Transformational leadership in crisis situations: evidence from the People's Republic of China

Zhang

The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science

2016

Self Cite

Although the construct of leader humility has received increased attention in organizational scholarship, there are large gaps in the empirical studies of leader humility and employee creativity. In this study, we find that leader humility substantially contributes to organizational effectiveness in both normal and crisis situations. Building on social information processing theory and the process model of emotion regulation, we test a model linking leader humility to employee creativity based on 451 member-leader dyads of 129 emergency medical task forces involved in the Wenchuan earthquake. We find that leader humility is positively related to employees' perspective taking and creativity. We also find that employees' cognitive reappraisal moderates the relationship between leader humility and employees' perspective taking, and employees' perspective taking mediates the interactive effect of leader humility and employees' cognitive reappraisal on creativity. We also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding How Leader Humility Enhances Employee Creativity

Zhang

The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science

2016

Self Cite

“…1 A crisis creates ambiguity for an organisation, necessitating urgent action to safeguard the organisation's viability. 2 Crises also unveil unique opportunities for leaders: followers look to them for direction, 3 and followers' organisational commitment and perception of a leader are enhanced. 4 Beyond implications for both their followers and organisations, a leader's response to a crisis reveals important lessons to inform future leadership.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physician leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic: an emphasis on the team, well-being and leadership reasoning

Standiford

Davuluri

Trupiano

et al. 2020

leader

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic impacted many aspects of normal operations in academic medicine. While effective leadership is always important, the intensity and urgency of COVID-19 challenged academic medicine leaders to find new ways to lead their institutions and manage their own experiences of the pandemic.MethodsSixteen physician leaders from Michigan Medicine took part in semistructured interviews during April and May 2020. Participants were asked open-ended questions about the attributes and techniques that were important to effectively lead during a crisis. The authors analysed the interviews using thematic analysis.ResultsParticipants described three overarching themes of leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) bringing together a diverse team with clear, shared goals; (2) using a range of strategies to tend to their teams’—as well as their own—well-being; and (3) engaging in leadership reasoning as a way of learning from others and reflecting on their own actions to inform their future leadership practice.ConclusionThe results of this study reveal several salient themes of crisis leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings also highlight the role of leadership reasoning, a reflective practice employed by leaders to understand and improve their leadership skills. This finding presents leadership skill development as part of lifelong learning in medicine. Findings may be incorporated into best practices and preparations to inform future healthcare leaders.

“…For example, Marcus et al (2006) suggest that leaders engage in meta-leadership when directing, guiding, and co-ordinating others that reaches across an organisation to wider networks of professionals, and Caro (2016) suggested that there are 12 desirable leadership characteristics involved in emergency management. In their study of the aftermath of an earthquake in China during 2008, Zhi, Ming andLihong (2012) reported that effective leaders were typified by strong leader-member exchange behaviours and emotional control. The literature on agile leadership claims to show how adaptive leadership behaviours may enable more responsive organisations.…”

Section: Refining Our Understanding Of the Leadership Challengementioning

confidence: 99%

Exige-stential leadership: exploring the limits of leadership in a crisis

Stoten

2021

LODJ

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how leadership can better respond to a crisis. It aims to integrate ideas from existentialism into a discussion of how leadership could develop and provoke debate.Design/methodology/approachA review of the literature on leadership, crisis management and existentialism was adopted for the preferred research methodology.FindingsThis paper identified a gap in the literature on leadership in an exigency and offered an alternative to the technical-rationalist conceptions of leadership behaviour.Practical implicationsReference is made to the benefits of counselling for leaders following a crisis.Originality/valueThis paper is an original contribution to the work on leadership. Through the concept of exige-stential leadership, this paper integrates ideas taken from existentialist philosophy, to provide a new way of conceptualising leadership in an exigency.