The Nexus of Transformational Leadership of Emergency Services Systems: Extending the Wu-Shi-Ren (WSR)-Li Paradigms

Abstract

Purpose: In the face of diverse national and international threats, this study explores the leadership challenges in emergency services systems in Canada. These adaptive complex systems respond to critical events that range from small scale to mass emergencies, disasters and catastrophes. This leadership study examines the requisite competencies and skill sets of emergency services systems. Design/Methodology: This qualitative research study uses grounded theory to examine the phenomenology of emergency services leadership. Through triangulation, the theoretical paradigm of the Wu-Shi-Ren (WSR)-Li model, authentic transformational leadership emerged as relevant to this domain. This key informant study of 103 professionals from 81 organizations focused on the leadership challenges of emergency services systems. The response rate was 83.5 percent, using a semi-structured and open-ended questionnaire. Findings: This study underscores the competencies and skills essential for authentic transformational leadership in emergency services systems. With the WSR-Li model as a base, it explores a dimension that is unique to emergency leadership in nations with strong public governance values. It extends the model to include a transgenic dimension, which is important in nations with cogent public governance values. Practical implications: This study underscores the importance of relational capital and transformational leadership of emergency services systems nationally and internationally. Social implications: This study stresses the importance of transformational leadership of emergency services as instrumental in saving lives, minimizing injuries and assuring complete health and social recovery nationally and globally. Originality: Qualitative studies of the perspectives of emergency leadership has not hitherto been done in Canada, nor internationally. This study underscores the relevance of the WSR-Li model in discerning specific authentic transformational leadership attributes that are unique in emergency services systems.