Role of leadership in the management of disasters and emergencies

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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