Leaders are tested when presented with systemic shocks and must continue to project vision. Managers are faced with new challenges to supervise and cultivate the development of their subordinates from much greater distance than usual.With reference to and application ofOB theories and concepts:

Explain how and why leaders should adapt their styles in response to shocks such as the current pandemic.(15 marks)

Topic: Virtual Leadership and Management

The role of leaders to determine organizational outcomes that have a broad impact on employees at all levels is especially clear in the crucible of a crisis and certainly vital in fundamental ways (Antonakis & Day, 2017). With the COVID-19 crisis requiring millions of employees across different hierarchical levels to work from home, it is encouraging to note that leadership can also work well from a distance (Antonakis & Atwater, 2002). Prior research shows that successful leaders are those skilled to make the right decisions and provide reassurance through a balanced mix of optimism and realism regarding the future. In other words, effective leaders strive (in any time period) to project vision - a symbolic state of affairs with which the collective identifies (Antonakis et al., 2016). Additionally, research indicates that the absence of traditional physical cues of dominance and status in virtual settings (Antonakis & Atwater, 2002) can foster more participatory relationships.

Research on the effectiveness of leaders during and after the COVID-19 crisis should examine an array of activities, including the degree to which remote leaders are persuasive if they: (a) clearly state their values that will guide institutional actions; (b) understand and openly discuss the travails and hopes of their organizations; (c) clearly communicate an ambitious vision of the direction that the unit will head toward; and, (d) demonstrate confidence that strategic goals can be achieved. These skills are referred to as charisma (Antonakis, et al., 2016; Grabo, Spisak, & Van Vugt, 2017) and require training and investment. Indeed, crises can bring about changes in leadership styles (Stoker, Garretsen, & Soudis, 2019); thus, firms can expect to be better prepared by ensuring they have adequately invested in professional development. In this respect, future research should estimate if and how organizational commitments to employees' professional development during the COVID-19 crisis pay later dividends.

Among the more specific leader-subordinate activities that will be important to consider in relation to COVID-19 is how assessment and appraisal systems will function. For example, without being able to directly monitor subordinates in the way that office settings allow, there may be a shift to results-focused assessment, which prior research shows to be generally effective (Pritchard et al., 2008). Over longer spans of time, though, working remotely may reduce the opportunities for subordinates to gain feedback from leaders and prior research suggests that a lack of learning opportunities is associated with lower organizational commitment and higher risk of turnover (Vandenberghe et al., 2019). In addition, future research should examine how trust can be built remotely with online interactions so that newcomers are not disadvantaged due to the lack of face-to-face interactions with their leaders (Dunbar, 2018).