Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

The military considers it time well served / a career.
For me it’s a subtle reminder I’m growing old.

I was watching the news a couple of nights back and was harkened back TWENTY years ago this week when Grand Forks, ND lost their fight with the flood…and began the restoration process.

“Come Hell and High Water” was the headline of the Grand Forks Herald. Every soul involved in that city during that year and the recovery to follow knows what that means. It impacted what each person regarded as important from that point on:

-Soggy, moldy material items once thought to be of value were heaped as high on the curb as you could stack without machinery.
-Vehicles inundated with water, then heat from the sun bake with windows up tight were scanned and sniffed for that familiar moldy scent for some time following.
-Homes were stripped to the studs because drywall wicked brackish moisture and quickly turned to black mold, a known health hazard.

The University of North Dakota (UND) campus sits on a high spot in the city so the physical plant compound became the Emergency Operations Center for FEMA and the Corps of Engineers.

Since I had been consulting with the campus staff on the electrical system for years, I became the clear choice to work with the campus on multiple projects that year, providing me with leadership growth opportunities. A few significant ones recounted below.

There were temporary Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers being transported from Mississippi that entire year and we created a temporary trailer park with some of those campers for displaced homeowners. I worked with the physical plant director (Leroy-a good man and short term mentor) to sketch a quick design, assemble an estimate, submit an application and get things moving…over a lunch hour.

•Leaders need to make good decisions under fire.

{The contractors total bid for the trailer park project came in within 5% of our literal back of the napkin estimate.}

We were tasked with establishing power to the base of operations for the Army Corp of Engineers. I remember working over the weekend with a skeleton contracting crew and with limited equipment, I had to help pull cable. There are a few times in my career where, as an inspector, working alongside and with the contractor to accomplish tasks was the only option other than walking away and leaving an incomplete project.

•Sometimes you do whatever it takes to finish the job because the greater good dictates action, not policy or rhetoric.

UND is a medical school and the main medical lab had been shut down until electrical service could be safely restored to the building. Working with the systems director (Randy), we waded through floodwater, dark rooms, mold and an unknown environment, including the rooms filled with…cadavers…to get the building operational, including ventilation and refrigeration.

•Leaders find themselves in unpleasant circumstances – maintaining composure isn’t an option, it’s a prerequisite. First responders know this concept well. I had to learn quickly.

At the time, few were willing to regard the events and the ensuing acrimony as a learning opportunity. Today, as I look back, it’s clear to me that I learned valuable leadership lessons during the 1997 flood.

Have a blessed weekend!