In an emergency situation in outdoor recreation, promoting responsibility is critical to ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of individuals within the group and the group as a whole. A group leader, or even other individuals with leadership skills can promote this by utilising inter- personal skills. Some examples of this include:
- Encouraging open communication: Encourage everyone involved to share their thoughts, concerns, and ideas. When people feel heard, they are more likely to take responsibility for their actions.
- Setting clear expectations: Make sure everyone involved understands what is expected of them. Clearly communicate what needs to be done and what each person’s role is. The first priority should be to ensure that the actions within the group act to promote safety and not put anyone in a more dangerous situation.
- Managing emotions: In a stressful situation such as being lost or faced with a bushfire, a leader needs to maintain a sense of calm. This will allow better decisions to be made as well as reinforce to the rest of the group that the situation is under control, Allowing emotions to run high will lead to a sense of panic and individuals not working together, making rash decisions and ultimately leading to worse outcomes.