Leading a Country through a Pandemic: An empirical research on how leadership style used by male and female country leaders contributed to the success of their Covid-19 approach

The emergence of Covid-19 has drawn attention to female leadership. Existing literature suggests that, in times of crisis and uncertainty, a transformational leadership style is expected to be more effective than a transactional leadership style. Transformational leadership style is generally considered to be more feminine, while transactional leadership style is generally considered more masculine. The aim of this research is to explore whether the use of a certain leadership style can explain the difference in success achieved by male and female country leaders. To assay my expectations, I analysed 41 speeches held by three male and three femalecountry’s leaders who achieved varying levels of success during the initial period of Covid-19. I coded these speeches in order to find out to what extend transactional, transformational and charismatic leadership style were used and whether they showed communal and/or agentic behaviour. The results suggest that using intellectual...Show moreThe emergence of Covid-19 has drawn attention to female leadership. Existing literature suggests that, in times of crisis and uncertainty, a transformational leadership style is expected to be more effective than a transactional leadership style. Transformational leadership style is generally considered to be more feminine, while transactional leadership style is generally considered more masculine. The aim of this research is to explore whether the use of a certain leadership style can explain the difference in success achieved by male and female country leaders. To assay my expectations, I analysed 41 speeches held by three male and three femalecountry’s leaders who achieved varying levels of success during the initial period of Covid-19. I coded these speeches in order to find out to what extend transactional, transformational and charismatic leadership style were used and whether they showed communal and/or agentic behaviour. The results suggest that using intellectual stimulation, which is a dimension of a transformational leadership style, to a certain degree explains the success of a leader’s Covid-19 approach. However, there appears to be no difference between male and female leaders with regards to the leadership style employed. My findings call existing literature into question. I conclude this thesis with the limitations of my design and suggestions for future research.Show less

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Leading a Country through a Pandemic: An empirical research on how leadership style used by male and female country leaders contributed to the success of their Covid-19 approach