Development of psychological capital in emergency service organisations

Emergency service organisations are dependent on a sustainable volunteer and paid workforce. The shifts in team composition and structure, between emergency and calm, and between a leadership style of command and control to coaching and mentoring, require members of these organisations to be skilled and adept at moving back and forth between these dual roles, leadership styles and circumstances, all the while retaining a shared vision, sense of empowerment and wellbeing. This project addresses the critical need to understand the type of leadership that supports the psychological resources required of emergency service workers to effectively enact their roles.