Emergency leadership: applying a time based typology to unpredictable and unpredicted surprises

Abstract

In this paper, the largely forgotten realm of emergency leadership is considered using the Predictable Surprise categorization detailed by Bazerman and Watkins (2004). The author suggests that the unpredictable nature of emergencies offers a unique opportunity to utilize a heuristic coined a “Time/Emergency Phases Matrix ” to represent the unfolding of the events and decisions related to the emergency against a time scale. The potential application of Mitroff’s existing phases of crisis management is proposed as a sensible starting point in the conceptualization of common phases of emergency leadership.