The leadership process during an organizational crisis

Abstract

This article reports results of a qualitative study that examined the leadership process during an organizational crisis in the Brazilian electrical sector. The studied organization is a company involved with the generation and distribution of electric energy, which faced a crisis because of the rupture of electricity-distribution cables that affected the energy supply chain for a whole city, during approximately 52 hours. In this context, the authors analyzed the crisis’ stages and the organizational crisis management phases, in order to identify the leadership tasks adopted by organizational leaders during the crisis response. The major challenges brought with the crisis were identified and it was analyzed the leadership tasks used to address challenges: sensemaking, decision making, meaning making, terminating and learning.