Leadership and Tragedy

The Sydney Morning Herald today (March 21, 2012) published an article on the tragic shooting at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, France.  It reported that the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, "cancelled campaign appearances" and flew to the school.
Although Mr Sarkozy is fighting a hard presidential campaign, it is not uncommon for national and state leaders to drop what they are doing to travel to the scene of such a tragedy.  We can see that in Australia with Prime Minister Julia Gillard visiting flooded areas recently and Premier Anna Bligh of Queensland stepping in when Brisbane was flooded.  It is now seemingly expected that leaders will do so, particularly after the criticism that President George W. Bush experience when he failed to personally visit New Orleans after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

But why is this the case?  It wasn't always so.  President Roosevelt didn't rush to Pearl Harbor, although Winston Churchill did tour London streets after bombings during World War 2.  Perhaps faster travel makes more common an involvement that has always been expected - that a leader should lead from the front?  Even in business, CEOs are lauded when they drop in on the factory floor, or walk around the office chatting to employees, rather than locking themselves away on the top floor with their management team.
The experience of politicians suggest that the modern business leader should spend more time with employees, building their morale and level of engagement.  Not to do so risks criticism and perhaps lower company performance.