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

Abstract

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.