Essay Example on Servant Leadership Exemplified and Failed in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina

Servant Leadership Exemplified and Failed in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina INTRODUCTION In the wake of Hurricane Katrina Governor Kathleen Blanco exemplified while President George W Bush via his subordinates failed in five of the ten characteristics of servant leadership that hampered valuable aid reaching the victims of New Orleans GOVERNOR KATHLEEN BLANCO The characteristic of healing as it applies to servant leadership encompasses the mending of relationships with others MLC M421 Reading A unknown During and following Hurricane Katrina Governor Blanco worked to keep a good healthy relationship with President Bush and his administration In an interview with PBS's Frontline she praised the President saying Look he operated in good faith and confidence in the fact that we would get all the help we needed And I believe that he sincerely believed that it was going to happen in the best way possible Martin Smith 2005 She maintained communications as much as possible and never placed blame or spoke ill of the President or his administration in spite of not receiving requested aid in a timely fashion 

Three days after the hurricane White House aides started to play the political blame game False reports on the word of a Bush aide were being released that the Governor had not declared a state of emergency as well as other negative reports Robert Mann 2015 Governor Blanco persuaded her staff not to reciprocate or anything that could be seen as attacking the President Her foresight saved hundreds of thousands of lives by ordering evacuations two days prior to the Hurricane reaching land Some reports said she should have ordered it sooner however nearly 400 000 people made it out of New Orleans to safety well before the hurricane got close Her foresight saved thousands more by ensuring assets were strategically placed to render aid as soon as it was safe to do so Wombwell 2009 Stewardship is a commitment to serving the needs of others MLC M421 Reading A unknown Every action taken by the Governor during and after the hurricane was to ensure the people of her state received required supplies and security The superdome had ample security food and water Wombell 2009 People stranded in isolated pockets received food and water drops until evacuated The Governor could not meet every need but it was not due to her inaction or indecision Having her National Guard Soldiers working closely with local leaders to evacuate and provide relief to the people trapped in New Orleans built a strong community Enlisting the aid of civilians with capabilities brought people together through their common ordeal of surviving and helping others to survive PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH The White House aides that talked to reporters blaming the state government for the delays in relief support put great strain on the relationship between the two organizations The reported false hoods further exacerbated the situation President Bush's failure to prevent and later quell this behavior showed a lack of concern to heal that relationship 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA director Michael Brown was on ground in Louisiana the day before the hurricane hit He met with Governor Blanco and promised that 500 buses were on standby Robert Mann 2015 FEMA did not request buses until two days after the hurricane passed Wombwell 2009 President Bush did little if anything to persuade his agency leaders to act with a sense of urgency The few days during and directly following the hurricane President Bush was traveling attending other activities unrelated to the hurricane Mark Knoller 2015 He was out of contact and unaware of the scope of the disaster Kenneth Walsh 2015 President Bush failed to apply foresight as a servant leader by not making himself available to stay informed and communicate with his administration and agency leaders President Bush made promises on national TV the day before the hurricane hit Louisiana Knoller 2015 Those promises went unmet due to his representative Mr Brown not taking appropriate actions They went unmet because his administration failed to take action and make decisions in his absence They went unmet because he was not available These failures and the failure to correct them immediately upon his return demonstrated a lack of concern for others This demonstrated lack of concern is why President Bush failed at stewardship Building Community CONCLUSION In the wake of Hurricane Katrina Governor Kathleen Blanco exemplified while President George W Bush via his subordinates failed in five of the ten characteristics of servant leadership that hampered valuable aid reaching the victims of New Orleans By working to keep a healthy relationship with the Bush administration by keeping her staff from attacking the Bush administration by evacuating and prepositioning assets by demonstrating concern for her people and by leading to bring the people of her community together Governor Blanco demonstrated that she possess at least five of the characteristics of a servant leader Those five are healing persuasion foresight stewardship and building community President Bush on the other hand failed to demonstrate those five characteristics References