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. 2021 May:95:102904.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.102904. Epub 2021 Mar 10.

Improvising resilience: The unfolding of resilient leadership in COVID-19 times

Sara Lombardi  1 , Miguel Pina E Cunha  2 , Luca Giustiniano  3
Affiliations

Improvising resilience: The unfolding of resilient leadership in COVID-19 times

Sara Lombardi et al. Int J Hosp Manag. 2021 May.

Abstract

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy has had disastrous effects on the national economy. The hospitality sector has experienced a significant impact from the crisis: starting from March 2020 it has literally collapsed. Experts believe it will take three years for the sector to recover. Confronted with a dramatic uncertainty, which imposed rapid action, hospitality leaders need to nurture resilience. To enrich current understanding of the way resilient leadership unfolds to respond to jolts, we draw on an exploratory qualitative research involving Italian hotel managers. Following in-depth interviews, we show that resilient leadership and improvisation are deeply interconnected. Their interdependence entails two practices, namely gardening and learning. This suggests a paradoxical tension: to exercise resilience, leaders need to be at the same time in the system, by actively learning from events, and outside the system, by zooming out as they focus on ongoing planning for the next move.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Hospitality; Improvisation; Leadership; Paradox; Resilience.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Final coding structure. (AR = Adaptive resilience; RR = Reactive resilience; MI = Minor improvisation; BI = Bounded improvisation; SI = Structural improvisation).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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