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

Abstract

Purpose

The 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/approach

A review of the literature on leadership, crisis management and existentialism was adopted for the preferred research methodology.

Findings

This 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 implications

Reference is made to the benefits of counselling for leaders following a crisis.

Originality/value

This 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.

Citation

Stoten, D.W. (2021), "Exige-stential leadership: exploring the limits of leadership in a crisis", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 42 No. 3, pp. 333-347. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-09-2020-0378