The pandemic that shocked managers across the world: The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on leadership behavior

Garretsen, Harry; Stoker, Janka I.; Soudis, Dimitrios; Wendt, Hein

doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2022.101630

Cited by 33 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…That’s how it was in the beginning. It was a crisis.” Seeing the pandemic as a threat, not only to their own business, but also as a crisis for the society at large told the business leaders that they were not alone in confronting the situation ( Garretsen et al, 2022 ). These noticing and meaning-making facets in the early period of the pandemic served an important role in justifying the subsequent action facet of the sensemaking process ( Maitlis and Christianson, 2014 ), and in shaping the business leader’s role and subsequent behavior.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In March 2020, the COVID-19 virus turned into a global pandemic with significant adverse consequences for organizations and leaders ( Garretsen et al, 2022 ). Unlike leadership challenges in response to previous extreme events such as the Bhopal Chemical release ( Bowman and Kunreuther, 1988 ), Three Mile Island meltdown ( Hopkins, 2001 ), or the Tenerife airplane collision ( Weick, 1990 ) the pandemic presented an extreme context that had a prolonged impact on leadership in public ( McLeod and Dulsky, 2021 ) and private ( Garretsen et al, 2022 ) sector organizations. Leadership requires careful adaptation to the context and the situation ( Yukl et al, 2002 ) and leadership effectiveness is in large part dependent on successful adaptation to salient contextual factors ( Osborn et al, 2002 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…COVID-19 and subsequent measures to control the spread of the virus presented an extreme context for many business enterprises ( Garretsen et al, 2022 ). The pandemic produced an extreme context, in that it; (1) had the potential for massive physical, psychological, or material consequences for the employees and organization, (2) the consequences in the form of lay-offs foreclosures, or bankruptcy would have significant consequences for customers and employees, and (3) the external events exceed the organization’s capacity to prevent the extreme events from taking place (adapted from Hannah et al, 2009 , p. 898).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A pressing issue in crisis leadership is to understand how a crisis is interpreted by leaders and subsequently how leaders exert influence on the affect, cognitions, and behaviors of employees and significant stakeholders ( Bundy et al, 2017 ). Faced with the personal risk from the pandemic, business leaders had to adopt holistic and flexible strategies to manage the unexpected and potentially disruptive effects of the pandemic ( Garretsen et al, 2022 ). The uncertainties associated with the cascading effects of COVID-19 posed a significant disruption that called for a swift response and a radical shift from risk management to crisis leadership ( Pescaroli et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Crisis leadership in COVID-19: A qualitative study of Norwegian business leaders

et al. 2022

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BackgroundOn March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. The crisis that follows presented significant adverse challenges for organizations and business leaders around the world. The present study aims to explore how the extreme context of the COVID-19 influenced crisis leadership, with emphasis on coping and adaptive approaches, in Norwegian leaders during the early stage of the pandemic.Materials and methodsA group of 11 Norwegian business leaders from different private sector companies were subject to an in depth, semi structured interview after the first 9 months of COVID-19. A sensemaking perspective and the Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress (CATS) were used to interpret the results.ResultsThe pandemic called for crisis leadership and a rapid adaptation to a radically changed situation. Restructuring of organizational processes and introduction of new routines were followed by support and caring for their employees during the first wave of the pandemic. All the leaders coped well with the situation, and some were excited over the opportunity to make a difference in this demanding and stressful situation. Many emphasized that the pandemic was an external threat, resulting in an acceptance of the situation, more transparency, collaboration, and generosity within the organization. Especially the willingness to change was challenged in a positive way. A more blurred line between office and home, and absence of social activities were mentioned as negative outcomes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Crisis leadership in COVID-19: A qualitative study of Norwegian business leaders

et al. 2022

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“…So far, it is important to emphasize that authors have reported the characteristics, personality traits and qualities of leaders ( Mumford et al, 2007 ; Panos et al, 2009 ; Bajaba et al, 2021 ), also types of leadership ( Mustajab et al, 2020 ; Suprapti et al, 2020 ; Garretsen et al, 2022 ) or even cognitive resources needed in time of crisis ( Maykrantz et al, 2021 ). For example, Garretsen et al (2022) explored how large exogenous shocks like COVID-19 can impact leadership behavior and found that during the first lockdown of the pandemic, directive leadership increased significantly. In another study, Suprapti et al (2020) concluded, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that transformational leadership and organizational climate had a positive and significant influence on work performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of healthcare middle managers

et al. 2022

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BackgroundThe spread of COVID-19 has disrupted the lifestyles of the world’s population. In the workplace, the pandemic has affected all sectors and has changed the way work is organized and carried out. The health sector has been severely impacted by the pandemic and has faced enormous challenges in maintaining healthcare services while providing care to those infected by the virus. At the heart of this battle, healthcare managers were key players in ensuring the orchestration of operations and the physical and mental availability of employees during the crisis. Although few studies have been conducted to identify organizational practices or leadership skills to be adopted in a crisis context, the concrete behaviors of managers have not been documented yet. Therefore, this study aims at filling this gap by studying middle managers’ behaviors facing COVID-19 crisis in the healthcare sector.MethodsUsing a qualitative approach, eight focus groups were conducted online during the pandemic with 37 middle managers from the healthcare community of a Quebec health establishment (Canada) from April to June 2020. Thematic analyses were conducted, and a mixed-methods approach was used to analyse the data based on Viitala’s hierarchical model of management skills.ResultsBased on the six managerial skills proposed in the model of Viitala, 21 specific management behaviors were identified as having been deployed by middle managers at the beginning of the pandemic. Considering that the health sector has been profoundly shaken by this health crisis, in addition to being an environment likely to experience other crises, managers need to develop practical skills in various crisis management situations. Thus, the results guide practitioners by highlighting the importance of team-oriented management behaviors (leadership, supervisory competencies), especially in a crisis context.

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School Principals as Agents on the Path to the Digitization of Greek Schools: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic

Lazaridou,

Polymeropoulou

2024

Studies in Educational Leadership

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The pandemic that shocked managers across the world: The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on leadership behavior

Cited by 33 publications

References 59 publications

Crisis leadership in COVID-19: A qualitative study of Norwegian business leaders

Crisis leadership in COVID-19: A qualitative study of Norwegian business leaders

Management behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of healthcare middle managers

School Principals as Agents on the Path to the Digitization of Greek Schools: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic

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