Leadership plays an important role in defining the direction that an organization takes. Strong leaders are usually able to steer their organizations in the right direction. On the other hand, organizations which lack effective leadership often experience a wide range of challenges that include slow growth and poor performance. Strong leadership is particularly important when an organization is confronted with an emergency or disaster. For the organization to emerge from a disaster stronger, a stable hand is needed. Fatih Demiroz and Naim Kapucu explore the role that leadership plays in emergency and disaster management. They highlight how important effective leadership is in steering organizations out of crises.
That effective leadership is needed for successful management of emergencies and disasters is the main point that Demiroz and Kapucu make in their article. They note that “leadership in managing disasters and emergencies can minimize the damage inflicted by an event” (Demiroz & Kapucu, 2012). Here, the authors argue that while leaders may be unable to prevent disasters and emergencies, they are expected to help their organizations overcome crises. Another important point that Demiroz and Kapucu make is that for leaders to effectively manage disasters and emergencies, they need to possess certain core competencies and traits.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Any individual who wishes to understand the importance of effective leadership would find the article by Demiroz and Kapucu to be very helpful and information. However, this article appears to be mainly targeted at organizational leaders. This is because the contents of the article would mostly benefit these leaders. For example, Demiroz and Kapucu point out how important it is for organizational leaders to respond to the challenges that their organizations face (Demiroz & Kapucu, 2012). This article presents a number of intriguing insights that would help an organizational leader become more effective in resolving such challenges as disasters and emergencies.
As already noted, Demiroz and Kapucu identify the competencies that leaders need to possess to successfully manage disasters and emergencies. Leadership and team building is one of these competencies. Demiroz and Kapucu state that leaders should be able to rally their juniors to work together to solve the crisis that the organization faces (Demiroz & Kapucu, 2012). Networking and coordination is another competency that leaders need to possess. This competency allows the leader to leverage connections to solve crises. Moreover, a leader who is able to coordinate will be successful in assigning tasks aimed at addressing an emergency or disaster. Another competency that is needed for successful management of disasters and emergencies concerns political, social and bureaucratic contexts (Demiroz & Kapucu, 2012). Essentially, the leader should be able to navigate different contexts to solve a problem.
The main finding that Demiroz and Kapucu present in the article is that leadership competency is vital for successful management of disasters and emergencies. I fully agree with this finding. I agree because other scholars have arrived at the same finding. For example, Wesley Barry and his colleagues share their thoughts on the role that surgeons play in the management of pediatric disasters. In their article, they record that “pediatric surgeons can and should play a critical role in disaster management- their expertise and training makes them uniquely qualified” (Barry et al., 2017). Basically, Barry and his team recognize the vital role that leadership competency plays in disaster management.
The main point that Demiroz and Kapucu present is that leadership competency is important for disaster management. I find that the authors supply sufficient evidence to support this point. For example, they paint a picture of the situation that would result when an organization is confronted with an emergency but its leaders are incompetent. They predict that this organization will be unable to adequately respond to the emergency. They also cite other scholars who have examined the role of competency in disaster and emergency management. These scholars shared insights that are in line with the point that Demiroz and Kapucu make.
Chaos and catastrophe are the situations that would result when an organization faces an emergency or disaster but its leaders lack the competency needed to respond to the crisis. As Demiroz and Kapucu make it clear in their article, leaders must possess certain crucial competencies if they are to be successful in combating disasters and emergencies. Therefore, it follows that chaos and catastrophe would be the outcome in an organization whose leaders are incompetent.
References
Barry, W. E., Barin, E. N., Shue, E. & Upperman, S. (2017). The Role of Surgeons in Pediatric Disaster Management. Current Treatment Options in Pediatrics, 3 (3), 261-271.
Demiroz, F. & Kapucu, N. (2012). The Role of Leadership in Managing Emergencies and Disasters. European Journal of Economic and Political Studies, 5 (1), 91-101.
