The Art of Crisis Leadership. Kevin Cowherd
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ordered subordinates to produce other “front-page” indictments. Still, the news did little to cheer Ed Norris at the time. Prison is a place where your emotions shut down. Joy is hard to come by.
After hurricanes hit the Panhandle, he was transferred to a prison in Yazoo City, Miss., then to the federal camp in Atlanta. The inmates he’d become friendly with promised Norris they wouldn’t divulge his identity.
But on the day of his release, news trucks descended on the prison, waiting for him to come out of the gates.
Other prisoners watched the TV cameras setting up, stared at him and asked: “Who the fuck are you?”
Good question. Even Ed Norris didn’t know anymore.
He was 45, a convicted felon. What would he do now? He needed a job. He was on home detention with an ankle bracelet, able to leave home only for work, church and the gym. But who would hire him?
Nevertheless, he started looking. Every day. But every job application asked: “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” Finally, he filled-out one that didn’t and got a job at a high-end perfumery at a Tampa mall.
He made $8 an hour and liked the job just fine. He says he was a valued employee.
“Then I got a call one day from the manager,” he said. “Someone recognized me and called the company. So the manager said ‘So sorry’ and fired me. I said ‘You want me to bring the key back?’ She said no, they already changed the locks.
“So I got fired! From a minimum wage job! At the mall! I’d been out for three months. You wonder why people go back to their criminal behavior? They have to get money somehow.”
A Tampa newspaper reporter got wind of Norris’ story and stopped by his house to see if he’d talk about his situation.
It was a bad day to drop by.
“I can’t wrap my brain around it,” he told her. “I’m sitting in the smoldering wreck that is my life.”
But little by little, the clouds began to lift.
In August of 2005, he got a call from a radio station in Baltimore. How would he like to do an hourly talk show every day from his Tampa home?
He was still immensely popular in Charm City. The station had taken a poll of listeners, asking: “Would you want Ed Norris back as police commissioner?” Ninety percent of the callers said yes. Evidently, they felt Ed Norris had made Baltimore safer. He had delivered on his promise to reduce crime.
So he accepted the radio gig. When a judge decreed that Norris had to perform his community service in Baltimore, he flew north, slept in a friend’s basement and continued to do the show, returning home on weekends to see his family.
With his service requirements fulfilled a year later, he asked the station for a long-term contract. Otherwise, he told them, I’m moving back to Florida with my family. The station gave him what he wanted and he moved his family to the Baltimore metropolitan area.
Pretty soon, Ed Norris was getting great ratings, making six figures and reclaiming his old celebrity status, this time via the airwaves. He was even asked by David Simon to play a detective known as Edward Norris on the hit HBO series, “The Wire.”
More than ten years later, he still works in radio as the co-host of the top-rated sports-talk “Norris and Davis Show” on 105.7 The Fan.
But as dessert and after-dinner drinks are served at the chophouse, Ed Norris frowns when I ask him how life is going these days.
“Am I content? No,” he says. “I still didn’t do anything wrong. It’s nice that I make more money than I did as police commissioner. I have an easy job. I have a nicer car…People are always telling me ‘You’re doing great!’ (But) I’m not a crook. And I have to live with this. And I’m out of a profession that I was the best at.”
“I tell people: ‘That’s what I was meant to do.’ I was really good at that. If your mother was the victim of a crime, you’d want me to have the case.’”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
1 Keep your family intact. Crisis causes tremendous amounts of short- and long-term strain and there are many instances when people in crisis have a difficult time managing themselves, much less others around them. However, when it comes down to it, your family is really all you have—they are the people that love you unconditionally. Most have heard that you “hurt the ones you love the most.” Flip the paradigm and do everything in your power to maintain your family structure. Families are generally the unintended victims and everything must be done to protect them from the people or circumstances that threaten your physical and emotional well-being.
2 Preserve your own life. In virtually every high-profile crisis case I’ve been a part of, clients have said that the thought of suicide entered their mind, particularly when there is intense media scrutiny. The rationale? Clients felt as if there was simply no way out. They were disgraced, humiliated, embarrassed and beaten down—they had no fight and lost their will to live. These were generally good-hearted people who reached a breaking point—they felt they had more value dead than alive. Their self-esteem was destroyed and they wanted the pain to simply go away. There are so many resources to help one get through life’s most difficult times. And, to a person, everyone I’ve interacted with who thought of suicide is glad they didn’t do it. Sadly, when someone takes his or her own life, the pain is passed on to those who love them. If you can make it through the rough patch by leaning forward, life will get better.
3 Know your numbers, above and below the line. We’ve all heard the saying that money is the root of all evil. Based on my experience, money that is mismanaged wittingly or unwittingly triggers long-term crisis. As a newly-appointed chief executive, never completely trust what others are telling you, particularly when it comes to the financial side of the shop. While it was very easy to rely on the fiscal advice Norris was given about the discretionary fund, he admits he should have been more diligent and less accepting of embracing the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” mindset. Thoroughly scrub each budget you are accountable for, particularly as a new executive. Trust but verify!
4 Lead from the front. Norris talks frequently about leading from the front and not asking anyone who works for you to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself. Whether Norris was chasing an armed suspect down a dark alley or testifying before combative community members or legislators, the men and women in blue knew he had their back and was acting in their best interest. Be the example and those that are loyal and motivated will operate within that shadow. Real results are driven by leaders who operate in the trenches.
Key Concept
Eddie Haskell
vs. the Eagle Scout
Imagine two 10 year-old boys playing in the neighborhood they grew up in. The first boy, we’ll call him Tim, is running around, picking up rocks and throwing them. One of the rocks happens to go through his neighbor’s window. Very scared, Tim looks around, sees no one, then runs in the back door of his home and directly up to his room. There, he quickly shuts the door, looks out the window to ensure he wasn’t seen, then begins playing video games. (I would say read a book, but this is 2016).
What Tim didn’t realize was that an 80-year-old woman, we’ll call her Mrs. Cindy, was sitting by her window (as she does every day) and saw Tim throw the rock that broke his neighbor’s window. Mrs. Cindy can’t help but call the “victimized” neighbor, Mr. Brendan, to let him know what happened. One thing leads to another, Tim’s parents get called and before you know it, Tim is crying in front of Mr. Brendan, admitting his guilt and paying restitution. Tim is talked about all over town—he now has the Eddie Haskell reputation!
The second boy, we’ll call him Garrett, does the exact same thing—he throws a rock through a neighbor’s window. Although scared, upset and crying, he goes home and tells his Mom and Dad what happened. Well, Garrett ends up crying in front of Mr. Brendan as well. However, because he was proactive and apologetic, Mr. Brendan lets him off the hook, emotionally and financially. In fact, because he