Crisis leadership: Evaluating our leadership approaches in the time of COVID-19 (original) (raw)
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WHAT LEADERSHIP IS EFFECTIVE IN THE MIDST OF CRISIS: A CASE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC
The current Covid-19 pandemic has affected all and sundry and revealed the essential responsibilities bestowed upon organisational leaders in steering their establishments forward in spite of the volatile and hostile environmental changes as a result of the pandemic. This essay briefly investigates what leadership is effective in the midst of the current global crisis; the best leadership theory that is fit for the current crisis and also compare effective leadership with non-effective leadership. The essay further examines leadership charachteristics, traits and behaviours that contribute to effective leadership during the pandemic period. In the course of the investigation, what became known is that both transformational and integrative leadership theories were supported by scholars but due to the inclusion of transactional theory into integrative theory, the author of this essay disagrees with transactional leadership style as the best fit and supports transformational theory. After thorough reflection, transformational theory was found to be the best fit for the pandemic situation that the whole world is currently battling. This leadership style encourages collaborative, concurrent, and cooperative efforts from both leaders and their subordinates in order to move the organisation forward during crisis. The theory disregards the old leadership style of top to bottom hierarchial line of authority and motivates subordinates to utilise their expertise; anticipates possible crisis, and gets every member ready for any changes in business environment. The theory utilises leadership traits, self- awreness and leaders’ behaviours.
Recalibrating pandemic risk leadership: Thirteen crisis ready strategies for COVID-19
Journal of Risk Research
Good leadership is widely regarded as a crucial component of risk and crisis management and remains an enduring theme of more than 40 years of inquiry into emergencies, disasters, and controversies. Today, the question of good leadership has come under the spotlight again as a key factor shaping how successfully nations have dealt with the COVID-19 global health crisis. Amidst plummeting levels of public trust, the worst recession of the G7, and the highest death toll in Europe, the UK's pandemic leadership response has faced especially stern accusations of incompetence and culpability for what has been described as the most catastrophic science policy failure for a generation. Addressing these issues, this paper argues for the adoption of a more pluralised UK leadership approach for handling COVID-19. Particularly, it is contended that as COVID-19 is a multifaceted problem that presents many varied and distributed challenges, UK leadership should employ a differentiated range of strategic mechanisms and processes to help improve substantive understandings and decision-making, support collective resilience, and build adaptive capacities as the crisis continues. The paper accordingly identifies and elaborates thirteen strategies, drawing on lessons and insights from the risk and crisis management field, that are proposed to serve as a useful heuristic to help guide UK pandemic leadership in this endeavour. To illustrate the value and application of each strategy, examples are provided of noteworthy leadership responses to COVID-19 observed internationally thus far, as well as leadership problems that have hampered the UK's pandemic response. In conclusion, it is suggested that in as far as the conduct expected of leaders during a pandemic, or any other crisis, should maintain and be reflective of democratic values and standards of legitimacy, these strategies may also provide broadly applicable normative criteria against which leadership performance in handling COVID-19 may be judged as crisis ready.
Crisis Leadership: Political Leadership during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Sustainability
This article identifies leadership attributes that enable effective leaders to manage crises. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 13 Australian political leaders, including senators, members of federal and state parliament, premiers, ministers, and mayors of local governments. The findings suggest that, to be an effective leader during a crisis, political leaders need to be: visionary; courageous; calm; inspirational; ethical; empathetic; authentic; and resilient. Single leadership theories do not capture all the attributes necessary to lead during a crisis, suggesting the importance of different, complementary theories. The findings clarify what it takes for politicians to lead during a global crisis, like COVID-19. Furthermore, they provide a foundation to enable constituents to gauge their political leaders’ leadership capacities. Despite extensive research on what it takes to lead, little is known about political leadership during a crisis. The study unveils ...
CRISIS MANAGEMENT MASTER CLASS: LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE PANDEMIC
2020
This research examines crisis management strategies employed by leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on adaptive leadership and communication. The study utilized a qualitative analysis of secondary data from government reports, case studies, and academic literature, applying thematic analysis to identify successful leadership traits, including transparency, empathy, and agility. Results indicate that timely interventions, frequent public updates, and empathetic communication significantly increased public compliance and trust. Chi-square tests revealed a significant correlation (χ² = 24.78, p < 0.05) between early lockdown measures and reduced infection rates, while regression analysis found transparency as the primary predictor of public trust (β = 0.51, p < 0.01). Recommendations include adopting transparent communication strategies, promoting empathetic leadership, and enhancing digital infrastructure to support adaptable crisis responses. Key Words: Crisis Management, COVID-19, Leadership, Transparency, Empathy
Webology, 2021
COVID-19 has proven to be a humanitarian crisis. The global economy has come near about a standstill with the spread of coronavirus, as restrictions are imposed to impact the spread of virus. The problem is a terrific problem, which has many unforeseen consequences. And we require a commander or a leader who can steadily see us through this. Leadership is very important element for crisis management. Leadership is the key component factor in shaping the crisis management. This paper provides a view and understanding of pandemic style of leadership. It is realized that COVID-19 is a complex problem, which represents varied challenges, and with challenges comes opportunities and strategies for the leaders. In this paper, researcher has proposed practices to be exemplified by the leaders (with the perspective of COVID-19 pandemic). The aim of this paper is to provide insights on the aspects of leadership in context of COVID-19 pandemic.
Leadership during Covid Crisis-Part 1
Leadership is a positive and key force as Leaders create better organizations, better communities, and a better world. Leadership is required for many reasons and is a never-ending journey. A good leader thinks rationally and focusses on what is to be done. They have the big picture as well as focus on the details to understand the causes and find a solution to the problem. Great leaders trust the people who work with them by listening actively and attentively to understand the situation. They listen, respond, and not react. They delegate and instil confidence to act independently and decisively. Great leaders will give the respect due to the experts and try to get the best out of them. They cannot be whimsical. They will never ridicule or berate others or speak ill of the previous leaders. Great Leaders will readily admit their mistakes and open for suggestions to improve. They never can be arrogant at any time. People who do not have leadership skills are good at making jibes and blaming others. Leaders must have the ability to visualize the path to see the light at the end of the tunnel before others can see it. They need to be transparent and innovative, ready to learn from early setbacks and consolidate. Leaders need to have fortitude, the mental and emotional strength to face the adversity. Trust involves being trustful and trustworthy. A virtuous leader tends to trust others, and is trustworthy. Leaders must have the ability to inspire, motivate, and foster commitment to a shared purpose Leaders need to embrace complexity as opportunity, value collaboration, and develop a network mind-set. Leaders must take ownership and accountability. The arrival of Covid-19 has turned the world upside down. COVID-19 has put us in the midst of a devasting calamity that has made most people helpless and this is the time we look upon our leaders to deal with the resultant crisis and save us. Good leadership is essential especially at turbulent times like a compass in unknown terrain. But unfortunately there was a collective global leadership failure. The COVID-19 has exposed the dearth of real leaders. COVID-19 has proven that pathogens thrive in disruption and disorder Most of the current global leaders are populist leaders. They may good in running an effective campaign or a giving a stirring speech. Democratic leadership is not necessarily populist and about popularity. Doing what is right is more important. Competence and confidence are not same. Kindness is contagious and it calms the situation and heals faster We need a kind and gentler approach and not a stern and aggressive approach during the pandemic. The current Covid-19 situation requires leaders to identify and address the most critical issues at each point. They are required to think ahead, and retain the sight of the bigger picture to avoid decisions that could have unintended adverse consequences now or in future. The rapidly changing nature of this crisis necessitates agility in thought well as action. As the situation evolves, Leaders must evaluate and recalibrate the way forward continually Most of the male elected leaders seems to have no clue and were not able to lead. They tried the traditional method of controlling and were not transparent or authentic with the result that they were not able to instil any confidence on the people. They failed to show the leadership during the Crisis. Exemplary leaders during this pandemic were compassionate, courageous, databased, decisive, and kind. They engaged in calm, caring, clear, empathetic, honest, science-driven, and transparent communications to the media and public. Leadership has to change from an individualistic to collective process that requires a paradigm shift of leadership spread across networks of people. By democratizing and by innovating we need to develop collective and responsible leadership. Leaders should be willing and ready to change as the situation demands. They also should articulate enough to communicate the vision of the organization and drive everyone towards the attainment of that vision. *************
COVID-19: The Role of Leadership in Response to Disruption
International Journal for Innovation Education and Research
COVID-19 has created unprecedented circumstances throughout the world that resulted in a disruption to “Business as Usual”. The world economy has been shaken enormously, scores of lives have been lost, and a “New Normal” has been adopted by everyone. In this atmosphere, leadership becomes a high commodity, and a well-sought after skill. Therefore, individuals everywhere turn to decision-makers at the top of the hierarchy for their leadership skills. This paper provides examples to illustrate the importance of leadership to turning disaster into efficient response.
Leadership in a crisis: doing things differently, doing different things
British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 2020
This article summarises the findings from a review of publications related to healthcare leadership that were published during the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020. The review discusses a range of strategies for leaders to adopt in challenging situations and identifies three aspects of leadership which are considered essential when leading teams during a crisis: 1) communication, 2) decision making and 3) mental health and wellbeing. This article identifies key principles for each of these three aspects and provides practical tips for how leaders can use the lessons learned from the pandemic in their own contexts.
2020
The emergence of covid-19 has created the need for nurse leaders to respond rapidly and decisively to the demands and challenges of a pandemic within a context of increased staff shortages and limited resources. This article aims to highlight the importance of decision making and emotional intelligence, suggests key leadership skills and strategies that nurses can use to underpin effective leadership in a crisis. We also address two key questions: 1. What do leaders in a crisis need to do that differs from any other time? 2. How do we know what effective leadership looks like in a crisis?