Leadership in limbo: Characteristics of successful incident commanders in health sector of a disaster-prone country.

The study demonstrated the chaotic feature of disaster management in Iran and probably some other developing countries, with crucial and unclear role of field commanders. Working under stress, time pressure, uncertainty, and management of paradoxes needs timely and on-field decision making. This study revealed that Iranian health sector incident commanders should be transformational leaders with the ability of influencing subordinate staff and have Janusian thinking skills for overcoming the existing limbo situation.