Leadership During a Terrorist Attack
Leadership during a Terrorist Attack:
Coping with 9/11 by Rebuilding
During the terrorists attacks of 9/11 many financial industries were particularly hard hit because of where the attack occurred. Cantor Fitzgerald (CF), a bond trading firm was amongst the hardest hit by the attacks. This is because when the plane hit the tower where CF was located most of CF’s employees were trapped above the initial impact. This caused CF to lose a huge number of employees and the only brother to Howard Lutnik who was and still is the company’s CEO. This crisis put the company at huge risk of becoming obsolete as there was no way to run the company with less than a third of the employees working. Something had to be done, and quick. This paper will show how effective crisis response can change the dynamic of a company from almost losing everything after a crisis has occurred to becoming one of the leader’s yet again in the industry. “You Make the Call Questions” * How did leadership function in this case? Leadership functioned in this case from the top. The CEO Harry Lutnik was the first to respond and make a plea as well as a promise on national television in an attempt to make a recovery of his company and help the families of the employees lost that were directly affected by the tragedy. * Describe Lutnik’s visibility . Do you think it was appropriate for him to go on national T.V so soon after the attacks? Lutnik’s visibility was very predominant he really broke down publicly and made a plea to his audience for help. He vowed to stay in business for the sake of his lost employees families. I think it was appropriate for him to go on television so soon because e this was the time to address the matter while it was still fresh in people’s minds. It was a tragedy but the reality was that the after math that tit left behind would be another huge financial tragedy on the victim’s families and the company as well. * Did CF have a positive reputation before the
Coping with 9/11 by Rebuilding
During the terrorists attacks of 9/11 many financial industries were particularly hard hit because of where the attack occurred. Cantor Fitzgerald (CF), a bond trading firm was amongst the hardest hit by the attacks. This is because when the plane hit the tower where CF was located most of CF’s employees were trapped above the initial impact. This caused CF to lose a huge number of employees and the only brother to Howard Lutnik who was and still is the company’s CEO. This crisis put the company at huge risk of becoming obsolete as there was no way to run the company with less than a third of the employees working. Something had to be done, and quick. This paper will show how effective crisis response can change the dynamic of a company from almost losing everything after a crisis has occurred to becoming one of the leader’s yet again in the industry. “You Make the Call Questions” * How did leadership function in this case? Leadership functioned in this case from the top. The CEO Harry Lutnik was the first to respond and make a plea as well as a promise on national television in an attempt to make a recovery of his company and help the families of the employees lost that were directly affected by the tragedy. * Describe Lutnik’s visibility . Do you think it was appropriate for him to go on national T.V so soon after the attacks? Lutnik’s visibility was very predominant he really broke down publicly and made a plea to his audience for help. He vowed to stay in business for the sake of his lost employees families. I think it was appropriate for him to go on television so soon because e this was the time to address the matter while it was still fresh in people’s minds. It was a tragedy but the reality was that the after math that tit left behind would be another huge financial tragedy on the victim’s families and the company as well. * Did CF have a positive reputation before the
References: Ulmer, R. R., Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2006). Effective Crisis Communication: Moving From Crisis to Opportunity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications