Compassion in Disaster Management

<p>Should leadership minimise suffering? This book argues yes: offering leaders especially those in disaster management a way to improve their ability to lead serve and protect others during disasters and crises.</p><p>Drawing upon his own experiences as a disaster management specialist as well as high-level interviews with disaster management leaders from the USA Australia and New Zealand Crosweller bridges theory and practice to achieve three objectives. Firstly to establish the political and socio-cultural context in which disaster management leaders find themselves when seeking to protect citizens and minimise their suffering and vulnerability. Secondly to provide an empirical account of how certain sociocultural influences affect their efficacy as leaders and that of their organisations when seeking to improve well-being provide protection and reduce suffering and vulnerability. Third to propose a relational leadership framework centred upon an ethic of compassion and supported by behaviours characteristics and practices that can guide leaders when addressing the causes of suffering and vulnerability across the entire disaster management cycle. This framework progressively emerges as the reader navigates their way through each chapter.</p><p>An essential text for aspiring and experienced leaders especially those in the fields of Emergency Medical Services fire services law enforcement and emergency management. It will also appeal to students and researchers in related disciplines.</p>