Attitude in a crisis: A new keystone concept in crisis communication leadership

Abstract

‘When people's emotions are at stake, there is the constant need to be seen to engage and connect with them in their hours of need’. This study contributes to the literature on Integrated Crisis Mapping, a stakeholder-centric crisis communication framework that attunes organisational leaders to the emotional responses and coping needs of their primary publics. Building on Weick's insight about the importance of an attitude of wisdom in making sense of a crisis, the study proposes crisis attitude as a keystone concept to help bridge the gap between theory and practice in crisis communication. The study illustrates the concept with an attitude of humility, explaining how it could be apposite to navigating the dynamics of a crisis and serve a sensegiving function that decreases stakeholders' negative emotions and fosters their trust in leadership.