That is the topic of this Disaster Zone Podcast: Next-Generation Emergency Managers. I recently interviewed Pete Gaynor, former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator, on that topic.
I think you will find his comments insightful. Be sure to also read his opinion piece that is linked in the description of the podcast below. That will give you the context for our verbal discussion.
Here's the description of the podcast:
Who’s responsibility is it to develop the next generation of emergency managers? I think that all of us must be contributing to that effort. In this podcast, Pete Gaynor, the immediate past Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator shares his ideas on next-generation emergency managers. The link will take you to his recent opinion piece in Emergency Management.
Gaynor calls for more of a structured system of “education” and not training throughout the working life of an emergency manager. In the second half of the podcast, we go through a list of 10 skills that emergency managers need and why he thinks these are important. We also discussed the value of “failing” during one’s career. On that note, here is the link to the book that I mentioned during the podcast, Failing Forward: Turning Failures into Stepping Stones for Success.
