Effective Crisis Leadership: The Qualities of Successful Leaders

This briefing examines the criteria that contribute to outstanding leadership as discussed at Signal49 Research’s Council on Emergency Management.

Little has been done to provide crisis-situation guidance to presidents, CEOs, and other senior leaders. But strong organizational leadership—in addition to the technical abilities of emergency managers—is essential for organizations to survive crises, let alone become better as a result of them.

Exceptional crisis leaders have distinct character traits that relate to five key attributes: authority, influencer, learner, team-builder, and source of confidence. They are aware of their risk environment (including their organization’s external and internal dependencies and interdependencies), understand the value proposition of an integrated emergency management program, and embrace the notion of corporate resilience, because they see the connection between a resilient mindset and their organization’s competitiveness. Effective crisis leaders engage in activities that directly affect and improve their organization’s crisis readiness and management.