Introduction
The occurrence of various disasters of natural as well as artificial causes has an immense impact on contemporary society. To prevent, manage, and solve different problems that might emerge, the National Incident Management System (NIMS) was created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Hambridge, Howitt, & Giles, 2017). The Incident Control System (ICS), being a part of the NIMS, aims to provide a comprehensive and efficient response to any kind of disaster, despite its type or complexity, in a coordinated manner. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the impact of the NIMS and the ICS on me as an emerging leader.
Main body
First of all, it could be stated with certainty that in general, the NIMS is an excellent example of how emergency management should be implemented. Also, as it is mentioned by Hambridge et al. (2017), the implementation of the NIMS system has several factors that determine the efficiency of the system. They are the following: compliance requirements and enforcement, comprehension of risk, the commitment of resources, customization of risks, collaboration with first responders, and consistency of use (Hambridge et al., 2017).
Considering each of the mentioned factors, it is possible to mention that the role of an emergency manager is highly important because the work toward the elimination of natural or artificial disasters has to be coordinated considerably. From this perspective, the work of the NIMS has a vast impact on the development of me as a leader.
It is possible to state that various lessons could be retrieved from studying the work of the NIMS as well as the ICS. I consider the NIMS to a highly developed and comprehensive framework for the implementation of policies and activities aimed at effective prevention and management of hazards and disasters. Particularly, the role of leadership and the coordination between different types of leaders are of high significance. For example, one of the most important lessons that were retrieved from studying the implementation of ICS is that an emergency leader could not act on his or her own since he or she should always consider the necessity to work toward mutual goals and cooperate with other leaders from different agencies.
Therefore, it is also essential to discuss the application of leadership theories to the subject matter of this paper. Among the leadership theories studied in this course, namely leader-member exchange theory, and the path-goal theory, some approaches work efficiently. Arguably, the example of an effectively applied theoretical approach to emergency management is the path-goal theory because it provides a concise framework for working toward a mutual goal by organizing various tasks into a system.
On the contrary, the leader-member exchange theory does not fit well into emergency management. The reason is that in situations where a natural or artificial disaster occurs, it is particularly difficult and inefficient to implement the approach of exchanging ideas between the leader and his or her follower because it is needed to respond to the disaster in a timely and organized manner.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is possible to state that the NIMS and the ICS are one of the most important frameworks for preventing and managing disasters in contemporary society. It is apparent that the work of the NIMS has a vast impact on the development of emergency management as a whole, and also it influences the leadership style f particular individuals.
References
Hambridge, N. B., Howitt, A. M., & Giles, D. W. (2017). Coordination in crises: Implementation of the National Incident Management System by surface transportation agencies. Homeland Security Affairs, 13, 1-30.