Disaster and Emergency management practitioners need to be leaders in order to enable communities, organizations, and individuals to achieve their preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery goals. The field of practice also requires that people work collaboratively towards achieving common objectives, and practitioners can expect to encounter people with different needs, understanding, communication styles, and motivations. This course has as its central focus the development of leadership ability and style and provides a basic understanding of leadership and group dynamics theory. Through several guided readings, case studies, and activities, students will develop their philosophy of leadership, and increase their awareness of the moral and ethical responsibilities of leadership and one's personal style of leadership. This course provides the opportunity for students to develop essential leadership skills through study, participation, and reflection of these behaviours with themselves and others. Students will learn about the qualities and attributes of an effective leader, and be able to relate these to all aspects of their personal and professional life.