This week, I will be discussing the skill sets that I believe are necessary to become a next-generation emergency manager. These skills range from being thrifty with money to learning how to map using drones, to effectively communicating with strangers and building lasting relationships. These are the skills that have not only helped me throughout my career but have also proven to be valuable during unexpected situations.

Top 10 Emergency Management Skills

10: Networking: If you can't make friends, or at least sustain relationships, you're probably not going to succeed in this field.

9: Be an entrepreneur - You'll never have enough money to do what you need to do. Be passionate about the work and find ways to make it happen. Adapt, overcome, excel on the cheap.

8: Expertise - You can't be bad at this job. There is no "good enough" when it comes to education, training, and experience. Have a broad range of expertise.

7: Wellness Minded - Taking care of yourself is the only way you can take care of others. Advocate for time off, 8-hour shifts, stress management, mental health support, exercise, healthy eating, and sleep. Just say no to EOC drugs, caffeine, and nicotine.

6: Critical Thinking - Shed your ego and bias. Don't commit to bad strategies and tactics because your ego is too invested. Pause, breathe, and assess the data. Avoid the sunk cost fallacy.

5: Data visualization - Communicating complex data simply is an art and a necessarily skill. How you communicate data can make the difference in getting grants, managing incidents, and keeping everyone informed.

4: Get good at Tech - This is a technical job. Don't be a Luddite. Radios are more complicated. Software has more capabilities. Alert and warning systems are complex. GIS, drones, mapping, and cybersecurity are all important.

3: Planning - Plan to plan. Plans can help you set goals, navigate the unknown, build foundations, and measure success.

2: Be innovative and creative - On and off the job, you'll need to innovate. Disasters don't follow formulas. Taking time to do something creative on your own can help fire up the synapses you'll need in an emergency. Draw, paint, build, read, write, think. If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

1: Communication - It's 90% of the job. You need to be able to talk to a lot of people in different settings and through different mediums.

Bonus: Be good at a lot of things. Mission creep is part of the job. Until enough help arrives, you may be doing everything. Semper Gumby.

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