Leadership and Crises: the search for effective leadership skills and behaviors under critical times

Abstract

Nowadays more than ever organizations are increasingly required to learn how to cope effectively with rapidly changing conditions, the causes of which are various. Crises are threatening processes that leave a trail of uncertainty, but many authors advice crisis leaders to learn how to take advantage of the opportunities provided by these extreme occurrences. All companies should employ time, capabilities, and resources to enhance their preparedness in the face of future challenges that may put in danger their performance or even survival. The way in which an organization might recover from crisis or take advantage of changes as opportunities, depends on the type and strength of its leadership. The aim of this thesis is to analyze leadership literature, crisis management and crisis leadership literature, and provide interesting insights on how leadership during crisis can be perceived by followers within a real-life organizational context. Understanding which behaviors, attitudes and leadership style may work better in difficult and uncertain situations and assessing how the actions taken by the leader may impact his followers or may be perceived by them, is the final goal of this study.