Stronger in the Broken Places: Nine Lessons for Turning Crisis into Triumph

From the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, how to manage your business in the face of challenge, change, and potential disaster

For James Lee Witt, the man who rebuilt America's emergency response system, the most inspiring and effective lessons-about responsibility, team building, planning, and taking action-have guided real-life heroes through extraordinary situations. These lessons can be applied to business to guide you through the pressures you face each week-or once in a career or a lifetime.

Whether describing earthquake preparation in California, moving a Missouri town out of a floodplain, or shoring up walls and spirits after the Oklahoma City bombing, Witt captures the moments when leaders step forward, how they motivate others, and what they need to triumph over adversity. Witt's home-spun wisdom teaches us to "Tear Down the Stovepipes" to build effective teamwork by thinking horizontally, not vertically; to find energizing people who improve morale, whether a V.P.'s secretary or a key client, since "A Lightning Rod Works Both Ways"; and to establish systems for capturing what happens-what goes right and what goes wrong-to ensure that every challenge leaves you "Stronger in the Broken Places."

To bring home the ten lessons in this inspiring and useful book, Witt shares examples and strategies from corporations-from Malden Mills and Intel to Swissair and Kmart-who have overcome crisis by applying the same principles to their business every day.

A native of Arkansas, James Lee Witt served as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency from 1993 until 2001, and he transformed FEMA into a customer-focused model for crisis management. An international consultant and motivational speaker, he lives in Washington, D.C. James Morgan is the author of the New York Times Notable Book The Distance to the Moon and co-author of Leading with My Heart, Virginia Kelley's bestselling memoir of raising Bill Clinton. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.