Tremendous Tracey
Leading Beneath the Surface: Bunker Lessons in Crisis Leadership
Leadership in crisis isn't about knowing the right thing to say—it's about being the right kind of person long before the crisis comes. It's about building a "bunker" of trust, truth, and training into the hearts of your people—not a shelter of fear but a system of faith.
As I left that underground hallway and stepped back into the sunlight, I didn't just feel grateful. I felt challenged. Am I building in others what the crisis will reveal?
Leadership Lessons Learned from a Bird
This Thanksgiving, I experienced something new: I cooked my very first turkey! I know, I know—hard to believe, right? You're thinking, Come on Tracey, you've been to war, traveled the globe, gone on TV with four dogs and a cat, walked where Jesus walked, and you've never cooked a turkey? That is correct! For as long as I can remember, my mother—our family's own Martha Stewart—held the honor. When she immigrated to heaven, that sacred duty passed to my sister, Candy.
Thanks to the Heroes, We Can Be Heroes
So, while every Veteran values hearing those words, "Thank you for your service," what we long to see and hear is, "Thanks to you, I can and will be a hero too.” After all, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and we didn't put our lives on the line to watch our great nation fall into chaos. Unity and respect for our flag and Constitution is the responsibility of all, both in and out of uniform.
Without Ambition, We Are All Butt Dust
Hello tremendous tribe! Although school is out for summer, yours truly has been up to her eyeballs in writing and rewriting my dissertation research on the Theory of Motivation. I interviewed 28 individuals who went through a merger, which turned into a crisis. Part of this study is about resiliency. If you are an innately resilient person, external events don't matter much. You can do a merger a day, no matter how chaotic, and remain grounded. If you're not resilient, it’s all bad, no matter the reality. Anytime we are faced with something outside our comfort zone, we have two options: to become excited or to become entrenched.
Seeking an Organization that Turned Chaos into Opportunity
Tremendous tribe, I need your help! I am searching for an organization that has successfully navigated its way through a challenge as part of my doctoral research on the perceptions of leader effectiveness in an organizational crisis. My goal is to conduct a case study on follower motivation and engagement as the crisis unfolded, and the team emerged on the other side. At the core of the proposed research is the study of leader perceptions in the follower's mind.
Falling Apart or Falling Into Place?
Unless you are broken, you cannot be transformed. You need to melt the ice before it can be remolded. If you want to be a vessel that is poured out in service to others, you must be put in the kiln repeatedly in temperatures over 1,000 degrees.
Show, Don’t Tell
Do you remember the grade school activity of Show and Tell where we brought in an object and then proceeded to talk about it with our classmates? ...
Darkest Hour Brightest Life
Leaders can't get the job done without support. Let's not stand in the way when they need us the most.
