Emergency Management Solutions

 

Volume 7 No. 10                                                                                           October 2015

In This Issue
Featured Video
Blog Highlights
The Leadership Challenge
Consulting Transitions
Featured Article
Professional Development
Life Balance
From the Bookshelf
Speaker's Corner

Featured Video 

Why The TSA Doesn't Stop Terrorist Attacks
Why The TSA Doesn't Stop Terrorist Attacks

Although this video is intended to be humorous, it highlights the disadvantages of "security theater". The appearance by security expert Bruce Schneier adds credibility to the argument that we could be doing better by focusing less on making feel good and instead reinforcing the methods that work.
Blog Highlights  

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The following are excerpts from my blog
Canton on Emergency Management. Please visit my blog to see the rest of my articles.  

10-09-2015

As the costs of natural disasters continue to rise, is our system of homeowners insurance adequate to meet our needs?...�


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If you are having trouble accessing these articles, go directly to the blog by clicking either the logo or the green "Visit my blog" button.

EM Blog Masthead

Visit My Blog

The following are excerpts from my blog, Managing Crisis, published by Emergency Management Magazine. Please visit my blog to see the rest of my articles.

10-13-2015

In a 2008 article in Government Technology, my friend and colleague Bob Jaffin noted that one of the fundamental differences between emergency management and homeland security is that of focus....�


Visit my blog

If you are having trouble accessing these articles, go directly to the blog by clicking either the logo or the green "Visit my blog" button.
 
 
Recognizing Individual Effort Builds Strong Teams
 
One of the interesting things I've learned over the years is that people don't leave jobs, they leave people. A good boss can help compensate for a difficult job while a poor one can make even the best job a torture.

Building a strong team requires both recognizing individual effort and creating a sense of community by celebrating successes. Sincere praise is more effective than awards and formal recognition. Just saying, "Thank you" can make a difference.
 
How much of a difference can this make? Research shows that leaders who celebrate accomplishments have constituents who are 26% more engaged and the leaders are 31% more effective.
 
Encourage the Heart is the fifth practice of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.

To find out more about the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, consider taking The Leadership Challenge. Just click on the icon below for more information:
Click here to take The Leadership Challenge
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The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations
by James M. Kouzes  & Barry Posner 
 
 

 
The Leadership Challenge is a registered trademark of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. www.leadershipchallenge.com

Free Resource Guide for Solo Consultants

 

For solo consultants, true wealth is discretionary time. Don't waste yours on simple tasks that can be handled by technology. This free resource guide reveals the four essential online tools I use to manage my solo consulting practice and save hours of valuable time. And the best part is - they're free!

 

 

 

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L. Canton Photo 2013  

Welcome to the October issue of Emergency Management Solutions.

Each of us has certain dates that hold special meaning. For me, one of the most significant will always be October 17, the anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. The earthquake was a life-changing event, not because I experienced any physical harm but rather for the direction in which it took my life. It led ultimately to my joining FEMA and beginning my career in emergency management and introduced me to the two friends who would mentor me through much of that career, Ken Chin and Roy Kite. The consequences of disasters are always unexpected and not always negative.

As I mentioned last month, I'm working on the second edition of my book, so if you've read the current edition and have any suggestions, I'd love to hear from you.


Regards,

Lucien Canton  
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Featured Article
What Message Are You Sending Your Team?
Three ways to communicate your values


In my writing and talks I frequently mention a psychological concept called cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. It is usually caused by a disconnection between what we are told to do and what we are rewarded for doing.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. As a military officer, I was expected to lead by example and adhere to the highest moral standards. One of the most important of these standards was honesty. I made the mistake of asking our instructor in ethics why it was that if I was assumed to be honest did I have to pay a deposit on my towels and room key at the Bachelor Officers Quarters. Didn't this seem to assume that I was not honest? I never did get a satisfactory answer.


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If you are having trouble viewing my featured article, try clicking on the link at the top of the page. You can always find my articles in the white paper section of my blog site, Canton on Emergency Management.

  Visit my blog
Professional Development 
 
Free Leadership Webinar

Please join me and my colleagues at Sonoma Leadership Systems for a free webinar on October 22 at 10 AM PDT.

Executives in organizations agree that leadership development is a priority, but getting their buy-in continues to be a challenge for HR and OD professionals.
Inspiring decision-makers to commit resources to leadership development requires not only presenting the business case, but making the "how" connection between leadership and organizational benefit, customer satisfaction, and profitability.

I hope you can join us for this 1/2 hour webinar where we will explore resources for Making the Case for Leadership: How Business Partners Activate Leadership Development.

Free Exercise Webinar

 
November 5th, 2015 AT 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

In this webinar, Rob Burton of PreparedEx will discuss what it takes to build an engaging and successful crisis simulation exercise.

Rob will explain the importance of clear and achievable objectives so that you pick a scenario that's best suited for your organization's needs. Selecting a scenario allows you to improve on those areas that are in need of strengthening, and to challenge your team's crisis response and management capabilities. Rob will also discuss the Master Sequence of Events Log (a scenario building tool) as well as provide you with some important do's and don'ts.

Upcoming Educational Opportunities
 
International Association of Emergency Managers Annual Conference
November 13-18, Clark County, NV

The IAEM Annual Conference provides a forum to discuss current trends and topics, share information about the latest tools and technology in emergency management and homeland security, and advance the work of IAEM. Conference sessions encourage stakeholders at all levels of government, the private sector, public health and related professions to exchange ideas and collaborate to protect lives and property from disaster. 
Life Balance  
 
Don't Let Negativity Wear You Down
 
We all have one - the friend or acquaintance who is always negative, no matter what the situation. Mine is someone whom I know to be intelligent and a nice enough person but who's willingness to champion social causes drives her friends crazy. Worse, she always takes the moral high ground in such a way that disagreeing with her or correcting errors of logic or fact make you not only wrong but morally reprehensible.

Associating with people like this is not only frustrating, it can make you think in negative terms. This is doubly so for emergency managers: we tend by nature to be dissatisfied with the status quo and seek continuous improvement. It's easy to let that quest for improvement make us bitter and negative. I know; I've been there.

There are several things I do to keep myself in balance. I make a point each morning of thinking about one positive thing before I get out of bed: a good time had with friends, my family, a work accomplishment - it really doesn't matter what it is as long as it's a positive thought. I have a close friend I check in with each week and we make a point of talking about what we've done and our future plans without dwelling on the negativity in our lives. Lastly, I tend to associate with people who get joy out of life and limit my engagement with the negative ones.

Needless to say, I don't spend too much time with the person I mentioned above. Her loss -not mine.
From the Bookshelf  

Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence
by Karen Armstrong 

Although this book has no direct relationship to emergency management, it's theme is one that having a major effect on the communities we serve. Emergency managers need to be neutral in order to serve all segments of the populations we serve; we cannot afford to let ourselves be influenced by misconceptions based on race or religion.

In this ambitious book, researcher Karen Armstrong studies the links between various world religions and the violence often associated with them by viewing them in a historical context. She demonstrates how each religion arose in an agrarian society where it permeated all facets of that society. Overtime, religion both served as a source of a warrior ethos and as a counter-balance to violence. The shift to industrialization and separation of church ans state produced major changes to this historical paradigm.

Most importantly, Ms. Armstrong demonstrates that the violent component of religions do not represent the norm and that religion to a certain extent has been displaced by allegiance to the state.

This is not an easy book to read, particularly if you have no interest in history or comparative religions but it will change your views about the relationship between religion and violence.

 
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Interested in more books on emergency management and related topics?
Speaker's Corner 
Looking for a Speaker?

 

Need a speaker for your next conference? I offer keynotes, seminars and workshops.
 
Why Should You Choose Me As Your Speaker?
Three Reasons Why I'm the Right Speaker for Your Conference 
 
You can find more details and sample videos on my website or on my SpeakerMatch page.  
  
Speaking Engagements 

Free webinar: 

October 27, 11:00 AM PDT From Generating Revenue to Emergency Preparedness: Making the Most of Emergency Mass Notification System

�Lucien G. Canton 2015. All rights reserved.

 

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the author, and "reprinted with permission."

ISSN: 2334-590X