Leadership as it Pertains to Public Administration in Emergency Management
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Jennifer Adams
March 8, 2020
Leadership is a multifaceted word. Dictionary.com provides the following:
Noun:
– The position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group
– Ability to lead
– An act or instance of leading; guidance; direction
– The leaders of a group
All of which are accurate; however, in thinking of leadership in public administration within emergency management I think of two distinct connotations. The first is the person at the top of an organizational chart who is, “In charge”, for example a Director or Deputy Director or the Incident Commander. The other is more personal or directly involved with the people. This latter is the one that may or may not even be on the organizational chart. This person is the one that everyone turns to when things need to be done. This is the person that leads by example and will not ask anyone to do something he or she would not do themselves.
I interpret leadership in public administration within emergency management, not as the person at the top of the organizational chart, but as the one in the streets. Lipsky used the term street-level-bureaucracy to describe the leader that is interacting directly with the citizens in his or her community, finding out what their needs are directly from them and writing policy that will directly benefit the people.
If we (the collective) interpret leadership such as Lipsky, there needs to be a paradigm shift in the emergency management field. If we want those under the responsibility of emergency managers to be more prepared and to hear what they are saying, it is time to make a change. A substantial change. There is a collection of governing documents that guide the emergency management field and they call for a whole community approach to emergency management and preparedness.
“The [National Planning] Frameworks follow a whole community approach to preparedness, which recognizes that everyone can contribute to and benefit from national preparedness efforts. This includes individuals and families (including those with access and functional needs), businesses, community and faith-based groups, nonprofit organizations and all levels of government. (FEMA)”
Public administration is the implementation of government policy, the management of public programs. It is a field of service that maintains a civil society and provides for the needs of the public. Administration of government functions. While emergency managers are becoming public administrators, they are expected to be effective and efficient by providing public services at the minimum cost while organizing and managing the resources and responsibilities dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies.
In the last 20 years emergency management has grown from its role under civil defense to being responsible for mitigating, preparing for, responding to and recovering from an emergency or disaster. As this role has progressed and grown the background of the emergency managers needs to be more diverse than at present. As emergency management has grown, it has become more public administration and less emergency management. Emergency Managers are expected to understand more than just how to respond to a disaster. They are expected to be leaders, not just leadership, but leaders in their community and within and without the organizations they represent.
Author:
Jennifer A Adams, MPA
Emergency Management Planner
Adams Consulting
[email protected]
Twitter: @tr33s4ever
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Leadership as it Pertains to Public Administration in Emergency Management
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Jennifer Adams
March 8, 2020
Leadership is a multifaceted word. Dictionary.com provides the following:
All of which are accurate; however, in thinking of leadership in public administration within emergency management I think of two distinct connotations. The first is the person at the top of an organizational chart who is, “In charge”, for example a Director or Deputy Director or the Incident Commander. The other is more personal or directly involved with the people. This latter is the one that may or may not even be on the organizational chart. This person is the one that everyone turns to when things need to be done. This is the person that leads by example and will not ask anyone to do something he or she would not do themselves.
I interpret leadership in public administration within emergency management, not as the person at the top of the organizational chart, but as the one in the streets. Lipsky used the term street-level-bureaucracy to describe the leader that is interacting directly with the citizens in his or her community, finding out what their needs are directly from them and writing policy that will directly benefit the people.
If we (the collective) interpret leadership such as Lipsky, there needs to be a paradigm shift in the emergency management field. If we want those under the responsibility of emergency managers to be more prepared and to hear what they are saying, it is time to make a change. A substantial change. There is a collection of governing documents that guide the emergency management field and they call for a whole community approach to emergency management and preparedness.
“The [National Planning] Frameworks follow a whole community approach to preparedness, which recognizes that everyone can contribute to and benefit from national preparedness efforts. This includes individuals and families (including those with access and functional needs), businesses, community and faith-based groups, nonprofit organizations and all levels of government. (FEMA)”
Public administration is the implementation of government policy, the management of public programs. It is a field of service that maintains a civil society and provides for the needs of the public. Administration of government functions. While emergency managers are becoming public administrators, they are expected to be effective and efficient by providing public services at the minimum cost while organizing and managing the resources and responsibilities dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies.
In the last 20 years emergency management has grown from its role under civil defense to being responsible for mitigating, preparing for, responding to and recovering from an emergency or disaster. As this role has progressed and grown the background of the emergency managers needs to be more diverse than at present. As emergency management has grown, it has become more public administration and less emergency management. Emergency Managers are expected to understand more than just how to respond to a disaster. They are expected to be leaders, not just leadership, but leaders in their community and within and without the organizations they represent.
Author:
Jennifer A Adams, MPA
Emergency Management Planner
Adams Consulting
[email protected]
Twitter: @tr33s4ever
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