Holistic Leadership for Post-COVID-19 Organizations: Perspectives and Prospects

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed lives around the world and no dimension of life and leadership seems to have been spared from its wrath. Quarantines and lockdowns have become ubiquitous. Masks, social distancing, and zooming have become the new norms, turning much of the world into ‘a collection of reluctant shut-ins.’ And yet, this pandemic has also stirred us into thinking about novel approaches to lead organizations and societies toward a shared, sustainable future. Perhaps it is too early to arrive at post-pandemic leadership theory and practice. Nevertheless, during this moment of crisis, we must build on the lessons we have learned so far and help leaders to embrace holistic leadership principles that guide how leaders should lead toward a sustainable future. The current context has heightened the need for renewed leadership perspectives in the organizations that demands a more fluid, less encumbered and more participative kind of leadership. This chapter offers one such engaging prospect in the form of holistic leadership. Given the current pandemic crisis, we believe that there is a greater need for this integrative leadership approach and the role models that embody it to illustrate such leadership. This chapter concludes with the ancient Graeco-Roman philosophy called Stoicism as a choice perspective in life and leadership and also as a survival toolkit in the time of pandemic.