Why Leaders Should Build on Post-Attack Team Spirit

Following the horror of September 11th, a significant shift occurred at workplaces in New York and throughout the country that were touched by the tragedy. In the midst of palpable grief, a transformation took place in the way co-workers took care of their own and others.

The workplace became one source of predictability and stability desperately needed during this crisis. It also a provided safe haven for colleagues to talk, listen, support and be supported. Because of their shared experiences, employees treated strangers in elevators as if they knew them personally. The titles and job descriptions that had partitioned the workforce had no jurisdiction over our hearts. It wasn't business as usual.

In many organizations, compassion surfaced and infused all layers of communication and action. The veil of disconnection couched in the phrase, "workplaces are hostile environments," quickly dissipated. It was replaced by a business system responding from the heart.

Co-workers helped each other remove belongings from structurally unsound buildings. Employees learned the names of each other's families. Employers offered grief counseling to help employees absorb the shock of the events. Although they weren't always able to focus, employees tended to their work, attempting to create some sense of normalcy.

Employers' and employee's needs were on a par with each other. The actions taken showed that you can be in business and care. Also notable was the level of concern expressed and responsibility taken when people looked beyond their own personal needs to focus on the greater good of the community.

A management template emerged which, if recognized as such, could accomplish what business leaders have been attempting to instill in daily business activities for years. This template is characterized by interpersonal-relationship building, collaboration, acting from motivation and adaptability.

The rescue and recovery work at ground zero is a remarkable demonstration of the drive to support a larger goal. Mutuality and commitment to purpose fuels this effort. Throughout New York, similar cross-company collaborations have blossomed to help rebuild companies and systems.

Further, consider the desire to offer assistance that has prompted information-technology firms throughout the country to volunteer talent and resources to help New York companies rebuild their operations.

Where can we go from here? Employers have been presented with an opportunity to capture and institutionalize these expressions of team building and clarity of purpose. It would be prudent to pause and notice the shift that has taken place. The challenge is to re-negotiate the rules for business. The corporate world has much to learn from employee's response to the September 11th tragedy. Indeed, it would be a different kind of tragedy to return to former patterns and habits of leadership because these styles provide comfort and require less effort.

This is a rare opportunity to capture the spirit of collaboration in New York and weave it into the fabric of the business community. It's the kind of mood that motivates employees to volunteer free time to read to children in schools near ground zero or an IT technician to take a vacation day to drive to New York and run cables for a makeshift office in a CEO's living room.

Professionals in nearly every industry and discipline are examining what they value and how they want to contribute their talents. Company leaders should begin a dialogue with employees on ways the company can partner with them in defining mutual goals and directives. Further, they should invite this newfound collaboration to continue. Leaders need to acknowledge that employees will be more committed and greater progress can be achieved if they build from the existing climate of teamwork, collaboration, relationship building and purpose.

Organizations which can acknowledge that we live and work in a new world that challenges us to re-think what's needed to succeed will emerge as new role models and leaders. We don't have the luxury of being complacent or disconnected when conducting business. Now more than ever, economic growth will depend on creativity, risk, directions and focus.

We have a choice to make. The workplace can be shaped by what companies learn from the response to the national tragedy and then apply these lessons to the creation of a new work model.

Written by Nancy Brook, Career and WorkLife Consultant, founder and president of Authentic Work.
Copyright 2001. Authentic Work.