The Importance of Rhetorical Leadership for Managers During Times of Uncertainty in Pakistan
Keywords:
Rhetorical leadership, External environmental factors, Persuasive communication, Semi-structured Interviewing technique, Qualitative study, Shared purposeAbstract
This paper explores the importance of rhetorical leadership for the managers, working in the service industry of Pakistan, in the uncertain times. In high-volatility industries, such as the hospitality industry, where operations are disrupted by external environmental factors and shocks, rhetorical leadership may play an important role as it focuses on persuasive communication which may keep the employees motivated and teams aligned. Hence, by interviewing 40 academicians and industry professionals at managerial positions, with the use of semi-structured interviewing technique, this qualitative study determines the importance of implementing rhetorical leadership to enable the managers sustain the morals of the employees and build resilience in the crisis situations. The results of the study indicate that rhetorical leadership is vital for managers navigating in uncertainty as it enables fostering a shared purpose and emotional resonance among teams, shaping organizational reality and cohesion to align employees with core values, empowering employees with clarity, confidence, motivation and accountability, reframing crisis into opportunities, last but not least, cultivating overarching resilience and adaptive capacity for organizational stability. Major practical implications of the study are to necessitate the indulgence of rhetorical leadership and its importance within real organizational settings, while the theoretical implications are enabling the study to fill the gaps in the leadership and communication literature.
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