The Spontaneous Nature of Leadership Emergence

Punctuated equilibrium, a theory of unexpected and sudden change, has been associated with paleontology, physics, organizational theory, and group behavior but never to leadership emergence theory. Although there is literature that has described leadership in terms of managing sudden change, nothing has been published that explains the real time mechanics of how sudden change, in a defining incident, triggers leadership to emerge or not to emerge resulting in a successful or failed response to a need. The research explores whether leadership emergence can be observed in these conditions and what characteristics can identify the emergence. Frameworks for this book include complexity science, naturalistic decision making, trait theories, and punctuated equilibrium theory. Leadership was found to be a spontaneous and humanitarian phenomenon that integrates compassion, creativity, and courage. This book, that presents leadership as a phenomenon captured in minutes and seconds, was written for organizational and government leaders, leadership and management scholars, executive and wilderness leadership trainers, critical incident personnel, and those intrigued by complexity science.

Autorentext

Dr. Linda Moerschell, received her MBA from Clarkson University and her PhD in Applied Management and Decision Sciences from Walden University. Her scholarship is leadership and organizational change. She is a university graduate and undergraduate instructor in organizational communication, organizational excellence and change, and gap analysis.