Academic Leadership in a Time of Crisis: The Coronavirus and COVID-19

The novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19 is one of the most unpredictable global public health crises in recent times. Academic leaders across the United States have responded by moving their educational and associated activities online; as a sense of immediacy swept the nation. The decision to pivot to remote learning was made swiftly, particularly by those institutions operating a shared leadership model, benefitting from a greater degree of agility, innovation, and collaboration. The current article highlights three of the leadership best practices for navigating unpredictable adaptive challenges such as that posed by the coronavirus pandemic. Firstly, by utilizing a type of servant leadership, that emphasizes empowerment, involvement, and collaboration, academic leaders with emotional intelligence and emotional stability should place the interests of others above their own. Secondly, academic leaders should distribute leadership responsibilities to a network of teams throughout the organization to improve the quality of the decisions made in crisis resolution and thirdly, leaders should communicate clearly and frequently to all stakeholders through a variety of communication channels. Looking forward, the rise of the flexible allostatic leader with the adaptive capacity to learn and evolve in crisis, to emerge better able to address future crises, is described.