JIM’S “FINAL WARNING”

“JIM’S “FINAL WARNING””  

By Jim Mullen

Comedian Alan King punctuated his career with a televised comedy special called “ A Final Warning!” In that spirit, since this could well be my final blog entry, I offer the following admonitions to Emergency Management

Directors/Supervisors:

1) Emergency management is a profession, not by dint of its credentialing efforts (worthy though those are) but because of your selfless commitment to your fellow human beings: their worst day is often your finest hour.

2) The hardest part of managing day-to-day operations of an emergency management office is knowing no matter how well trained you and your team are, there are disasters  with the potential to make  you may feel unprepared, and vulnerable to unwarranted criticism.

3) Among the more rewarding realizations:  when that incident noted in (2) does occur, within your team’s collective values, integrity, problem solving skills you’ll find the wherewithal to meet the challenge, manage the seemingly unmanageable, and make things a little better for your fellow human beings.

4) After a crisis subsides, insist on reviewing your performance unflinchingly, acknowledge and correct errors without rancor, and gird yourself and your team for the next BIG THING.

5) Always listen to and respectfully consider discordant voices that deviate from conventional wisdom. Otherwise,  a “can do” mentality can quickly become a “but didn’t” result! And that is the definition of professional negligence.

6) Grant awards and national policy pronouncements will always affect your operations. Focus  on what you can control.

7) . Look between the lines on resumes: don’t settle for mere paper credentials. Insist on hiring the best people; never discount the value of applicants from other disciplines.

8) Take care of your people – always. In 2003, an Assistant Police Chief Supervisor confided that my position as director of Seattle  OEM was in jeopardy, because the mayor’s office and some police department commanders thought I was too supportive of my staff” to which I cheekily replied, “Chief, please put that in my termination letter. It will help me get a better job!” The termination letter never came; that better job did, though  I heard that same criticism occasionally within the WA Military Department. It became a badge of honor! Oh, just don’t forget to take care of yourself as well. Your team needs you.

9) When pondering demands to discontinue support for DEI – you do not have to proclaim it to practice it. DEI’s opposite is mediocrity, which encourages rigid conformity, inequity and exclusiveness. Fairness works better.

Finally, consider advice from others, smarter (and more talented!)  than I:

• “Did you take the high road when you could choose?” (Mellencamp). I tried.
• “I won’t back down” (Petty). I didn’t.
• “Staring at screens makes you easy to handle; listening to people makes you less so” (Timothy Snyder in “On Freedom”). Working on that!

Good luck and Godspeed: Jim/EMOR Out …for now