Leaders in the pandemic: Contributions to the literature on leadership in organizations in extreme contexts

Abstract

Purpose: The Covid-19 pandemic triggered a crisis and required measures such as social distancing that have challenged the effectiveness of leadership theories and led some authors to suggest that the practice and theory of leadership are now standing at a crossroads. As the pandemic’s critical phase subsides and in-person activities gradually resume, this study seeks to understand how leaders faced the Covid-19 crisis and the results achieved for organizations and people. Originality/value: This work proposes a theoretical model to contribute to the literature about leadership in extreme events. We expand the model by Hannah et al. (2009) to cover elements not yet studied, considering a global, long-duration, and extreme context for which there was no previous training. Design/methodology/approach: This is a theoretical article based on the model of Hannah et al. (2009) on leadership in extreme events. The study proposes a model for leadership in extreme events by examining empirical articles on leadership during the pandemic from March 2020 to December 2022. Findings: Several leadership styles were adopted during the pandemic. However, almost all converged on mitigating the pandemic’s impact on employees, especially their emotional and psychological well-being, which was significantly affected by the threats posed by Covid-19. The study found that leaders may amplify adverse effects when communication is not clear and transparent and when business needs are priori-tized over the needs of employees.