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.