posted by Mike Madison at 9:03 AM /
In the continuing tale of the degrading list of Mt. Lebanon high school women, this morning's Post-Gazette coverage brings a hint that the School District is slipping even farther behind in what should be its efforts to bring closure to this issue. The District is still waiting for the police to say something. Meanwhile, the National Women's Law Center, a leading advocacy organization for women, based in Washington DC, is now on case.
Lebo is going national.
Among the many problems here is a failure of leadership -- not only a failure of District leaders to respond swiftly to an obvious crisis situation, but a failure of those leaders to anticipate that this could happen. Read through this recent summary of the best known and most widely-studied recent episode in successful crisis management -- Johnson & Johnson's response to the Tylenol poisonings of 20+ years ago -- and watch for echoes of what MtLSD could and should have done, and should do, differently.
Effective leaders anticipate and plan, and when the worst happens, they're immediately in control of the situation. "The List" came to light in Mt. Lebanon almost three weeks ago. When it was brought to the attention of school administrators, an effective immediate response could have kept it out of the Post-Gazette, out of the Tribune-Review, out of the hands of the police, and the courts, and out of what may become the national spotlight.
Lebo is going national.
Among the many problems here is a failure of leadership -- not only a failure of District leaders to respond swiftly to an obvious crisis situation, but a failure of those leaders to anticipate that this could happen. Read through this recent summary of the best known and most widely-studied recent episode in successful crisis management -- Johnson & Johnson's response to the Tylenol poisonings of 20+ years ago -- and watch for echoes of what MtLSD could and should have done, and should do, differently.
Effective leaders anticipate and plan, and when the worst happens, they're immediately in control of the situation. "The List" came to light in Mt. Lebanon almost three weeks ago. When it was brought to the attention of school administrators, an effective immediate response could have kept it out of the Post-Gazette, out of the Tribune-Review, out of the hands of the police, and the courts, and out of what may become the national spotlight.
4 Comments:
I love your idea of effective leadership...a hush-hush coverup. I wonder if that's what they're thinking down in Durham, NC, these days. Sure, I know there's a difference between obscene ratings of the Mt. Lebo girls' sexual talents and a possible rape at Duke. Still, the trouble down south started when one of the women called the cops to say the lacrosse jerks directed racial slurs towards her. Maybe the high school antics are just a precursor to more serious exploits.
Hey, if Mt. Lebo doesn't have a drug problem, maybe it's really because the school puts effective leadership into action in that area.
Hush-hush coverup? I think you're missing the point. Focus on this line in the post -- an "effective immediate response" by the school administration. The post didn't elaborate, because I figured that what I meant was obvious. But maybe I was wrong.
The school should not bury the problem -- in fact, by referring the whole thing to the police department, that's precisely what happened. Call the perpetrators in. Call their families in. Read them the riot act. Have them apologize to the victims and the victims' families. Individual punishments and followup by the perpetrators' families to follow. School district publicly redoubles efforts to maintain safe educational environment for all kids. End of episode. Nothing gets "hushed up," but nothing goes in the newspaper, and no one writes letters to the editor wondering why this is a front page story on the Post-Gazette.
fair enough on the explanation. problem is that the issue was going to the media fan anyway once lawyers got involved. after all, there isn't much happening in the world these days to fill up the front page of one of america's great newspapers (or its cross-river rival).
Mike I would have to agree with you on this. Working with various school districts in different types of crises, I've observed the ones that are most effective approach it in a way similar to what you described. School administrators who act quickly and decisively seem to do the best at handling crises. That being said, it's always easier being a Monday morning quarterback :-)
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