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During emergencies and crises, the demand on leaders’
skills is tremendous; contingency management and disaster recovery
typically involve functioning despite time constraints, high stress,
inadequate decision frames, and the necessity to carefully complete
critically important tasks far beyond the duties of day-to-day workplace
tasks leaders typically perform. What are the attributes of an effective
team leader? What sort of person, with what kinds of training and skill
sets, represents the best type of individual to lead a in a crisis?
What sort of individual makes the best leader in a
crisis? Pepperdine University conducted a survey of over one hundred
crisis managers and experts. The survey asked them to think about
leaders with whom they have worked, either on a crisis team or as part
of a crisis situation and provide examples of both ““very good”” and
““very bad”” leadership factors. These experienced crisis leaders
represented a wide international selection and a diverse range of crisis
management activities, including law enforcement, security, corporate
aviation industry, and governmental agency crisis managers who have many
years of crisis management and contingency team leadership experience.
These respondents provided a sketch of an
effective leader, and the results indicate that there are at least 14
characteristics they should possess. Additionally, these results point
out that a more effective leader in a crisis would possess more of these
14 traits and skills. These traits and skills should be given serious
consideration when selecting team leaders and designing training
programs.
An effective crisis team leader can:
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Coordinate
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Make Decisions
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Draw from
Experience |
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Set Goals
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Communicate
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Facilitate
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Handle Stress |
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Listen
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Be Open-Minded
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Take Ownership and
Responsibility |
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Prioritize
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Think Critically
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Adapt
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Train and Prepare |
adapted for an article by
Michael McCann |
