Leadership - Measured During a Crisis

 

Leadership: I am certain that everyone reading this will have their own opinion as to what this means. The dictionary defines leadership as ‘the action of leading a group of people or an organization’. I don’t believe that this even begins to cover what it really means to be a ‘leader’ and I would like to suggest that this is part of the problem that we are faced with in the world today.

 

With all of the uncertainty and crisis in the world at the current moment it is difficult to comprehend that only 9 months ago the states of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia were affected by some of the worst bushfires the country has ever seen. 18.6 million hectares of land were burnt; the equivalent of an area the size of the Czech Republic; 5,900 buildings were destroyed and 34 people tragically lost their lives. The repercussions for the livelihoods of people affected by these fires is very difficult to quantify financially, however, it is expected that the total cost to the Australian Government will exceed $4.4 billion AUD.

 

During the fires there were thousands of volunteer and paid fire crew members on the ground who did what can only be described as hero’s work; working long shifts in extremely dangerous conditions to save what they could of people’s houses, places of work, and livelihoods. It was during this time that a picture began to emerge of what made a good leader and what did not.

 

The democratically elected leader of the Australian Government, Mr. Scott Morrison made the decision to depart overseas when the crisis in NSW began to emerge. The news of this decision traveled quickly and was largely met with outrage from his voters and his opposition alike. As is the case with many decisions made within politics that are perceived to be ‘incorrect’ or ‘scandalous’, the situation was used against him by the opposition leader as a tool to win votes and there were even calls for Morrison to be replaced. The Australian people believed and still do to this day that they were let down by their leader in their biggest time of need, and it is somewhat obvious as to why. However, I do not believe it was Mr. Morrison’s fault, as many were saying, that the bushfire response was not as desired. I believe that it was merely the attitude shown to depart your country during its greatest time of need and to not make any meaningful attempt to return promptly that was really Morrison’s downfall. I would also suggest that the reason as to why the Prime Minister’s departure provoked such outrage was not because of his actions themselves but more the way in which these actions were compared to the true ‘Leadership’ that was shown by so many others during these times.

 

 Now, I will take you back to the very beginning where we sought to define leadership. ‘The act of leading a person or organization’. One person in particular comes to mind when I think about the response to the bushfires from people within ‘leadership’ positions. Shane Fitsimmons at the time, was the Commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire service and therefore the person most senior and arguably with the greatest influence on how the bushfires would be dealt with directly. Mr. Fitsimmons grew up in the RFS becoming a firefighter and then a Captain and then into the highest position within the organization. At around On one particularly awful day during the ‘Black Summer’ a crew of firefighters was responding to a call when a tree landed on their truck crushing the cab and killing two of the volunteer firefighters immediately. At the time of the event, Mr. Fitsimmons was at home after coming off a long shift in the Command Centre. As soon as the news reached his radio he got in his car and left home, not to come to the office, to visit the brigade and the family of those firefighters who lost their lives and to share in their grief at the loss of two great men. 

 

Now, you may speculate that this is a story that is only known because it was covered on the news but no, not until long after the bushfires had been put out did this story come to light in the form of a documentary that showed the bushfire response. To me, this story shows a leader. Yes, at the time Mr. Fitsimmons was the ‘leader’ of the Rural Fire Service but he was a ‘Leader’ that day in the truest sense of the word, he felt the pain felt by every member of that brigade and their families as they mourned the loss of great friends, fathers, and partners. He got his boots on the ground to do what he could, knowing full well that there was nothing he could really do to make that day any better for those people. 

 

The behavior of these two ‘leaders’ could not be more different when faced with similar situations. This takes me back to my initial point: to define a leader as one who ‘leads a person or organization’ is to define a leader by his title, his job, his level of power. To me this is wrong and I propose that a true leader emerges in the time of crisis, anyone can ‘lead’ but not just anyone can be a Leader when people need one most. 

 

 

 

 

Written by Alex Bone

Alex is a British national currently living in Australia. When not studying towards his degree, Alex is usually found studying for his Paramedic qualification AND training to become a volunteer firefighter.