Security News > 2008 > February > Former FEMA director Michael Brown talks disaster recovery -- including his own

http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080215/REG/886415246 Financial Week Weekender February 15, 2008 These days, former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown spends much of his time giving advice about handling the unexpected. As chairman of the Cotton Cos., which focuses on business continuity, Mr. Brown advises employers on how to weather natural disasters. As the man vilified for the federal governments response to Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Brown has plenty of thoughts on how to survive career catastrophes, too. Lets start off with what is probably the most common question you are asked. Michael Brown: Sure (laughs). Im sure youre ready for it. You were highly criticized during Hurricane Katrina for the governments response. What did you learn from that? Brown: Well, one, to be patient. If you go back now and you compare what I was saying inside the administration and what I was saying at the time about the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, all of those things came true. The unfortunate thing was I happened to be in that very spot when what I predicted would come true came true. So you learn that if you believeI think this is true for a midlevel manager, its true for every CEOif you believe you are on the right path, you need to stick with it because youll be proven correct. You just need to learn to weather that criticism and do what you think is best. Taking your experience there. Those were some hard knocks, especially during Katrina. Brown: Oh, it was brutal. How do you apply that to your work preparing workforces for disasters? Brown: You must recognize that a disaster is just that: Its a disaster. And everything that can go wrong will go wrong. What you have to focus on is that every single person in that chain of command, every person in your organization, has to be prepared. If Im a mom-and-pop shop I need to make sure the four or five employees I have are ready, not just in that shop but at their home too. Ill ask a CEO, If disaster strikes, have you planned for employees working? Oh yeah, theyll say, we have these contingency plans, we have a very loyal workforce they are going to show up for work. And I just laugh at them. Everyone will tell you: I have a risk manager, a safety manager, we have contingency plans in place for their business. What plans do they have in place for the workforce? Because if those people cant get to work, those other plans dont do them any good. One of the things that federal government does and state government does is they really try to drive home this concept of being prepared at home. I think businesses should do the same thing, regardless of the size. The better prepared employees are in the neighborhood they live in, the more likely they are to get back to work quicker, the more likely they are to be more loyal to you because youve helped them be more prepared in the neighborhood where they live. [...] ___________________________________________________ Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isn

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