Government Executive

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Three Things I Learned About Leadership From Admiral Allen

By Scott Eblin

This week I had the opportunity to meet and learn from someone I've admired for the last five years - former U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen.  Admiral Allen was the opening keynote speaker at Government Executive's Excellence in Government Conference.  (I had the opportunity to speak and work with a terrific group of government executives later in the morning in a session on Leading at the Next Level.)

Most Americans first became aware of Admiral Allen when he led the disaster response to Hurricane Katrina following the dismissal of FEMA director Michael Brown. This past summer, President Obama appointed him to lead the interagency response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  Allen was the Atlantic area commander in the days following 9/11 and played a key role in the Haitian earthquake relief efforts last January as Coast Guard cutters stationed off Haiti provided the first U.S. relief in the hours after the quake. With a resume like that, it's easy to understand why Admiral Allen was asked to speak on "Leadership in a Time of Crisis."

You'd be hard pressed to find a leader who's led more crisis responses with more distinction than Allen.  He packed a lot of practical wisdom and experience in the 30 minutes that I was able to hear before I had to go set up for my session.

Read the rest of the article from http://blogs.govexec.com/executivecoach/2010/11/three_things_i_learned_about_l.php