By Deborah S. Kent, CEO and Founder of DKC Group
Originally shared as part of DKC Group’s Mission Minute series

I was inspired to share my 9/11 experience after reading a reflection recently posted by a former TSA colleague and longtime friend, Stacey Fitzmaurice. Her story brought me back to my own experience that day—and to the unexpected way our professional paths would later intersect.

On September 11, 2001, I was Director of the U.S. Department of State’s IRM Bureau Business Center Division, part of what is now the Diplomatic Technology Bureau. Our division operated largely as a fee-for-service organization, supporting Department, agency, intelligence, and mission-domain customers.

That morning, I was on my way to "Main State" as the day's events unfolded. The Pentagon had not yet been struck.

When I arrived, the reality of what was happening began to take shape. Televisions were on throughout the workplace, and people were gathered around them, trying to comprehend what they were seeing and what it might mean. Information was incomplete, events were moving rapidly, and no one yet understood the full scope of what was happening.

As a director, my responsibility was to reassure my staff, urge everyone to remain calm, and advise them to remain on the premises.

For me, in retrospect, that was one of my first leadership lessons: institutional guidance, however well-intended, can collide with human reality. And in those moments, leadership requires recognizing the difference.

My staff were not simply government employees. They were parents, spouses, sons, daughters, siblings, and friends. They were being asked to remain in place when none of us knew whether Washington remained a target—or whether the people we loved were safe.

I let anyone who wanted to leave do so that day. I stayed on the job.

Across the Washington metropolitan area, the same human impulse was taking hold: people needed to get home, find their families, account for friends and loved ones, and understand what was happening. Cellular networks were saturated. Metro stations, buses, and roadways were overwhelmed.

Fast forward to 2004, I left the State Department to join the Department of Homeland Security, first serving as Chief IT Strategist for the Border and Transportation Security biometric screening program, US-VISIT.

A decision that ultimately led to my joining the DHS/TSA Secure Flight Program Office as Chief Business and Policy Architect. My 9/11 chronicle evolved from living through the experience to an opportunity to lead the development of the policy and business architectures that enabled the 2009 implementation and deployment of the U.S. Secure Flight passenger screening system.

Stay tuned for our next Mission Minute story.