More Leadership Training Please!

I was listening to one of the Disaster Tough Podcasts, this one being with Director Michael Willis - Colorado DHSEM (This is a YouTube version).

One of the topics they delved into more deeply is the need for more, what I will call, pure leadership training for emergency managers. Most of the training in emergency management is focused on the more technical aspects of our profession. However, every emergency manager has leadership responsibilities and we tend to ignore that aspect of training. It cannot be just “on the job (OJT)” experiences of trying this or that to see what works for you. 

I had a 20 year military career and there, in that environment leadership training is mandatory, frequent and institutionalized at every level of management/leadership. Go to any military school and the first course taught is on leadership. This starts with basic courses, advanced courses, senior management courses and upper management year-long War College instruction.

Listen/watch the podcast and you can get the gist of what might be possible—if we reorient some of the time we spend in train to the topic of leadership.