Hurricane Katrina recovery commander puts advanced HR degree to good use

HR Magazine, Nov, 2005 by Bill Leonard

When Lt. Gen. Russel Honore stepped off his Black Hawk helicopter and surveyed the chaos surrounding the New Orleans Superdome days after Hurricane Katrina hit, he took charge immediately, and things began to happen.

Many local, state and federal officials--along with many in the news media--have credited Honore (pronounced ah-NOR-ay) with salvaging the faltering federal response to Katrina in early September and casting the first positive image in a relief effort marred by a string of setbacks.

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"He came off that doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving," said New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin during a radio interview.

During that interview, Nagin dubbed Honore "that one John Wayne dude," creating a vivid image for those listening. Except, no one ever thinks of John Wayne as holding an advanced college degree in human resource management, like Honore does. That's right: Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, commander of the U.S. First Army, earned his master's degree in HR management from Troy University in Montgomery, Ala.

Honore is proud of his degree and lists it prominently on his resume. However, he doesn't have much to say other than that he took the graduate courses as part of his training and leadership development in the Army.

"This isn't about me," Honore said when asked to comment on his leadership role in the relief effort. "This is about us, and working through this problem together."

A spokesman for the First Army confirmed that Honore earned the degree as part of an officers' educational program developed by Troy University and the U.S. Air War College (also known as Air University) at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.

However, Honore's training and education in HR management were evident if you watched the way he led the troops and got the job done, said Dennis Gibson, a professor emeritus of management at Troy University. Gibson said the photos and video clips of Honore walking among the troops, shaking hands and stopping to talk and "really paying attention," show the types of things that people are taught in the HR management classes.

"He obviously learned those lessons well, because he knows how to lead and get people to do things," said Gibson, who was a professor with the graduate management program at Troy and in 1992 taught the HR management classes that included Honore.

Gibson said that Honore's success comes as no surprise. As a student, Honore knew exactly how to organize his classmates and got them to work together not only to pass but also to excel in the course.

"They were curve-busters, that's for sure. The people selected for that program are some of the best and brightest stars that the military has to offer," Gibson said. "In effect these officers are working on two master's degrees at the same time--one in their military career and one in HR management."

The program did offer several management-related master's degrees to the officers, one in accounting, one in business administration and one in HR management. Gibson said that while some officers chose the degree in accounting or the MBA because they already had an interest in those subjects or courses that would count toward those degrees, most of them ended up choosing the HR management degree.

"I would tell them that at the lower ranks in the military, 'You are managing things. But, by the time you reach the upper-level ranks, then you are managing people,'" said Gibson, who retired as a major in the Air Force before becoming a management professor. "And most of them said that I had a point and decided on pursuing the HR management degree."

Gibson said he wasn't surprised by Honore's success or that he quickly became an icon for leadership following the hurricane.

"To the officers like Russ Honore, failure is just not an option. The pressure is such that you will succeed and excel in your military studies, and that includes excelling in the HR management degree program," Gibson said. "I remember working with these officers as a wonderful but rare teaching experience. I was more of a coach than I was a teacher. The class bonded together, and they supported one another. Of course, since I was a retired military guy I understood the synergy and could talk the talk."

BILL LEONARD IS SENIOR WRITER FOR HR NEWS.