Admiral Thad Allen

Last week, I had the distinct pleasure to hear Admiral Thad Allen speak to an audience of primarily health system CEOs and board members.  His topic was leading during a crisis.  He recounted the numerous challenges that he faced during both the Katrina Hurricane disaster and the BP oil spill.  It is unbelievable that one individual led this country successfully during both of these horrific events in our recent past. 

Did he do it alone?  Of course, not.  But, what a leader.  He is the type of leader that you would follow anywhere.  He has a commanding presence through his take-charge attitude, but more importantly, you respect the hell out of him because he was the one individual responsible during both incidents.  He recognized that he served at the will of the President and for whatever reason (i. e. political) could have been fired at any time. 

One key piece of advice from Admiral Allen was "Be transparent and if you can't be transparent, be honest.”  He so well demonstrated that advice during the many press conferences for each crisis.