Emergency Managers - Strategic Asset or Necessary Evil? : How to Change Your Value to Leadership

Disasters happen. They always have, and they always will. In fact, the frequency and intensity of disasters are expected to rise. Yet, Emergency Managers are still considered, in many organizations, functionaries. They serve an important purpose, but most still fight tooth and nail for every penny of their budget, every year.
So, how do we change that? Consider the path of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) in the private sector. There are some important corollaries that should not be ignored.
The role of “CIO” is a relatively new one in the corporate world. Sure, there has been a leadership role in Information Technology (IT) for decades, but not that of a CIO. That function began to appear only around 20 years ago. In the beginning, the role was filled by “techies”, and typically reported to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), as did most IT organizations. The role itself was responsible for managing the flow of reports to the business operators, and to ensure that the “best” systems were in place to support the strategies of the organization. Trouble was, most CIO-types weren’t involved in helping to set those strategies. Decisions were often made based on limited support or input from the business leaders. Sometimes the results were not good at all. So prevalent was this that the acronym “CIO” picked up a new definition – “Career Is Over”.
But then, about ten or so years back, a new breed began to emerge. The “new” CIO’s began to speak the language of The Business. To communicate the benefits of their strategies in the lingua franca: financial impact on the business. Many of this “new breed” were not thirty-year mainframe veterans or “heads-down” applications developers, but rather savvy businesspeople with an understanding of the value of technology, expressed in terms that really mattered to the folks on Mahogany Row. Now, the CIO is considered one of the most important members of the executive committee – a true Trusted Advisor.
So, how does that apply to Emergency Managers? How you are perceived is directly related to how you communicate your mission. Understand the persuasive art of the “Consultative Sale”. In order to succeed, the art of persuasion is crucial. To persuade, it’s important to position your desired outcome in the context of your target audience’s needs and interests. Rather than ask for systems and headcount directly, take a look at a more strategic initiative, such as your organization’s Continuity of Operations / Continuity of Government (COOP / COG) Plan. For the Emergency Manager, it is a wealth of opportunity. After all, in order to ensure that the COOP/COG Plan is executable, it will no doubt require – you guessed it – systems and headcount.
Continuity Planning is a discipline. It should be based upon a methodological approach. Demonstrating that you understand that approach will increase your value proposition.
Continuity Planning includes:
• Risk Management –
o This step is where the threats of a disaster, existing vulnerabilities and potential impacts of disaster are identified. It is also where controls to prevent or reduce the impact of disasters are identified and implemented.

• Impact Analysis –
o This step involves definition of critical versus non-critical functions. This will direct the work going forward towards the most important functions.
o How long can critical functions be down? This is expressed as the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD). The answer to this may have a direct impact on the budget for your organization.

• Continuity Strategy Development –
o Here, the requirements and options for recovery of critical resources and processes are identified and assessed.
o Understanding and participating in these steps and the ones beyond, will increase your “credibility capital.”
This has been but one example of a way to structure your needs within those of your leadership. It’s not a shell game; it’s a meaningful way to demonstrate the value of your organization, and you as a leader, within the construct of the Big Picture.
By addressing your needs in a manner that is both meaningful to, and a part of, an initiative that is important to your leadership, you’ve demonstrated that you understand their needs. You’ve already demonstrated that you are the “Go-To Person” when the stuff hits the fan. Now you’re crossing over into that rarified status of Trusted Advisor. Once that has been attained, future requests from you will be viewed with a different eye.