Leadership in a time of financial crisis: what do we want from our leaders?

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to gain a nuanced understanding of what employees want from leaders in an organizational crisis context. Design/methodology/approach -The authors use a mixed methods approach to explore employee leadership preferences during organizational crisis and non-crisis times using the Multi Factor Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio and Bass, 2004), and qualitative interviews. The authors also investigate sex roles using the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1981). Findings -The mixed method approach reveals some potential limitations in how leadership is typically measured. The qualitative findings highlight employees' expectations of leaders to take action quickly while simultaneously engaging in continuous communication with employees during crisis. None of the components of transformational leadership encapsulate this notion. Originality/value -The mixed methods approach is novel in the crisis leadership literature. Had the authors relied solely on the quantitative measures, the importance of continuous communication during crisis would not have been apparent. As a result of this approach, the findings suggest that widely used and accepted measures of leadership may not adequately capture leadership in a crisis context. This is timely as it aligns with current literature which questions the way this construct is operationalized (Van Knippenberg and Sitkin, 2013).The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-7739.htm a lack of communication people get frightened and insecure. As long as people know, they can make plans, and especially in a crisis situation […] (Participant No. 6).Respondents suggested that during times of crisis, two-way communication was essential. The importance of leaders listening and being aware, while also effectively disseminating information was emphasized:It is openness, consensus building, engaging all constituents, being transparent, and again, building a common sense of purpose, focus and outcome […] (Participant No. 1). Frequency of communication was also considered important (to avoid overreaction and panic) as was being factual, open, transparent an...

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