Effecting Collective Impact Through Collective Leadership on a Foundation of Generative Relationships: Leadership Lessons Learned from Global Health Threat Response: Ebola in 2014: As Seen Through the Eyes of a Former Virginia State Health Commissioner

Global health threats challenge leaders to forge a path forward in vague, uncertain, complex and ambiguous situations. Using the Ebola threat of 2014, this chapter identifies key leadership insights from the work done in Virginia to mitigate that health concern. Foundational to the competence required to manage such events is the appreciation by leaders of the value that arises from developing and maintaining positive, generative relationships across scale, space and time. The author, with insights from the leadership literature, shares the experiences and approaches in Virginia during the Ebola concern with an emphasis on the pre-event work done to build such relationships and the resulting public health emergency capabilities that developed. A novel statewide approach to the Ebola threat was implemented and, upon review, was considered instrumental in the effective response that was mounted. It is likely such an approach will inform public health emergency planning and response efforts for some time to come.