And it is done. After much toil please find the link to my Winston Churchill Report – Leadership, wisdom and the post-disaster recovery process. Elizabeth McNaughton Winston Churchill Report 2013 Final This Winston Churchill fellowship focuses on post-disaster recovery leadership. The purpose of this study is to seek the wisdom of recovery leaders, in the US, … Continue reading
Short on ears and long on mouth?
We all know the feeling – your stomach drops, a deep and anxious feeling rises, you feel hot – it is the realisation that you have you screwed up – royally! I asked recovery leaders, what is the most common mistake that leaders make in post-disaster recovery? The essence of the responses was that most … Continue reading
Australia is on Fire!
I am in rural Victoria in a heat wave. It is 10pm and a bead of sweat is slowly trickling down my neck. As the news pours out about 140 uncontrolled fires across New South Wales, parts of Victoria and 100 people unacounted for in Tasmania, I stay up flicking the channels. Conditions are not good for tomorrow – 40 … Continue reading
10 New Year Resolutions for Recovery Leaders – 10 Ways to Ease the Burn!
If we say recovery is a marathon then I have got the burn! I look at peers, colleagues and volunteers and see them too pushing hard to keep thinking, listening and empathising. As part of my fellowship I asked twenty five recovery leaders (from all realms) – what impact does leadership fatigue/burnout have on the … Continue reading
Centuries of compassion
I was whizzing through the countryside at 300 km/hour flicking through the Trenitalia ‘in-train’ magazine, not expecting much, perhaps an article on fine Italian salami or something similar… when I was struck by the most beautiful and powerful photo. I was moved to Google. “The international jury of the 55th annual World Press Photo Contest … Continue reading
Toads can predict earthquakes and ants ignore them
According to an article on the BBC website common toads appear to be able to sense an impending earthquake and will flee their colony days before the seismic activity strikes. The evidence comes from a population of toads which left their breeding colony three days before an earthquake that struck L’Aquila in Italy in 2009. … Continue reading
Setting the compass
I am not Catholic, it is my first time at a catholic service, so I just stand there trying to blend in. I’m not really succeeding (being two foot taller than the Italian Red Cross volunteers around me doesn’t help) so I focus on the spectacle of colour, singing and ceremony. We are at the … Continue reading
The Earthquake Soundtrack – L’Aquila
The notes from a single violin drift through the cobblestoned street. It has such an eerie sound that the Italian Red Cross volunteers and I stop and look at each other. We wonder who is playing the violin in what we think is an abandoned street. It is a fitting serenade to the street, filled … Continue reading
Building a cathedral
I am going up and up and up 31, 32, 33 bing… I get out of the lift and am struck by the stunning views of Central Park and the New York skyline. I have arrived at the offices of Willie Pietersen, Professor at Columbia University Business School. The night before I picked up his book Strategic … Continue reading
Ground Zero – 10 years plus and the recovery continues
The two new half-finished towers sparkle above, the hot sun beats down and my feet ache as I line up to enter the 9/11 memorial. The volunteer who took the ticket said New York has never been the same since 9/11 – the meeting too brief to tell me more but the comment leaves me … Continue reading
Elizabeth McNaughton 