Leadership Characteristics that are essential in Emergency Management
Leadership is a vital aspect during emergencies considering that such situations require effective implementation of strategies that seek to reduce chaos and risks associated with emergencies. In cases of an emergency, a leader is mandated to engage in measures that seek to avert the situation and provide solutions that would be necessary based on the particular emergency situation. In emergency management, leaders should portray effective leadership characteristics that help in reducing vulnerability to hazards and assist the affected people to cope with the disasters associated with the emergencies. The first leadership characteristic that is essential during emergency management involves being authoritative. Considering that emergency situation do not create room for preparation, it is important for leaders to be authoritative, which is an aspect that helps in the process of making decisions regarding the way forward. The leadership characteristic provides an avenue for implementing effective measures that help in coping with the outcomes of the emergency situation.
The second leadership skill necessary in emergency management is assertiveness, which is a characteristic that helps in dealing and managing the situations. According to Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola (2017), assertiveness in emergency situation helps the provision of proper directions concerning the strategies to overcome and cope with the outcomes of the emergency situation. An assertive leader has the ability to communicate assertively and calmly to other people despite any given situation, which is an important aspect during emergency management considering that people are ought to remain calm. Lastly, creativity and innovation are essential leadership characteristics that are necessary in the emergency management. Emergencies involve situations that are not preplanned thus requires the implementation of quick innovations to overcome the risks and disaster that may be associated with the situations. A leader is therefore required to be creative and innovative in order to develop strategies to be implemented during the emergency management.
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How Leadership Influences Effectiveness in Disaster Response
Leadership plays an important role in enhancing effectives during disaster response and management considering the situations require effective strategies that allow people to cope and overcome risks associated with the disasters. Firstly, leadership capitalizes on effective communication among all the affected persons. According to Spurgeon, Clark, & Ham (2017) communication helps in facilitating effective disaster response measures considering that crucial information is passed to ensure that individuals affected are in a position to overcome risks. Leaders engaging in emergency management tend to offer effective communication through the development of appropriate channels that may help in relying information efficiently. Secondly, leadership enhances disaster response through the development of alternatives and solutions to the risks associated with any given disasters. In case of a disaster, leaders tend to be at the fore front in the provision of solutions and directives regarding how to respond to the disasters thereby influencing the outcome.
Thirdly, leadership influences disaster response through decision making considering that leaders tend to have outstanding capabilities to make decisions concerning the way forward based on the current situations. According to Hershkovich, Gilad, Zimlichman, & Kreiss (2016), decision making is a crucial leadership characteristic that helps leaders to engage in management effectively based on the decisions regarding any given aspect in different situations. In disaster response, decision making is crucial considering that the situations may have fatal consequences. In that case, leaders capitalize on effective decision-making strategies that seek to resolve the situation and respond promptly to the disasters that arise. Consequently, leadership has a major impact on emergency management and disaster response considering that the leaders are mandated to ensure effective development of strategies that seek to overcome risks and consequences of the disasters.
References
Haddow, G., Bullock, J., & Coppola, D. P. (2017). Introduction to emergency management . Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hershkovich, O., Gilad, D., Zimlichman, E., & Kreiss, Y. (2016). Effective medical leadership in times of emergency: A perspective. Disaster and military medicine , 2 (1), 4.
Spurgeon, P., Clark, J., & Ham, C. (2017). Medical leadership: from the dark side to centre stage . CRC Press.
