The identity work of leaders when transitioning to leading COVID-19-induced virtual teams

Abstract

Orientation: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) necessitated remote work, giving rise to enforced virtual teams. This shift created new complexities and paradoxes that leaders were compelled to address.

Research purpose: This study aimed to theorise the identity work involved in reconstructing role identity when leaders transition to leading COVID-19-induced virtual teams.

Motivation for the study: There is limited empirical research on the identity work of leaders during transitions to virtual leadership necessitated by external crises such as a pandemic.

Research approach/design and method: A qualitative, constructivist grounded theory approach was employed. Data were collected through 18 online interviews and analysed using grounded theory and Gioia methodology.

Main findings: The study used an adaptive process model with four conditions of emergence to theorise identity work. During the disequilibrium phase, COVID-19 created identity tensions through virtual paradoxes. In the amplification phase, these tensions led to role complexities. This triggered the recombination or self-organisation phase, where leaders began to claim their virtual leadership identity through behavioural complexity—balancing transactional and transformational practices. In the stabilising feedback phase, this claimed identity was validated by team members.

Practical/managerial implications: In crisis-induced virtual settings, leaders can adapt their roles effectively by employing both transactional and transformational behaviours to navigate complexity.

Contribution/value-add: This study presents a novel view of role theory by proposing that roles function as complex adaptive systems. It introduces a grounded model using the concept of ‘complex adaptive agency’ to explain the identity work leaders undertake when transitioning to virtual leadership during crises.