Building a Culture of Resilience
- Seamus Leary
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
By Robert Acker
Lesson 3: People Make the Difference
When uncertainty becomes overwhelming, people look for something they can trust.
Before 2020, most people had never experienced a global pandemic. While outbreaks such as SARS, H1N1 influenza, Ebola, and Zika made headlines, their impacts were far more limited than what the world was about to face. To find a pandemic of similar global significance, one must reach back more than a century to the 1918 influenza pandemic, often called the Spanish flu.
Then came 2020.
A novel coronavirus began spreading across the globe. At first, many people simply called it the coronavirus. As scientists learned more about the disease it caused, COVID-19 became the name recognized worldwide. Within weeks, daily life changed dramatically. Schools and businesses closed. Travel slowed. Communities searched for reliable information while leaders faced decisions unlike any in modern history.
The pandemic ultimately claimed more than seven million reported lives worldwide, including more than 1.2 million in the United States. Yet amid the uncertainty, thousands of emergency management professionals worked behind the scenes to gather information, connect partners, and help leaders make informed decisions as conditions changed by the hour.
One of those professionals was Robert Acker, Meridian Safety and Public Health Consultant.
In this third lesson of Meridian's Building a Culture of Resilience series, Robert reflects on his experience supporting the national response during the early days of the pandemic. His story is not about one virus. It is about the people who came together, shared information, solved problems, and helped the nation navigate an unprecedented challenge.
Plans mattered.
Technology mattered.
Information mattered.
But none of them accomplished anything without people committed to a common purpose.
Resilience is often measured by plans, equipment, and capabilities. Yet every emergency ultimately comes down to relationships, communication, trust, and teamwork. The strongest organizations prepare those long before disaster strikes.
That is the lesson Robert shares.
As you listen to this week's lesson, consider your own organization. Have you invested in relationships before the next emergency? Do your teams trust one another enough to share information quickly? Are you building a culture where collaboration becomes second nature?
Because when the next crisis arrives...
Plans create the framework. People create the resilience.
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