Engaging “Care” Behaviors in Support of Employee and Organizational Wellbeing through Complexity Leadership Theory

Merike Kolga ()
Additional contact information
Merike Kolga: Garnet Learning Solutions, Vancouver, BC V6C 1H2, Canada

Merits, 2023, vol. 3, issue 2, 1-10

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the attributes of nurturing, empathy, and relating rather than directing moved into the spotlight as important skills for leadership. These skills are representative of the concept of “care” that is often associated with women’s or feminine leadership. The importance of care as a component of leadership had not received significant attention in the leadership literature until the pandemic brought the need for care onto center stage. This article argues that care will continue to be an important attribute of leadership and an essential attribute of an androgynous leadership style—that includes behaviors typically classified as male and those behaviors typically classed as female—that is needed to navigate the increasing complexity of the world most effectively. The article further argues that complexity leadership theory provides the most appropriate leadership approach through which complex adaptive organizations can initiate and foster the development of “care” behaviors as part of an androgynous approach to leadership which produces system-wide benefits in complex systems more capable of addressing the global challenges of the climate crisis and increased environmental disasters, future pandemics, local wars, terrorist attacks, and other phenomena.

Keywords: care; complexity leadership theory; leadership in COVID-19; women’s leadership (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J L M (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8104/3/2/23/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8104/3/2/23/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jmerit:v:3:y:2023:i:2:p:23-414:d:1161400

Access Statistics for this article

Merits is currently edited by Ms. Aria Hou

More articles in Merits from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().