Network Leadership

22 Leading in a Crisis

DOI: 10.4324/9781003092582-34

The Covid-19 pandemic was/is an unprecedented event in modern history and yet the experience of managing through it is not necessarily unique. Although there is no precedent for the magnitude of this crisis, it does have parallels with previous disasters, such as the Ebola pandemics, Hurricane Katrina, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the global financial crisis and 9/11. Principally, crises make people feel uncertain and uncertainty triggers nervousness, anxiety and fear, with people wondering what it means for them and their families. In the context of work, the role of the leader is to first help them make sense of the situation. As Rosabeth Moss Kanter observes, in recovering from a crisis ...