Leadership in Dangerous Situations: A Handbook for the Armed Forces, Emergency Services and First Responders Paperback – October 15, 2011

Kudos to Sweeney, Matthews and Lester, and all the contributing authors for this essential book. Leadership in Dangerous Situations is a collection of well-researched yet accessible chapters with copious references for those who want to dig deeper. The book focuses on what works in life threatening situations,and it is rich in examples of best practice. This is a teaching book, and there is much to learn from the Soldiers, SWAT leaders, adventurers and others whose experience is included in this book. Perhaps that's why the editors call it a handbook, although I wish there was a way to distill it into a shorter version that could be disseminated to new officers and others who might benefit from it. My personal copy is underlined and dog-earred and has stationed itself in what appears to be a permanent spot at my bed stand. I highly recommend the book to anyone in threatening situations, whatever role they might have on the team.

A must read. Start with On Combat then read Warrior Mindset. Then read this one. It will pull it all together. If you fight fire for a living add Firepsyche by Asken to the prerequisites.

👍🏾

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the textbook. I learned a lot from the book because I am not in this field of work.

I'm an EMT who served at the WTC on 9/11, and the founder/former CO of a volunteer ambulance service in NYC. I was also an appointee to both the US Naval Academy and the US Merchant Marine Academy. Before I offer any constructive criticism, please realize that Leadership in Dangerous Situations is a superbly written book; perhaps the benchmark of its genre. The importance of resiliency and stress-mitigation cannot be overstated. I did, however, find that some of it was common sense. That being said, common sense can't be assumed in leaders and subordinates alike. Also, I felt that a Second Lieutenant leading a platoon in Afghanistan doesn't need to know how the amygdala and hippocampus function during a period of intense stress. That Lieutenant does need to know how to identify stress overload in members of that platoon, which LiDS gives excellent coverage. Overall, LiDS is a fine read; something by which leaders can compare and evaluate their own battle-leadership and personnel management methods, while subordinates can get a proper picture of what it means to lead, and apply it to their own advancement.

This is a very valuable book for anyone who may think they need to exercise leadership in any situation. While it is geared to the military and first responders, the principles will apply to any leadership position. It is based on good research, it includes references to that research, and it is organized in easily digestible chapters. Excellent resource.

Great book! It reads more like a college textbook. I find myself going back and forth through the diffent chapters. As a Firefighter, I feel that I've learned several tactics in leading in an IDLH environment. The chapter on PTSD is also very informative.

Varied authors gave valid advice, often gained from personal experience, on the importance of leaders doing the right thing regardless of his daunting the circumstances might have been.

Il libro è una raccolta di elaborati di esperti nell'ambito della gestione di situazioni ad alto rischio e in ambienti con elevata quantità di stress. Ogni autore ha una sua area di specializzazione: chi era nell'esercito ed è stato in missione in aree di guerra, chi vigile del fuoco a New York, chi poliziotto. Si tratta di una guida scientifica ma scritta non da accademici ma da gente che ha vissuto le difficoltà di gestire teams in zone ad alto rischio...