Best Performing Director - William Craig Fugate - Assignment Example

Leadership and Decision Making Best Performing Director - William Craig Fugate Role William Craig Fugate was one of the best performers in the department of FEMA in US. He began his service in 2009 after he was confirmed by the senate. With his leadership, he was obliged to respond to disasters by providing safety and security to respondents and the entire community during the crisis. Even though security response is a collective responsibility, his duty was to organize and draw emergency plans that mobilize the entire team safety of the community (Wang, 2011). Before elected as the director of FEMA, Fugate was the director of Florida Division Emergency Management (FDEM), a post he served for eleven presidentially-declared disasters. In 2004, for instance, he staged the largest federal disaster response when the country encountered at least three hurricanes including the Wilma, Dennis and Katrina. Because of the impact of the hurricanes, most of the coastal stages were under the aid of Emergency Management Assistance Compact. This was the time Fugate showed his stewardship. After the Katrina crisis, Fugate took the information from the casualties to determine their eligibility for any compensation. Those whose information was vague were not immediately compensated. He tapped the historical information from those who were employed to verify their credentials and ensure that there was a real home there. Although they were dealing with several people, Fugate mobilized his team with the help of technology. Fixing the reputation of FEMA By the time Fugate was nominated to head FEMA in 2009, the agency had already been battered by the previous leaders. Michael Brown had driven the agency into a punch-line due to his decision that depicted his incompetence during the hurricane Katrina of 2005 (U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency , 2006). With his outstanding performance of over ten years as an emergency manager, Fugate was promoted as a director having shown high competence. He was exposed to emergency services at his tender age after his parents died. Having garnered the best experience, he excelled very well in his career. He faced a lot of challenges that prepared him to lead FEMA. Initially, the agency had lost it reputation when Mr. Brown failed in his leadership leading to loss of property and lives during the 2005 hurricanes of Katrina. His appointment was therefore to restore the lost ‘glory’. This was his designed role for his appointment by president Obama. Decision As the director, Fugate promulgated the ‘entire community’ strategy towards emergency management by emphasizing and enhancing cooperation with all the government levels, including state, federal, local and tribal. This was to enable his leadership to enhance emergency management. In this decision, he aimed at fostering a community approach and resiliency towards emergency management. Effect of the decision Having promulgated the ‘whole community’ strategy towards emergency management, FEMA began to institute a permanent catastrophic plan that builds the capacity of the nation to stabilize any catastrophic event within three days. The organization implemented a national Preparedness System (PPD-8) to consolidate effort unity and address the country’s most severe risks. Therefore, the organization has begun supporting both the state and the local governments in preparing for the effects of climatic change. The permanent private sector has been infused into the federal emergency response, which represents the organization at the National Response Coordination Centre (Congress., 2006). As a result, FEMA has reinforced its relationships with other voluntary agencies including the American Red Cross which leads the major care operations in the country. Furthermore, the access and function needs of the disabled have been integrated into the planning efforts, constituted by the new FEMA’s office of the disability integration coordination. In 2010, for instance, FEMA unearthed the National Disaster Recovery Framework that defined the support functions of the federal organizations and agencies and the entire community processes to rejuvenate, rebuild smarter and safer (Wang, 2011). Poor performing director: Michael DeWayne Brown Role during the crisis Michael D. Brown was one of the directors in FEMA agency. His appointment came at the time when the country received one of the deadliest disasters. During the crisis, Brown was regarded as a relief leader. In September 9th 2005, Washington was under pressure in trying to respond to Katrina hurricanes. Bush, who was the president, removed Brown from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to head FEMA. Coincidentally, his appointment came at a time when a report released from the Time’s magazine’s web that he had exaggerated his résumé thus his qualifications put under spot. To make the maters worst, he kept changing it and it brought more discrepancies. One of the emergency response offices Mr. Admiral Allen, who was then the Coast Guard analyzed Brown’s role ‘the chief principal officer in charge of Katrina hurricane response and recovery.’ Immediately his role had been defined, there were some bodies lying in the city; something few people were expecting after the storm. Even though the exact number of the dead was not determined, approximately 10,000 died (Congress., 2006). Brown’s decision to emergency crisis Before the disaster struck the city, Brown estimated the impact of the Hurricane Katrina and prepared his team ‘adequately’ to handle the crisis. At that time, Brown concentrated on personnel departures and funding cuts regardless of the efforts of homeland security experts who pressurized him to prepare adequately for calamities. However, it was not long before the hurricanes struck and people realized their leader had underestimated the effects. Water and winds swamped the city shores and the corridors of the city causing deaths and property destruction, something that could have been prevented if the agency could have prepared in time. During the incident, therefore, his team fell short of support leading death and destruction. As he looked for scapegoats for his actions, he started blaming the residents of New Orleans that they worsened the crisis by not complying with the evacuation orders. Aftermath It is obvious that after every downfall, there are excuses! Brown was ‘forced’ to resign from his docket as the head of FEMA. The decision to uproot him came at the time the government continued to have endless trouble with its efforts to supply sufficient support to all evacuees and clean its earnest. Several evacuees, who had been rescued, were facing another hurdle of frustration over long-drawn-out delays of getting assistance and steering a maze of local and federal programs. Other complaints spout up again. Local officials began complaining of the agency’s computer system that kept crashing. In fact the same officials lured people to turn away from FEMA emergency centre claiming of its failure to provide adequate assistance. Effects on FEMA’s reputation According to Wang (2011), it is clear that Brown’s decision soiled the name of the agency. FEMA was downgraded from an independent, cabinet-level organization to a mere commercial organization. Before the intervention of the government, there were a lot of dysfunctions and chaos. Brown broke the silence and claimed that he was willing to respond to the unprecedented challenge more appropriately but firmly clinched to his position. This worsened the entire recovery unit and the entire administration was seen as a failure. Resignation from the agency The piling pressure from all the sides, Brown gave up his position by stepping down. It was universally believed that he was incompetent on how he handled the aftermath of the crisis and there was no need to hold the position anymore. Michael DeWayne Brown resigned claiming that it was people’s interests and the state. However, his personal reputation had greatly been damaged especially when his competence was questioned. References Congress., U. S. (2006). A Failure of Initiative: Supplementary Report and Document Annex. Dallas: Government Printing Office. U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency . (2006). Hurricane Katrina : the roles of U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency leadership : hearing. London: DIANE Publishing. Wang, C. (2011). Managerial Decision Making Leadership: The Essential Pocket Strategy Book. John Wiley & Sons. Read More