Out of Disaster, Power in Numbers
But the group did have two important things in common: a sophisticated knowledge of the city and a passionate desire to work as a team. "This wasn't me handing out assignments," says Meeks, now the paper's city editor. "This was the group getting together and deciding, 'Where are the areas we have to cover and who's going to go do it?'" The reporters tackled the biggest story of their lives even as they scrounged for food in suffocating heat.
Ashton Phelps Jr., the longtime publisher of the Times-Picayune, says he's not surprised by the paper's achievements. "We try to identify and cultivate leaders and have them work in a transparent community that holds them accountable."
After the crisis, the newspaper's employees continued to break out of their regular jobs. The business manager delivered equipment to colleagues; reporters distributed papers. The newsroom and its online affiliate effectively integrated their staffs.
New spirit. Collaborative leadership can confuse lines of authority and accountability. And it can be difficult to sustain over a long time, simply because it requires greater coordination. Still, a spirit of increased collaboration is alive and well at the Times-Picayune. Maintaining it is challenging since employees are also dealing with insurance claims, home repair, and scattered family. And in that stressful environment, staff may be tempted to abandon the extra effort.
Yet Amoss notices some lasting change. "A more interdependent approach to newsgathering has evolved. By talking more, for example, the city desk and features staff have learned they can help each other on stories. "That kind of walking across the room and working together is much more common than it used to be," Amoss says.
Cooperation is teaching employees that they all have leadership roles to play. "Leadership is not necessarily connected to important-sounding titles," Amoss says. "Leadership is not necessarily a function of how smart you are. It is more correlated to impulses of courage and responsibility and accountability."
John Alexander is president and Stephen Martin is global public relations manager at the Center for Creative Leadership.
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