Responsible is the riveting and deeply personal account of a CEO who leads a major medical center in southern California through the acute phase and aftermath of a deadly workplace shooting. It offers profound insight into the effect of trauma on individuals and on the culture of an organization – an organization that had previously felt safe, and even immune, to acts of violence occurring within it. In a gripping narrative, the author captures the impact of the shooting on leaders and staff who are accustomed to working in an environment where trauma victims are brought to the hospital for life-saving care, but who find themselves unexpectedly responding to their own tragedy – a tragedy that is further complicated when the identity of the shooter and his rumored motive are revealed.

The book addresses the unique dilemmas faced by the organization and its leader and exposes the multiple perspectives that emerge as people search for answers to why it happened and whether it could be prevented. It unflinchingly examines the boundary between the personal and professional for the CEO as she guides the organization amidst the life-shattering event, through subsequent re-traumatization, and throughout the arc of the healing process. Her struggle to come to terms with her own developing symptoms of PTSD and her experience as a vulnerable patient are conveyed with a candid and poignant honesty that offers hope and understanding to anyone who has experienced trauma or tragedy – and deeper insight and awareness for everyone else.