This is an up-to-date independent study course training manual produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on leadership and influence (IS-240). The introduction states:
"Being able to lead others, to motivate them to commit their energies and expertise to achieving the shared mission and goals of the emergency management system, is a necessary and vital part of every emergency manager, planner, and responder’s job. This course is designed to improve your leadership and influence skills. It addresses: Leadership from within. How to facilitate change. How to build and rebuild trust. Using personal influence and political savvy. Fostering an environment for leadership development. As an emergency management professional, you must be able to use leadership and influence effectively to lead your organization and the community in planning for, preventing, and responding to emergency situations and disasters. Leadership involves providing vision, direction, coordination, and motivation toward achieving emergency management goals. These skills are necessary whether dealing with subordinates, those with more authority than you, your peers in partner organizations, volunteers, or the public. After completing this unit, you should be able to: Review the main topics that will be covered in this course. Relate the topics to your job and community. Determine a strategy for completing the course successfully."
Course Overview - This course is comprised of seven units. Unit 1 offers an overview of the course content. Unit 2 discusses what it means to be self-aware and the link between self-awareness and leadership. Unit 3 explores the topic of change and how to effectively facilitate change in the work environment. Unit 4 focuses on the importance of building trust as a foundation for effective leadership and change management and examines strategies for building and rebuilding trust. Unit 5 addresses personal influence and political savvy and their role in each phase of emergency management. Unit 6 examines the critical elements of a leadership environment and presents strategies for fostering such an environment. Unit 7 summarizes the course content.
This is the complete course manual made available by FEMA as part of the Emergency Management Institute Independent Study program, described this way by FEMA:
FEMA’s Independent Study Program is one of the delivery channels that the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) uses to provide training to the general public and specific audiences. Within the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Fire Administration, operates the Emergency Management Institute (EMI). EMI produces independent study courses to train the general public as well as specific target audiences. The EMI Independent Study program consists of self-paced courses designed for people who have emergency management responsibilities and the general public. . .and college credit can be obtained through a for-fee service. Each Independent Study Course includes lessons with practice exercises and a final examination. Students who score 75 percent or better are issued a certificate of achievement from EMI. Course completion times vary from two to fourteen hours, depending on the course and the student’s background.
