The Front-Line Leader: Building a High-Performance Organization from the Ground Up

Chapter ThreeThe Credibility Factor

September 2005 is a month many Scripps employees won't soon forget. Hurricane Katrina had struck about two weeks earlier, devastating New Orleans and nearby areas. Thousands of survivors had been evacuated to the Houston, Texas, area to receive aid and temporary lodging. Most survivors who had experienced acute injuries had already been treated, but many others, suffering from chronic conditions like diabetes and mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress, still needed help. Responding to a request from then–United States Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona, Scripps dispatched a thirty-seven-person Medical Response Team (and later another twenty-one-person team) to help provide emergency care for ...