Interesting Times

Last week was the 23rd Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which forever changed our world.  I know it changed me forever.  To this day, I vividly remember the events of that fateful morning and how I first learned of the planes crashing into the two towers of the World Trade Center.  For several years, I've written a blog post to commemorate the tragic events of that horrible day and to honor those that died.  This year, I'm writing that post one week late.

I've frequently talked about crisis leadership - it's one of my favorite topics to read and write about.  Regardless of what you think about them now, there is no question that then President George W. Bush and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani were the right leaders at the right time on September 11, 2001 and in the days after.  I would highly recommend watching the 2021 television documentary (available on Apple TV) on the 9/11 attacks, 9/11: Inside the President's War Room for a minute-by-minute perspective of that day through the eyes of President Bush and his closest advisors.  I learned some things that I didn't know, and the documentary itself is a Master Class in crisis leadership.

Given everything that is going on in our world today, the ability to lead with calm resolve during a crisis is almost a prerequisite for leaders.  Ian Mitroff, author of Crisis Leadership: Planning for the Unthinkable, wrote, "Crises, catastrophes, and calamities are an unfortunate but inevitable fact of life. They have been with us since the beginning of time. It can be argued that they will be with us until the end of human history itself. In short, they are an integral part of the human condition. They are the human condition."  Like it or not, as leaders, whether we will experience a crisis is not a question of "if" but "when."

There's an ancient Chinese proverb that says, "May you live in interesting times."  Legend has it that this was actually an ancient Chinese curse, which is probably not entirely true.  Robert F. Kennedy used the phrase in his "Day of Affirmation Address" in Cape Town, South Africa on June 6, 1966:

There is a Chinese curse which says, “May he live in interesting times.” Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind.

Perhaps there is no better way to cherish the memory of those who died on 9/11 and to honor the leaders who helped us make it through those dark days by becoming better leaders ourselves.  As I've said before, leaders were made for times like the present.  Where others see danger and uncertainty, the extraordinary leaders see opportunity.  May we all live and lead in interesting times...