Integrating Brain Science into Crisis Leadership Development

Abstract

Recent advances in neuroscience and psychology research (“brain science”) provide a fruitful avenue for developing approaches to leadership development. Literature on the application of these advances to crisis leadership is sparse, despite significant neurological and psychological dimensions of crisis response scenarios. The current study analyzed the nature of perceived impact of leader behavior on outcomes in crisis management systems such as the Incident Command System (ICS) and National Incident Management System (NIMS), and explored the extent to which brain science principles are integrated into ICS/NIMS training. Analysis of survey data from a sample of 198 crisis leaders revealed that observed leader behaviors was related to ICS/NIMS performance and that typical ICS/NIMS training fails to address the behavioral aspects of crisis leadership. To address the identified deficiency, a training model incorporating brain science into crisis leadership training systems is suggested. Further research is recommended to better determine the impact of incorporating neuroscience and psychology research into formal crisis leadership training and to further evaluate effective measurement and teaching tools.

Brain Science, Brain-inspired Artificial Intelligence, and Applications in Business and Management

“…It is important to understand collective goals of an organization prior to applying brain-inspired management. This will help a manager use skills in brain-inspired management [1].…”

“…These interpretive methods provide a healthy combination of qualitative and quantitative methods systematically and provide such a basis for high-level decision-making (e.g., policy formation or the clarification of strategic intent) [2]. The mental process has been documented as experience and intuition, making decisionmaking highly emotional [1]. Management and decisionmaking can be a scientific and systematic approach.…”

“…Successful brain science applications often depend not only upon the leader, but also upon human tendencies and limitations in crises. Leadership can be improved using brain science that help avoid anxiety and pessimism, thus avoiding the worst in a crisis [1].…”

“…This area of brain-inspired management is an exciting area for managers to explore. The study of brain-inspired management has resulted in improvements in key areas of project management [1]. Leaders have been studied in crisis management and the application of brain science fundamentals work well in improving leadership skills [2].…”

There is no such thing as a crisis: A critique of and alterative to the dominant crisis management model

“…That definition reifies ambiguous, complex environmental contingencies into “crisis” as an objective event, a corporal thing that poses a threat. That is the de facto go‐to definition at the heart of the crisis‐as‐event model (e.g., Kahn, Barton, & Fellows, ; Madera & Smith, ; McNulty et al, ; Teo, Lee, & Lim, ; Tieying, Sengul, & Lester, ), although some work simply assumes just such a reified definition (e.g., Hermann & Dayton, ; Oscarsson & Danielsson, ). The definition has become taken‐for‐granted knowledge, typically left unexamined.…”