Leadership Strategies at the Meso Level of Emergency Management Networks

Abstract

Leadership theory has focused on interpersonal dynamics (such as motivation) and broad social leadership (such as national leaders during crises). Analyzing data from emergency response incidents, we describe a role for leadership between these micro-social and macro-social contexts. At the meso level, emergency managers both design and react to interorganizational structures; a process we call meso-leadership. We explore these leadership strategies, including efforts to engage diverse actors (brokerage) and reinforce group norms (closure). The task of meso-leadership is to balance these strategies, which we illustrate using examples that suggest a pattern of shifting strategies at different phases of emergency events.