Leaders in Greensburg, KS,
survey the damage from the deadly tornado that destroyed 95 percent of their town in May 2007.

Leaders Speak

Leaders across the country are promoting meta-leadership, recognizing the strengths and synergies that emerge when people, organizations and sectors work together.

 

“When the different sectors of a community team up to protect the safety of their families and each other, it's called ‘connectedness’ and it’s time it became the rallying cry of emergency preparedness, so no community is at risk and no one is left behind.”
     – Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A.
        President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

“For business leaders, who worry about the impact a terrorist event or natural disaster would have on their employees, their businesses and their communities, meta-leadership provides a platform to reach out to others with the same concerns and develop a shared course of action to protect these interests.”
     – Kent “Oz” Nelson
        Former chairman and CEO, United Parcel Service

“We need to learn how to build a connectivity that includes people who are not like us – people in business, people in the faith-based sector, people in the health care delivery system, people in the nonprofit community – and there is one absolutely essential requirement to our capacity to do this kind of collaboration. It is the concept of meta-leadership.”
     – Julie L. Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H.
        Former Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

"Thinking ahead and preparing for disaster before it happens are critical to a community. Gathering together community leaders from all areas is a good place to start. We think better as a team, with ideas flowing from many different perspectives."
      – Jeff Turner
         President & CEO, Spirit AeroSystems

"Meta-leadership provides the tools and insights that can promote effective coordination and collaboration among all those with responsibility during response to and recovery from a disaster.”

     – Chris Wiant

        President and CEO, Caring for Colorado Foundation