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Dixon Dissertation FINAL.pdf (1.49 MB)

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STAYING ALIVE: THE EXPERIENCE OF IN EXTREMIS LEADERSHIP

Dixon, Deirdre Painter
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1396607108

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Management.
Staying Alive: The Experience of In Extremis Leadership Abstract by DEIRDRE DIXON In extremis situations present unique and difficult demands on a leader because they involve highly unstable conditions and life threatening danger for all involved. Not surprisingly, leading during in extremis situations is one of the least studied areas of leadership. This research helps to fill this gap by using a mixed-methods approach that includes three distinct phases. Each phase utilizes the in extremis setting to distill core elements of leadership that emerge in that unique context. The goal is to help leaders to be more effective when entering situations where their lives and the lives of others are in immediate danger. In the first phase, I interviewed thirty US Army platoon leaders who had recently returned from Iraq and/or Afghanistan about their experience of in extremis leadership. The findings that emerged were modeled and tested with a 494 leader sample from all military branches. Those findings were then extended to professions that are often considered to be facing similar life threatening situations, with a sample that included 514 in extremis leaders from police and fire fighting as well as the military. xiv Results of the first qualitative study included finding a simultaneous, rather than a sequential occurrence, of sense-making and sense-giving during in extremis situations.. This suggests that the process proceeds best when leaders are in a heightened state of situation awareness. Training facilitates leaders’ sense-making by freeing up cognitive capacity, and sense-giving can be an interdependent social activity with subordinates in certain circumstances. The second study revealed that situation awareness and team training were most relevant to outcomes. The final study explored leader characteristics and their impact on situation awareness and self-efficacy across a broader set of professions facing in extremis situations. The findings show that a leader’s mental flexibility can be a delicate balance between being too flexible and not enough. Surprisingly, it was found that leaders in the dangerous occupations of police, fire, and military experience perilous environments in different ways. This suggests that understanding the different in extremis experiences of these three occupations is imperative, especially because they are often grouped together for social science studies.
Richard Boland, Jr. (Committee Chair)
168 p.
Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior
in extremis; leadership; situation awareness; sensemaking, sense giving,self-efficacy; mental flexibility; stress tolerance; military; Army

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dixon, D. P. (2014). STAYING ALIVE: THE EXPERIENCE OF IN EXTREMIS LEADERSHIP [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1396607108

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dixon, Deirdre. STAYING ALIVE: THE EXPERIENCE OF IN EXTREMIS LEADERSHIP. 2014. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1396607108.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dixon, Deirdre. "STAYING ALIVE: THE EXPERIENCE OF IN EXTREMIS LEADERSHIP." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1396607108

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1396607108
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This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.