Beyond Command and Control: Leadership, Culture, and Risk

This book will advance the understanding of leadership beyond the inherited myths and modalities of command and control. Leadership is separated from ideas and institutional seniority and explained as the collaborative power of one with others. Enabling the intelligent co-participation of all people, the constructive effect of this approach to leadership is in the engagement of people. This is significant when task accomplishment depends not on managerial direction, but on the interaction of people with each other, with technical systems, and with complex regulations which are often across jurisdictional boundaries. Examples and case studies are included.

Richard Adams is an Australian Fulbright Scholar to Yale University, he holds doctoral, masters, and first class degrees from the University of Western Australia, and a master’s degree from the University of New South Wales. His professional interests and experience lie in ideas of public responsibility, and in the inter-relationship of leadership, organisational culture, and risk. He is a researcher at University College, the University of New South Wales.

Christine Owen is a senior researcher investigating communication, coordination and collaborative practices in safety critical and high consequence environments. She has conducted research in aviation, emergency medicine and emergency management domains. She has a particular interest in theories of working life and how developmental work environments may be enabled. She is currently engaged in research and teaching in the emergency management sector in Australia.

Cameron Scott is the Network Emergency Management Lead at the National Broadband Network (NBN), responsible for coordinating the response to any network disruption as well as the development of emergency management capability, including planning, training and exercising. Cameron has had emergency management roles in the State and Federal government, including the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources in Victoria and the Australian Emergency Management Institute within Emergency Management Australia. Cameron served as a sworn officer with the Western Australia Police for over 13 years, working in the emergency management and counter terrorism sections, with responsibility for emergency planning, capability development and emergency response.

David Parsons is a Senior Mine Safety Officer (Emergency Management Specialist) with the NSW Dept of Industry. He is a fellow of the Emergency Management Academy New York, the Global Business Continuity Institute and the Australian Institute of Emergency Services. He has had an extensive career in the areas of emergency management, business continuity and crisis management. Specialty areas of interest include neuro-science of decision making and leadership and organisational resilience.