ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects upon the personal characteristics that multi-unit leaders (MUL) require for operational effectiveness. Expertise, the skills and knowledge applied in an impactful manner within the area management practice domain, is the characteristic of the effective MUL. The first characteristic of effective MULs is domain knowledge of area management; a distinctive role due to its wide span of control, positional ambiguity and spatial complexity. In the academic literature, knowledge is a familiarity or understanding of something such as information or skills that is gained through experiential or taught processes. Explicit and tacit knowledge endows MULs with information, skills and technical ability but, in addition, effective MULs must exercise sound judgement to make the right decisions in order to optimise performance. To academics, judgement is viewed in two ways; first, as a cognitive capability to effectively evaluate evidence prior to making a decision and, second, the capacity for wisdom and discernment.
