In Extremis Leadership: A Study of the Effects in Different Contexts

Abstract

When lives are at stake, astutely reading a situation (situation awareness) and belief in one's ability to manage it (self-efficacy) are crucial leadership skills. Fire fighters, law enforcement officers and military leaders routinely enter dangerous, in extremis, situations. Data from these environments is difficult to capture, so there is a gap in the literature looking at the distinctness of these professions. We report on a survey of 514 military, firefighting, and law enforcement leaders examining their experiences during in extremis conditions. This study examines the moderating effect of four human qualities identified in that study (self-esteem, self-sacrifice, mental flexibility and altruism) on situation awareness and self-efficacy as they relate to performance in life threatening situations. We theorize and show in our research that differing priorities among the organizational missions give rise to disparities among the groups. Instead of routinely looking at all in extremis occupations as one population with identical roles, research into these differences should be explored further. Results thus seem relevant to most organizations facing lifethreatening situations, and each distinct group may benefit from different criteria for hiring, recruiting and training of personnel. The results may also be of interest to individuals facing tense, ambiguous, albeit less acute, circumstances.

Applying the terror management theory to active shooter events: Explaining the police response

“…To address this in policing it is necessary to briefly revisit TMT research into the actions of military soldiers. High self-esteem and combat experience helped soldiers suppress mission terror (van den Berg and Soeters, 2009), and was related to situational awareness (Dixon et al, 2019). Further, repeated, and realistic training provided a pre-battle mindset that protects from debilitating paralysis (Grossman and Christensen, 2022;Ripley, 2008;Sharps, 2010).…”

“…A 2009 study reported that soldiers who possessed high self-assessment of their unit's performance (a proxy measure for personal self-esteem), as well as respondents who belonged to units with combat experience, helped to suppress the natural terror of their mission (van den Berg and Soeters, 2009). Others have reported that higher levels of self-esteem were significantly related to an increase in situational awareness within a combat setting, and that soldiers felt that risks in that setting were manageable (Dixon et al, 2019).…”