differently, I wish I had been a better friend, father-figure, leader, I am truly sorry that I didn’t hug more, didn’t spend more time with people, didn’t hear your hurts. I was attempting to survive and not always doing a great job. Apparently my painful emotions are still there as evidence by my bad day last Saturday.

5. Great change requires great sacrifice. I have been told that the Chinese word for change is a combination of two characters: crisis and opportunity. Knowing this I plunged right in after the storm. This was both our crisis and our moment of opportunity and someone needed to get right to work. I felt called by God and so I responded to that call. Our community is so much better today, I wish I could tour you around and show you all the amazing things that have happened since Katrina. I will probably never tell you the pain that accompanied it, I hate crying in front of other people. I am so blessed to have been surrounded by an amazing people, my co-workers, community leaders who gave so much in the midst of their own need, the seniors who worked tirelessly with the energy they could muster at a season of life when they could have been relaxing, even the volunteers who gave a week, a month, a year and more to help rebuild. All of us had to put aside our personal agendas and give what we had for the sake of others. I have watched tremendous sacrifice and I am so proud to be a part of it. I am especially grateful to my wife Sandy and my kids, Seth, Chloe and Leah, who allowed their dad to be a citizen of the city even when it meant they didn’t get as much of my time as they needed.

Our city is better today in many ways than it was pre-Katrina. This happened because of many who gave so much to make it happen. The Apostle Paul said “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Our city is a better place because leaders suffered, persevered, developed character and created hope. It came at a cost, one that continues even 10 years after the event.

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