Trudy McGowan has shared what it takes to work in crisis management. Sometimes all diplomacy takes is a WhatsApp group, or a pair of thongs.
In September, Trudy McGowan joined AIIA to talk on her many experiences working in crisis management. After decades of working for DFAT, her key takeaway is that diplomacy is rarely a straightforward, professional process. And that relationships and trust are everything.
“There are not always elegant meeting rooms, carefully prepared talking points, and diplomatic notes. Sometimes diplomacy is a mobile phone, a WhatsApp group, and a relationship that you built three years ago,” she shared when opening her speech.
Over her decades of experience, McGowan has managed terrorist attacks, evacuations, hostage situations, natural disasters, wars and much more. On her second day working in the consular sector, she was on the phone to victims of the 2008 Mumbai Terror Attack.
She recounted speaking with family members, and victims who were held hostage in the hotels. Helping direct them through a truly traumatic experience. This experience quickly taught her that despite the guidelines provided for these situations, when you’re directly speaking to victims, there is no specific candour to adopt once she answers that phone call.
“Working for the government can feel enormous from the inside, but to someone who needs help, the government is simply the person who answers the phone” she stated.
McGowan also shared her experience of helping evacuate Afghan families in 2021. What initially was meant to be 240 people, quickly turned to 4000 following an imminent attack. And when it came to helping people cross 500 meters of tarmac with no shoes, she fought to ensure they did not have to endure any further suffering.
“Strategy matters, planning matters, diplomacy matters, but sometimes leadership is noticing that someone doesn’t have shoes” she said.
It was this specific experience that taught her that giving her team agency to make decisions defines what makes her a leader. That freedom allows decisions to be made quicker and build more confidence within a group.
In 2024, when assisting more evacuations in Afghanistan, she was required to help thousands board airplanes as explosions carried out just 600 meters from the airport. This situation taught McGowan the importance of remaining calm in high pressure situations.
“People look to leaders for cues, and if they’re panicking, they will also panic” she shared.
She emphasised the necessity of creating trust with those escaping conflict. Explaining that “if you’re pretending everything is fine, and it clearly isn’t, they won’t trust you.”
The final two experiences she shared focused on the importance of relationships in diplomacy. Through her connections with the Canadian Army Captain, she was able to ensure a family and their sick child were able to get on the next flight to Australia, helping the child receive the life-saving surgery he needed. McGowan also expressed that through maintaining a relationship with the head of the Bangkok hospital chain in South-East Asia, she was able to help her uncle survive a motorcycle crash in Nepal.
“Relationships are not the soft side of diplomacy, they’re everything” she stated.
To conclude her speech, McGowan left the room with her five lessons from working in crisis management. Be present, listen well, make the decision, empower people and finally, people always.
Ambassadors, negotiation, communiques, and international agreements are often seen as the cornerstones of diplomacy, and each of these aspects certainly are integral. But so is being present and listening to those who have just had their lives torn from them.
Ultimately, her experiences have taught her about courage, perspective, judgement, and most of all, humanity. That having the quiet courage to listen, observe, and trust those closest to the situation, eases decision making in the tensest situations.
Written by Emma Graham
