Show Description
A crisis reveals the character of the people leading through it. Have they earned trust? Can they hear uncomfortable truths? Have they taken care of the team they are about to ask everything of?
In this episode of the Emergency Management Network Podcast, Todd DeVoe welcomes Eric McNulty, co-author of You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most, for a conversation about character, meta-leadership, and the human side of emergency management.
They explore the new edition’s emphasis on character, balancing workforce expectations with disaster demands, and creating teams where people can speak honestly and support one another. The conversation also tackles one of the profession’s toughest challenges: making consequential decisions with incomplete information while maintaining public trust.
From protecting downtime on blue-sky days to explaining evacuation decisions, this episode examines the everyday leadership practices that prepare people to perform when their communities need them most.
Show Notes
Podcast: Emergency Management NetworkHost: Todd DeVoeGuest: Eric McNulty, co-author of You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most
In This Episode
Todd and Eric discuss why effective crisis leadership begins long before an emergency. Character, honest communication, and relationships shape whether teams and communities will trust a leader when decisions become difficult.
Their conversation explores:
* Character before crisis: Integrity, listening, and putting the mission and people first.
* Leading across generations: Setting clear expectations while respecting boundaries, family responsibilities, and time away.
* Team resilience: Creating a workplace where colleagues support each other and can ask for help.
* Hearing truth to power: Why leaders need to welcome difficult information to avoid operational blind spots.
* Perspective and shared understanding: Bringing together what agencies, frontline personnel, and community members see.
* Public trust and transparency: Explaining what is known, what remains uncertain, and why decisions are being made.
* Evacuation decisions: Balancing competing risks and documenting the information available at the time.
* Community engagement: Building relationships and understanding public expectations before disaster strikes.
Episode Chapters
00:00 — Welcome to the EMN Podcast00:21 — Introducing Eric McNulty and You’re It01:47 — The new edition’s focus on character04:01 — Workforce expectations, boundaries, and the mission09:02 — Supporting team well-being and resilience11:25 — Truth, trust, and listening as a leader15:58 — Transparency and the Boston Marathon bombing response17:11 — Different perspectives and a shared understanding20:04 — Deepwater Horizon: uncertainty and response decisions21:21 — Evacuations, public criticism, and leadership23:56 — Explaining and documenting decisions under uncertainty26:16 — Community participation in emergency planning27:30 — Evacuation behavior and competing risks29:11 — How people interpret emergency messages31:30 — The new edition and supporting future emergency managers33:00 — A closing message of appreciation for the profession
Key Takeaway
The work of crisis leadership starts on ordinary days: earn trust, welcome difficult conversations, care for your team, and help the community understand how decisions are made.
Featured Resource (this is not associated with any affiliate program)
You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When It Matters Most — book information
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emnetwork.substack.com/subscribe
