Texas Lacked Conscious Leadership Last Week
Some leaders stepped up while others stepped out
Last week was a traumatic experience for Texans. While we’re used to having occasional bad weather, no one thought the entire electricity grid and water systems would fail us during an historic winter storm.
With the temperature dipping down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, Victor and I spent Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday trying to stay warm in our home after the power went out for over 36 hours. Then we lost water for 5 days. By Sunday we were finally able to return to somewhat normal life. Many of our fellow Austinites and Texans are still struggling with no water or electricity. It will take months to repair the damage to our infrastructure in the state.
During the depths of the crisis, it was obvious to identify the conscious leaders in our state—and those who are not as conscious. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz was caught flying to Cancun while his constituents froze and suffered. Austin’s Mayor Steve Adler was accused of hypocrisy by media and constituents as he conducted TV interviews from his home with all the lights on (including accent lights for paintings behind him) while citizens shivered in powerless homes. One Texas mayor castigated his community for “crying” and said, “Only the strong will survive,” then resigned from office. Many politicians and government officials started casting blame for the crisis before offering the immediate solutions that would actually help people.
The lack of empathy, service, and solutions-focus was glaring. It was also a stark reminder that our current systems are antiquated and are failing us. Whether it’s energy, water, food, healthcare, corporate structures, or political leaders, we are in desperate need of a more conscious way of approaching how we function as a society.
There are glimmers of hope. Austin City Council member Paige Ellis got to work as the storm hit. She personally purchased water and began distributing it in neighborhoods still without running water. Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke, who ran for U.S. Senate against Ted Cruz in 2018, cranked up his campaign infrastructure and had volunteers call nearly a million elderly Texans to ensure they had shelter, food, and water. These are leaders who showed true conscious leadership: they saw suffering and found ways to address it immediately.
There will be plenty of time after this catastrophe for policy debates and working to ensure Texas is prepared for future weather disasters. We must remember that as these institutions crumble due to failed leadership, we must demand better.
Veteran news anchor Dan Rather lives in Austin and made this astute observation about the crisis:
A broad community effort to help is needed. So is accountability. Many state officials and special interests sold out their fellow Texans. And now, even in this time of reckoning, most of them offer little help beyond just saying a version of, “Hey, it’s life; deal with it.”
There are some massive betrayals of public trust behind what has happened in Texas. It’s sad. And even more so because those responsible remain convinced that they’ll never be held accountable.
But at the same time, the communal spirit of people helping people is inspiring. We can rebuild. And I am convinced we will rebuild better, but only if we have better leadership, make better decisions, and have the humility to know we are all in this together.
Mr. Rather is absolutely right. The “deal with it” attitude is completely unconscious leadership; lacking any empathy or concern. It’s true, we must have better leadership—we must have conscious leadership. Developing our conscious leadership means we can rise to the many challenges we face—and we can do so with love, compassion, equality, and optimism.
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
P.S. If you’d like to help Austin recover, please donate to the Central Texas Food Bank or the Austin Disaster Relief Network.
The way we work and build teams is rapidly changing. Leaders often feel unprepared to navigate the transition. As a conscious leadership coach, consultant and communicator, Meredith helps leaders and their teams create new ways of working and relating so they can prepare for the future by consciously co-creating it.
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