| An incident commanders' failure to effectively lead disaster response efforts can exacerbate humanitarian crises resulting in greater loss of life and property. A review of the literature revealed leadership deficits often exacerbate disasters and an increase in complexity of disaster response caused by technological, social, and economic changes alter the disaster response paradigm. The problem is that incident commanders are faced with more frequent and increasing complex multi-faceted disasters and therefore they must understand effective leadership to ensure the most effective disaster response. This quantitative, correlational study answered the question "What is the relationship between an incident commanders' leadership style and perceived organizational effectiveness outcomes in disaster response organizations?" Data was collected from 177 law enforcement, fire, and EMS personnel using a web-survey to explore disaster responders' perceptions of incident command leadership and perceived organizational outcomes. The study findings suggest that transformational leadership behaviors positively correlated with perceived organizational effectiveness; transactional leadership styles positively correlated to perceived organizational effectiveness outcomes; and passive/avoidant leadership styles negatively correlated to perceived organizational effectiveness. The results provide valuable information about incident command leadership and disaster response effectiveness, particularly as incident commanders affect disaster responders' competencies and motivations, which can mean operational success or failure. The findings provide valuable information to incident commanders and disaster response officials to identify effective incident commander leadership principles to improve disaster response leadership. |
