Leveraging Positive Psychological Capital (PsyCap) in Crisis: A Multiphase Framework

ABSTRACT

Despite recent advancements in understanding of leadership in context, there is surprisingly little insight into leadership in crisis. To provide insight into how leaders navigate crisis, we utilize historical sources of Sir Winston Churchill’s leadership during World War II to analyze which resources are used by leaders during a crisis and how they leverage these resources to lead through and out of the crisis. We discover that psychological capital (PsyCap) is a core individual resource that leaders leverage in crisis. Our findings suggest that leaders leverage PsyCap in varying ways based on the phase of the crisis. That is, different dimensions of PsyCap are used to lead ahead of, into, through, and out of the crisis. This study contributes to the strategic leadership and positive organizational behavior literatures by empirically illustrating the dynamic nature of PsyCap and how leaders leverage it to navigate crisis.

KEYWORDS:

• Churchill
• crisis
• leadership
• psychological capital (PsyCap)
• qualitative

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ivana Milosevic

Ivana Milosevic is an assistant professor of management at The College of Charleston. Her research interests include identity theory and exploration of leadership and learning processes in complex organizations. She is particularly interested in ethnographic research, with a focus on how structures enable or restrict practices. She can be contacted at [email protected].

A. Erin Bass

A. Erin Bass is an assistant professor of management at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Her research centers on strategy, entrepreneurship, and ethics. She is mainly interested in the intersection between business and society, investigating how firms acquire and develop resources, and how this impacts the environments in which they operate. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Djordje Milosevic

Djordje Milosevic works as a Consultant at the Office of the World Bank's Vice President for East Asia and Pacific. He holds an MA degree in Strategic Studies from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. His academic interests include security issues in the post-Soviet region and the Balkans. He can be contacted at [email protected].