It's Not About Rank

What separates good commanders from the rest

Functioning in the Hot Seat

What really makes a good incident commander? This new study digs into the minds of experienced police leaders to find out what skills and traits matter most when everything is on the line.

Publication

Ferguson, L., Huey, L., Kalyal, H., & Andersen, J. P. (2025). Functioning in the hot seat: Exploring the competencies of police incident commanders. Policing: An International Journal, 48(4), 768–791. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-04-2024-0071

What Was the Question?

Ferguson and her team wanted to know what makes a good incident commander. These are the people who lead police responses to critical events like hostage takings, large protests, or natural disasters. Despite the importance of the role, there has been almost no research that actually identifies what competencies matter. The goal here was to learn from the people doing the job and map out the traits, skills, and behaviors that define effective command.

How Did They Look at It?

The authors interviewed thirty-eight experienced police leaders from across Canada who had served as incident commanders in a variety of situations. The participants came from seventeen agencies in five provinces and averaged twenty-five years of service. Using a semi-structured interview guide, the researchers asked about what makes someone fit for the role, what skills matter most, and how commanders handle stress and decision-making. They analyzed the interviews using thematic analysis, looking for patterns and recurring ideas, which they organized into a framework describing the key competencies of successful commanders.

What Did They Find?

Seven big themes emerged from the interviews:

• Command Presence and Leadership – projecting confidence and calm while staying approachable and open to feedback.

• Decision-Making – being able to make quick, adaptive calls under uncertainty and clearly explain the reasoning.

• Risk Assessment and Management – taking calculated risks and adjusting plans as situations change.

• Teamwork and Team Player – building trust, listening, and creating psychological safety so team members can speak up.

• Task Management and Toggling – juggling multiple priorities and knowing what needs attention first.

• Pressure and Stress Management – staying composed and resilient when the stakes are high.

• Other Traits and Skills – humility, organization, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

Taken together, these paint a picture of the calm, adaptable leader everyone wants in the command post when things go sideways.

So What?

The study fills a gap in the leadership and training literature by spelling out what effective incident command might look like in policing. It also moves the conversation toward developing a competency-based approach for selecting and training incident commanders. The authors argue that departments should think about personality traits such as humility and openness when selecting people for the role, not just rank or experience. They also point out that training should replicate the real complexity and stress of critical incidents, not just classroom briefings or tabletop exercises.

My $.02

This paper is a strong first step into an area that has been mostly overlooked. The authors have laid initial groundwork by talking with experienced incident commanders and turning their insights into a practical framework. What stands out to me is that most of the characteristics they identified—confidence, humility, composure, good communication, teamwork—are the same ones that make good officers in general.

In the evidence game, this type of study counts as expert opinion, which sits at the lower end of the evidence strength hierarchy. The next move is to raise the strength of the evidence by testing whether these traits translate into better command performance when the pressure is on.