Creative Leadership in Entrepreneuring People With Special Abilities

Abstract

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia experienced a significant decline in domestic economic growth, with a 2.97% drop in the first quarter and 5.32% in the second quarter. The pandemic has also resulted in a sharp decline in the community economy, especially for people with special abilities (PwSAs), namely those with apparent physical limitations and intellectual disabilities. To alleviate the economic pressure faced by PwSAs, it is crucial to foster their entrepreneurial spirit and skills through creative leadership. This paper portrays the visionary leadership of a village head in Indonesia in empowering and improving PwSAs’ economy through entrepreneurial activities. The research data was collected by observing the daily lives of PwSAs, interviews, and focus group discussions (FGD) with PwSAs and village officials. The study results show that the village head used different approaches for developing the entrepreneurship spirit and skills of PwSAs through training, skills guidance, and craft innovation before and during the pandemic. The programs implemented have increased the PwSAs’ economic level, reducing the number of poor people. This village head is clear evidence of the application of creative leadership in entrepreneurship with all his patience and empathy during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was finally able to solve complex problems faced by the PwSAs.