The Boston Marathon Bombing: NOW Leadership During a Crisis

It was a glorious spring morning in Boston. The then-Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, had a thing of rare beauty as a public official: A day without official appointments. 

It was late morning. The governor just finished a workout and was driving back home. Being a gardener, he was looking forward to messing around in the soil for the rest of the day. That was when his youngest daughter called. “Dad there was a big, huge explosion, everybody is running. What is happening?” The governor responded, “I don’t know honey, but stay put.”

“We have an unbelievable disaster…”

As he hung up the phone his Head of Emergency Management called from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, “Governor, we have an unbelievable disaster here, a horrible mess. We need to set up a communication center. We’d like you to come down.”

We all can remember how we felt when we heard the news about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. How we felt the shock, anger, and vulnerability. And how we all felt for those who lost loved ones and those who suffered grave injuries. We can all remember that.


The Most Effective and Collaborative Response to a Disaster

What most of us are less familiar with is the highly effective response to the bombing.  The response to the Boston Marathon bombings is credited as the most effective and collaborative response to a disaster ever studied. One key reason, according to experts who researched the response, was the leadership of Governor Patrick. It’s exemplified by how he entered the command center each time. Instead of telling people what to do, he would ask: “How can I help?’

The governor’s leadership set a tone that spread through all the response teams and agencies. A NOW leadership tone of deferring responsibility and authority to those best suited for the job. 

Patrick was keenly aware of the very common THEN trap leaders fall in during a crisis: The trap to micromanage in order to feel in control. The trap to grab the reigns, yank and overstep into areas best handled by specialists.

Instead, Governor Patrick chose something different. He chose to lead with his eyes on and his hands off. He made it clear that the FBI was in charge of the investigation, and the mayor of Boston wanted to “run his streets.”

But leading eyes on and hands off did not mean being passive. Governor Patrick realized he could contribute the most as a communicator — giving people hope for the future as the public face of government and serving as a trusted intermediary with the White House. 

And he continued entering the command center each and every day asking: “How can I help?”

Fortunately, most of us will never have to lead during a horrific incident like the Boston Marathon bombing and nothing will ever take away the pain and suffering of those who were impacted by the horrific events in Boston and yet there is a lesson for all of us here.  

Our complex and fast-paced world requires quick action at the front lines. Much like during a disaster response. With the world changing by the day, sometimes by the hour, our front-line teams can often not wait for the time it takes to feed a question up the org chart and wait for a response back. They need to be able to decide and execute right at the point of action. 

The Power of Delegating

It might seem counterintuitive, but the faster things move, the more complex our world becomes, and the more we need to give up control and authority. The faster things move, the more complex our world becomes, the more we need to empower and delegate, and the more we need to lead with our eyes on and hands-off.

  • How might you apply Governor Patrick’s ‘How can I help’ approach to your organization? 

  • What do you need to put in place so that you too, can lead with your eyes on and your hands off? 

  • What first step can you take today?

Interested in discovering how to transform your organization from THEN to NOW leadership? Send me an email at urs@urskoenig.com to explore different ways to create an action plan to do just that.




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