Theories of Leadership and Emergency Management

Abstract

In the 21st century, emergency management leaders must recognize and re- spond to birthing threats to our global society, in contrast to the past practices of rigid, bureaucratic command and control of emergency management, whe- reby systemic challenges through transformative processes generally lead to in- effective emergency response. This qualitative study utilizes leadership theo- ries to explore critical perspectives in emergency management across the USA on pressing needs for vital systemic transformation. The emerging model points to 10 leadership theories central to emergency management and suggests that contextualizing leadership is significant to an organization’s success. Keywords