A Narrative Analysis of Filipino Local Government Leaders' COVID-19 Crisis Leadership Experiences

A Narrative Analysis of Filipino Local Government Leaders' COVID-19 Crisis Leadership Experiences

by Melissa S. Reyes, PhD in Leadership Studies major in Organizational Development Candidate

Abstract

Local government leaders are responsible for COVID-19 response strategies in their localities. The attainment of 'normalcy' rests heavily on how well these leaders carry out planned COVID countermeasures despite challenging circumstances. Twelve Philippine provincial mayors were interviewed for their stories of crisis leadership during this pandemic. Their narratives were processed using a categorical content approach. Altogether, the mayors' leadership accounts followed an overcoming the monster plot, with the mayor as hero and COVID-19 as a monster. In these narrations, the mayors described their crisis leadership in terms of tasks, dilemmas, and competencies. The mayors identified eight critical tasks: understanding COVID-19, testing for the virus, contact tracing, treating infected people, protecting the population, providing assistance, preparing the government response infrastructure, and communicating to stakeholders. The mayors likewise voiced out dilemmas they hurdled: health versus economy, national versus local strategies, and public service versus personal care. Competencies needed to be effective in their role included both crisis management capabilities: problem-solving and decision-making, crisis communication, and crisis responsiveness; and personal characteristics of empathy and compassion, political will, humility, and fortitude. The study also raised theoretical and practical implications for crisis leadership research and practice.

4pm Wednesday, April 6, 2022 (Online)

Adviser:
Emerald Jay D Ilac PhD

Panelists:
Edna P Franco PhD
Ma Assunta C Cuyegkeng PhD
Nico A Canoy PhD
Ronald U Mendoza PhD

Keywords: crisis leadership, COVID-19, local government leaders, narrative analysis