FEMA Decision-Making and Problem Solving

FEMA Decision-Making and Problem Solving

This paper discusses the relevance of how decision-making styles, leadership characteristics and ethical decision-making and problem solving directly influence organizational behavior by providing a context from which decisions are made and organizational cultures are formed. The FEMA self-study course demonstrated clearly how vital decision-making is and problem solving for organizational leaders, including emergency managers, planers and responders. There are as mentioned critical characteristics a leader must adopt to influence an organization in a positive manner. These qualities are discussed below.

There are many decision-making styles, characteristics and ethical vantages a leader may take on in an emergent, planning or respondent environment that directly impact the likelihood of a positive outcome. As a result of this course, I believe most important characteristics leaders can demonstrate in urgent times are charisma and clarity. Charisma is a quality some of the greatest leaders have possessed; it is a trait that enables a lead to attract subordinates to him or her naturally, and causes the leader to motivate and direct groups effortlessly. Clarity of goals, purpose and decisions is a vital attribute and skill any and every leader should posses when guiding others toward a common goal (Olmstead, 2002).

Olmstead (2002) notes that while many factors affect the performance of an organization (p. 179) the most influential is the "quality of leadership" available. This is why it is important to train leaders, whether working in business, government, the armed forces or other areas (Olmstead, 2002). To be successful, leaders must be able to take on complex and difficult tasks, know how to delegate to competent individuals and posses sophisticated knowledge of technology and the cultural context in which he or she is working (Olmstead, 2002). Ethical, the most important trait a leader should embrace is security, (Olmstead, 2002), or the ethical ideal or norm that all people and the organization should have the right to take on what they may be considered an acceptable level of risk while still having the self-confidence that they are safe and protected by their leader and organization (Kubasek, Brennan & Browne, 2002, p. 9).

The most effective decision-making style a leader can adopt, the one most likely to boost morale especially in stressful or highly charged work environments is sometimes an autocratic style, where the leader maintains control and ownership over all decisions made so that outcomes within an emergent environment are more likely to be predictable (Olmstead, 2002). In cases like this a leader must demonstrate strength, charisma and act in the best interests of all parties involved when problem-solving. Outside of this context, in an ordinary environment when decision-making and problem-solving are important, a leader may also benefit by adopting a more collective leadership style, where members of a group are encouraged to provide their input or ideas about a given situation; however I still believe in the environments we reviewed in this self-study course, even if a leader were to adopt this style and collect information from his or her subordinates, he or she would still benefit by having the final say in decision-making, so decisions can be made fairly and equitably, with the interests of the group as a whole, but also swiftly and without delay, so that problems are solved in critical times within a concise timeframe.