Abstract
The given paper is devoted to the investigation of the issue of leadership and its manifestations in terms of the spread of Ebola virus.
Introduction
There is no use denying the fact that leaders are very important for society as they help it to move in the chosen direction and evolve. However, the necessity of leaders becomes more obvious under some complicated or even disastrous conditions (Leadership Styles, n.d), when their steps and decisions can help to save millions of people all over the world (Best & Holmes, 2010). With this in mind, it is possible to analyze one of such cases and the types of leadership used to solve the problem. The Ebola outbreak in the USA can be chosen for this analysis.
Choice of the style of leadership
It should be said that the outbreak of such a dangerous disease was a great danger for the whole nation. That is why, the chief executives of the country, who obviously could be called the main leaders, had to respond to it and create some measures which could protect people (Koh, 2009). Under these conditions, democratic style of leadership was chosen in order to guarantee efficient interaction between all main actors who participated in this event and tried to find a good solution.
Efficiency of the style
Besides, it is possible to say that the spread of disease was stopped can be taken as the best evidence of the efficiency of the chosen style of leadership. The thing is that this style means that all members of the team, who are responsible for finding a good solution, take part in the discussion (Nahavandi, 2014). This approach can help to take into account the points of view of professionals and create the most efficient strategy which could help to stop the communication of the diseases. With this in mind, it is possible to say that the chosen style turned out to be rather efficient.
Description of the events
Analyzing the situation, it is possible to say that it was not catastrophic and its extent was not great. On December, 2014 four confirmed cases of Ebola were diagnosed in humans in the USA (How Many Ebola Patients Have Been Treated Outside of Africa? 2015). These four people are Thomas Eric Duncan, Nina Pham, Amber Vinson and Craig Spencer (Cases of Ebola Diagnosed in the United States, n.d.). They became infected in different ways, which make the situation worse. Moreover, due to this fact hundreds of citizens of the USA were tested for Ebola infection. Moreover, there were suggestions to establish the isolation period in order not to let the disease spread.
Efficiency of measures
However, it is possible to say that the spread of disease was stopped due to the efficient measures introduced by the officials (Davis, 2015). Having consulted, specialists outlined the necessity of the creation of special rapid response teams which had to respond to new cases of Ebola (CDC’s Ebola Response Team, 2014). Moreover, the President appointed the Ebola response coordinator whose main aim was to control the spread of disease (The Administration’s Response to Ebola, n.d.). All these measures could be analyzed in terms of the democratic style of leadership as officials accepted the coordinated decision. (Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009)
Conclusion
With this in mind, having analyzed the situation connected the outbreak of Ebola and the officials respond to it, it is possible to make a certain conclusion. It should be said that the chosen democratic style of leadership turned out to be rather efficient under those conditions and helped to prevent the spread of disease and reduce the level of threat which existed at that period of time.
References
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Cases of Ebola Diagnosed in the United States. (n.d.). Web.
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Davis, J. (2015). Obama to Recall Military Personnel From Ebola Zone, Officials Say. The New York Times. Web.
How Many Ebola Patients Have Been Treated Outside of Africa? (2015). The New York Times. Web.
Koh, H. (2009). Fostering public health leadership. Journal of Public Health, 31(2), 199–201. Web.
Leadership Styles. (n.d.). Web.
Nahavandi, A. (2014). The art and science of leadership. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Web.
The Administration’s Response to Ebola. (n.d.). Web.