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Role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies
Role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies
Name
Institution
Role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies
Summary
Disasters and emergencies require aspects such as funds, personnel, and resources to manage. However, leadership is one of the critical aspects that are essential and require various competencies and traits at each stage (Demiroz & Kapucu, 2012). The leadership patterns are determined by the various activities conducted during crises and which are essential in coordinating people to perform roles that lead to the same goal. The leader is not able to work alone in reducing the impact of the disaster but must coordinate with other personnel to make decisions and to determine the most effective ways to handle the situation. The role of the leader in disaster management starts before the disaster during the preparation of risks (Zamisa & Mutereko, 2019). A leader has to prepare for the future by providing funds and resources to cater for such situations. When the emergency occurs, the leader first handles the prioritized activities, such as ensuring people are safe through the identification of safe areas. The impact of the disaster then has to be reduced by coordinating people and inducing the spirit of cooperation to act fast and effectively. The leaders also make decisions throughout the process to enhance safety, ensure damage is reduced, and provide the way forward.
In performing the stated roles, the leader must have knowledge, competencies, and abilities to facilitate decision-making processes. Knowledge of the risk and impact of the disaster would ensure a good plan is developed to prevent and reduce the risk. The competencies would help coordinate individuals and work with other people to find the best solutions for the emergency. The abilities facilitate the handling of the risk. Therefore, competencies such as team building, coordination, social context, and problem-solving are essential in successful disaster management. Also, abilities, including creativity, self-control, communication, and relationship management, facilitate disaster management. For successful leadership in crisis management, Boin et al. (2005) identify sense-making, decision making, meaning-making, accounting, and ending and learning as five critical tasks in disaster management. It enhances the safety of individuals and the saving of prioritized resources. However, the emergency determines the leadership skill required to handle a specific disaster.
Conclusion
Leadership in disaster management is essential in defining the activities to undertake to minimize the extent of damage that may occur. The leader’s role is to make decisions, coordinate members, assign duties, and identify priorities. However, to perform the roles, specific skills and competencies are required. These are such as problem-solving skills, decision-making skills, and communication skills. Also, the ability to have the self-control to minimize panicking provides confidence to the individuals, which enhances the reduction of damage. When a disaster occurs, it is appropriate for the leader to take charge of evicting individuals and ensuring minimal damage occurs depending on their power. Planning for crises is essential and helps to ensure the availability of funds and identification of critical roles, making it easier to manage the crisis.
References
Boin, A., Kuipers, S., & Overdijk, W. (2013). Leadership in Times of Crisis: A Framework for Assessment. International Review Of Public Administration, 18(1), 79-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/12294659.2013.10805241Demiroz, F., & Kapucu, N. (2012). The role of leadership in managing emergencies and disasters. European Journal of Economic & Political Studies, 5(1), 91-101.
Zamisa, N., & Mutereko, S. (2019). The role of traditional leadership in disaster management and disaster risk governance: A case of Ugu District Municipality by-laws. Jàmbá: Journal Of Disaster Risk Studies, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v11i1.802
Role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies (3)
Role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies
Name
Institution
Role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies
Research purpose
Crisis management involves activities aimed at minimizing the impact of a disaster. The effect is measured by determining the damage caused to people, the organization’s facilities, and public institutions (Boin et al., 2013). Crisis management’s objective is to ensure the protection of the three factors and prevention of any disasters that may occur and destroy the facilities. This responsibility defines the need for a crisis manager in an organization. Crisis management involves organizing, directing, and implementing actions to reduce the effect that a disaster may have on infrastructure, people, and institutions. These activities are part of the roles of a leader hence the importance of having a leader in managing disasters.
Research Questions
In determining the role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies, the research will be tied to the following questions.
What are the activities that managers undertake in managing disasters that occur in their respective leadership sectors?
What are the skills and competencies that are essential in the effective realization of the crisis leadership role?
Legal and Regulatory Framework
Crisis management involves regulations and policies that are developed by an organization or government to regulate activities undertaken in crisis management. Ethics recommends that the priorities of an organization or the people should first be considered in crisis management. Therefore, organizations develop ethical requirements when implementing actions that concern crisis management. Factors of moral rationality should be incorporated into the managerial strategies to ensure careful management of the internal and external shareholders during a crisis to reduce the effect of the disaster losses (Zamoum & Gorpe, 2018).
Leadership plays an essential role in crisis management by maintaining a positive direction. This responsibility is because the leaders represent the feelings of the stakeholders or affected individuals; hence any decisions made should be to protect their interests (Mazanek, 2015). There is also a possibility of the government taking part in the development of laws governing crisis management. These include rules on organization and functioning, decision making, coordination of activities by leaders, assessing the threats that have occurred, and the resources to be utilized based on the impact of the disaster. The crisis management system will only be developed by an institution’s top management involving the crisis manager. The strategies put in place must also be based on the goals of the affected individuals, and reduce the impact that the disaster has on them.
Also, there is a development of legal duties for disaster management managers, which include the duty to plan, liability to failure to follow the plan, and due diligence. A plan is appropriate before the execution of any activity hence allow the systematic occurrence of actions. Duty of care involves reasonableness to ensure there is a priority of lives and property. It also applies to recovery plans (Wilson & McCreight, 2012). Management focuses on imitation and continuity of current affairs, and leadership involves creativity, critical thinking, and agility (Fener & Cevik, 2015). Leadership is essential in management as they complement one another in getting practical results that help in preventing losses during a disaster.
References
Boin, A., Kuipers, S., & Overdijk, W. (2013). Leadership in Times of Crisis: A Framework for Assessment. International Review Of Public Administration, 18(1), 79-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/12294659.2013.10805241Fener, T., & Cevik, T. (2015). Leadership in Crisis Management: Separation of Leadership and Executive Concepts. Procedia Economics And Finance, 26, 695-701. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2212-5671(15)00817-5
Mazanek, L. (2015). Leadership during Crisis: Threat Identification and Solution Proposal. Trends Economics And Management, 9(24), 62. Retrieved 23 June 2020, from.
Wilson, L., & McCreight, R. (2012). Public Emergency Laws & Regulations: Understanding Constraints & Opportunities. Journal Of Homeland Security And Emergency Management, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.1515/1547-7355.2034
Zamoum, K., & Gorpe, T. (2018). Crisis Management: A Historical and Conceptual Approach for a Better Understanding of Today’s Crises. Crisis Management – Theory And Practice. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76198
Role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies (12)
Role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies
Name
Institution
Role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies
Introduction
Crisis management involves activities aimed at minimizing the impact of a disaster. The effect is measured by determining the damage caused to people, the organization’s facilities, and public institutions (Boin et al., 2013). To achieve the objective, skills, knowledge, and abilities are essential for the leader to be able to perform required actions in managing the disaster effectively.
Research Questions
In determining the role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies, the research will be tied to the following questions.
What are the actions that managers need to undertake in the phases of disaster management, including mitigating, preparing, responding, and recovery, during the occurrence of a disaster?
What are the skills, knowledge, and abilities essential for effective implementation of the actions in disaster management and the realization of the crisis leadership role?
Role of leadership in emergency management
Leaders’ role in emergency management includes restoration of the communication system as it is an important factor in the prevention process of disasters (Demiroz & Kapucu, 2012). They are also involved in decision-making processes, to ensure the activities planned to occur to reduce the impact of a disaster. Also, it is their role to achieve group success through coordinating activities to achieve the goal.
Essential Skills and Competencies
Knowledge. Skills and competencies are essential in the collaboration of individuals and in choosing actions to achieve the set goal (Bahauddin & Iftakhar, 2017). Therefore a leader in disaster management should know the affected region and understand the nature of the disaster. Also, it is essential to have a plan that is understood and can easily be laid down. Knowing the region, priorities, and plan ensures that the decisions made are effective and can easily apply in the disaster experienced. Management focuses on imitation and continuity of current affairs, and leadership involves creativity, critical thinking, and agility (Fener & Cevik, 2015).
Skills. Communication is an essential aspect, especially in the case of a disaster. This is because the coordination of people performing various activities is required to ensure the risks of the disaster are minimized. Secondly, leaders should be able to adapt to changes that occur during the period. The flexibility to make quick decisions help to deal with the actions as expected(Bahauddin & Iftakhar, 2017). Self-control is a skill that helps in making rational decisions and communicating clearly to solve the problem. Determination and intelligence enable the leaders to focus on the challenge and find ways to manage them.
Abilities. Leaders in disaster management need to be creative and be able to improvise ideas to find a solution to the crisis affecting them. Competencies such as leadership and team building are a great resource for ensuring people work together to achieve the set goal. Also, networking and collaborating with relevant personnel is a competency, which ensures assistance is sought in various ways to tackle the problem.
Disaster management requires diverse professionalism and competencies to coordinate activities to ensure effective prevention and reduction of disaster impact (Ripoll Gallardo et al., 2015). When a leader possesses the knowledge skills, and competencies stated, decision making becomes easier, and people work together, consequently resulting in timely preventions of disasters.
References
Bahauddin, K., & Iftakhar, N. (2017). Exploring the Leadership Skill and Challenge in Responding Natural Disaster: Lesson Learning from Leaders Involved in Emergency Response of Bangladesh. Management Of Sustainable Development, 9(2), 31-34. https://doi.org/10.1515/msd-2017-0019Demiroz, F., & Kapucu, N. (2012). The role of leadership in managing emergencies and disasters. European Journal of Economic & Political Studies, 5(1), 91-101.
Fener, T., & Cevik, T. (2015). Leadership in Crisis Management: Separation of Leadership and Executive Concepts. Procedia Economics And Finance, 26, 695-701. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2212-5671(15)00817-5
Ripoll Gallardo, A., Djalali, A., Foletti, M., Ragazzoni, L., Della Corte, F., & Lupescu, O. et al. (2015). Core Competencies in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance: A Systematic Review. Disaster Medicine And Public Health Preparedness, 9(4), 430-439. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2015.24