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Last summer I was visiting my son and his family near Crossfield, Alta. It had been hot across the province, and wildfires surrounding my hometown of Jasper had ignited and grown dangerous. On July 22 the decision was made to evacuate the town of all but essential workers. I am the mayor and I wasn’t there! My frantic efforts to find a way home were crushed. Two of the three access routes into Jasper were closed. The third was open only to accommodate the thousands of people evacuating to British Columbia.

Over the next 48 hours I was in constant contact with essential staff in Jasper. On July 24, I was on a video call with the director of protective and legislative services, Christine Nadon, and people from Parks Canada. They told me that fire had entered the town and only workers with a breathing apparatus could stay. Over the video, I heard the incident commander say, “Christine, it’s time to go.”

It was also time for a leader to step up, yet this leader was five hours away. So began my crash course in learning to lead through a crisis — from afar.

There are lessons I took from that experience that I hope are worth sharing. First among them: leadership in a time of crisis differs from leadership at other times only by degree, not by kind. The fundamental responsibilities don’t change. But the stakes, the pressure, the pace — those do.

Second: leadership, proximate or remote, is rooted in relationships. Leaders must rely on the strength of others and on the trust built long before the crisis. Elected leaders, particularly in a crisis, must understand the essential elements and limitations of their role, and stay in their own lane allowing others to travel freely and effectively in theirs.

My experience suggests that we lead best in crisis not by directing traffic but by setting the tone and inspiring unity. The goal is to instil in those who provide the crisis response and those who rely on it an attitude of shared purpose, resilience and hope. We must also acknowledge the loss, fear, disruption and uncertainty experienced by responders and the public alike.

Leadership in crisis requires a surprising mix of humility and confidence: humility in oneself and the boundaries of one’s role, and confidence in the people, systems and structures put in place for these moments.

A leader’s job isn’t to know everything, do everything or be everywhere. It is to trust others to rise to the moment. And it is to communicate and reflect through words, actions and tone the qualities we hope to see echoed throughout the community: courage, calm, hope and compassion.

To instil those qualities in others, a leader must embody them. The public will reflect the attitude of their leaders, though it may not always be obvious. Authenticity and empathy are crucial, especially when there is risk of those attributes being misconstrued as softness, even weakness.

Leading through a crisis isn’t a time for posturing, pretence or false bravado. Experience leads me to observe that people, at least in Jasper, respect authenticity.

During the wildfires of 2024, Jasper was filled with leaders: people fulfilling their roles with humility, courage and the grace to allow others to also fulfil theirs. First responders, Unified Command, Incident Management Team members, administrators, Parks Canada staff, provincial and federal government officials, business owners, residents and visitors all played parts. Each person helped lead our community through one of its most difficult moments, often by simply doing what was required of them, and doing it well.

With luck, I’ll never need to lean heavily on the lessons of last summer. But as wildfires, drought, floods and other extreme events increase in frequency and intensity, I know others will face similar circumstances. To them, I offer my experience, not as a blueprint but a reflection that may be of value. A crisis is more than a test of preparedness; it’s an exercise in facing adversity. As the saying goes, adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it.

Leadership, in crisis or otherwise, is character revealed. The 2024 wildfires revealed Jasper’s authentic character: strong, united, compassionate and quietly brave.

Richard Ireland’s house was one of 358 buildings destroyed in the Jasper fire, about a third of all the structures in town. He had lived there since he was two years old.