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Facing Death: The Dynamics of Leadership and Group Behavior in Extreme Situations When Death Strikes Without Warning

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Book cover Leadership in Extreme Situations

Abstract

Death plays an important role in defining extreme situations. This chapter focuses on the impact of sudden death on group behavior and leadership dynamics. It presents and discusses observations made among a military unit in a peacekeeping operation when death occurred without warning. It also examines sociological research related to this topic, particularly studying the disruptive potential of death, practices and strategies to socially absorb shock, mortality salience and mortality rituals. Then it studies responses to death and representations of death through the lenses of social phenomenology and Levinas’ social theory. It argues that this perspective provides us with deeper insights into the human relationship with death and group and leadership dynamics when death strikes. This approach also allows us to acknowledge the importance of the ethical dimension in such situations. Finally, the chapter provides some recommendations for leadership training in order to meet the specific challenges of leading and acting in perilous environments.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    These observations refer to the sudden death of an Austrian soldier on 19 April 1997. A few weeks later, on 30 May 2017, two other soldiers were killed in the line of duty. I am grateful to Harald Haas, co-author of this study, who was observing the troops during the entire study period, conducting interviews and collecting material in the mission area.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Franz Kernic

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  1. Franz Kernic
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Correspondence to Franz Kernic .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Military Academy at ETH Zurich, Birmensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland

    Michael Holenweger

  2. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Military Academy at ETH Zurich, Birmensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland

    Michael Karl Jager

  3. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Military Academy at ETH Zurich, Birmensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland

    Franz Kernic

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Kernic, F. (2017). Facing Death: The Dynamics of Leadership and Group Behavior in Extreme Situations When Death Strikes Without Warning. In: Holenweger, M., Jager, M., Kernic, F. (eds) Leadership in Extreme Situations. Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55059-6_2

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