Rediscovering Effective Leadership Attributes During Crisis in Australian Higher Education Context

This study explores leader perceptions of effective leadership attributes in Australian Higher Education Sector (HES) during the COVID-19 pandemic which is indeed a crisis. Semi-structured virtual interviews were conducted with thirteen senior leaders from the Australian HES as part of a greater project for developing a measurement matrix for crisis leadership. The cognitive resource theory (CRT) underpins this study on effective crisis leadership attributes within the Australian HES. This approach facilitated a shared workplace climate of trust and justice. This study explored crisis leadership based on the lived experience of leaders in the Australian HES during a crisis. This study revealed that crisis leadership attributes were manifested at three overlapping levels of analysis: individual, group and organizational levels. Thematic analysis revealed that values-oriented leaders tend to embrace humanistic values such as ethics, empathy, authenticity, and self-awareness through their actions. From a cognitive-based perspective, leaders with strategic knowledge respond to a crisis resiliently. A limitation of this study was that it was cross-sectional and due to health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study relied on virtual interviews. A longitudinal study would contribute to the development of a holistic picture of leadership attributes during a crisis. By laying a solid foundation for understanding individual, group and organizational level crisis leadership attributes from cognitive and value-based perspectives this study contributes positively to the knowledge of crisis leadership in the HES. It will also facilitate the development of a measurement matrix for crisis leadership.