Lessons from deep underground
Laurence Golborne was working in relative obscurity as Chile’s mining minister in August 2010 when a mineshaft collapse thousands of feet below ground in a remote corner of that country catapulted him into the international spotlight. The subsequent 69-day operation that Golborne led to rescue 33 trapped miners made him famous around the world. It also provided “a leadership lesson for the ages,” Harvard University President Drew Faust said Monday in welcoming Golborne, now minister of public works, as he spoke on public policy, leadership, and crisis management at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard Kennedy School. Faust met Golborne during an official visit to Chile with Harvard Kennedy School Dean David T. Ellwood last spring. She said she knew then that Golborne had to come to Harvard to share his story. But, as Golborne reminded the audience, it was a story that could have well ended differently. “Essentially, a crisis happens when...