# Command leadership under fire



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*What makes the "right stuff"?*

By Dr. Laurence Miller
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_*(AP Photo/Jimmy May)*_

_*Q: *__During critical incidents, what allows one commanding officer to remain calm and focused in the heat of battle, while another is more likely to fold under pressure? Are certain commanders just "born leaders" or is superior command leadership a quality that can be learned?_

*A: *Actually, it's a little of both - innate talent, bolstered and refined by hard work and proper training. Think of the professional athlete. Certainly, without a natural gift for his or her sport, all the training in the world won't take him or her past the B+ range. But raw talent alone is insufficient - the athlete has to work at developing that skill to its ultimate level.

It's the same with mental and people skills like leadership. By dint of intellect, temperament, and personality, some individuals may be "natural born leaders." But without honing those skills in the real world of managing people under stress, this will remain a largely undeveloped potential.

Having said that, here is a representative inventory of skills and traits that most psychologists and emergency service professionals would agree on as the basis for effective incident command leadership during most kinds of critical incidents.

Full Article: http://www.policeone.com/health-fitness/articles/1632170/


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