Leadership Ideals as Barriers for Efficient Collaboration During Emergencies and Disasters.

In an emergency or disaster situation, it is likely that a conglomerate of societal resources will respond to various needs. In such a multi-organizational setting, collaboration becomes necessary. Empirical findings suggest that collaboration can be very problematical and this paper argues that a possible explanation can be found in intra-organizational leadership ideals, dysfunctional in a collaborative context. In order to facilitate a principal discussion, an analytical framework for discussing leadership and collaboration is suggested. Moreover, literature findings suggesting individual qualities facilitating collaboration are presented. Three leadership archetypes are used to problematize intra-organizational ideals in inter-organizational settings. It is suggested that more attention must be paid to qualities enabling individuals to operate simultaneously in different, and partly conflicting, management contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]