BEFORE EPIPHANY: AN ASSESSMENT OF DONALD TRUMP’S CRISIS LEADERSHIP ON THE EVE OF THE COVID -19 PANDEMIC

Year 2022, Volume: 36 Issue: 2, 739 - 758, 29.06.2022

Oktay Balcı , Cengiz Ağ

https://doi.org/10.48070/erciyesakademi.1103913

Abstract

In management discipline, the words “crisis” and “change” are usually mentioned together at many points. In the discipline of psychology, the word “epiphany” represents the positive development of individuals by virtue of sudden and drastic changes in their lives. In this context, it is possible to say that the covid-19 pandemic has been an epiphanic experience not only for underdeveloped countries but also for super-powerful countries such as the U.S. Because the U.S, which faced the covid-19 pandemic under the leadership of Donald Trump, unexpectedly failed in this struggle and experienced a deep epiphany. In this case study, the role of the leader of the U.S, Donald Trump, has been tried to analyse in terms of crisis leadership during the pandemic response phase. More specifically, a few steps have been taken back to look at what Trump possessed on the eve of the crisis and how he responded to the crisis at the onset of the pandemic outbreak. Thus, it has been tried to determine the distance (gap) between Trump's potential power and his kinetic power in the context of the crisis leadership framework. To do this, we have closely examined Trump’s pandemic leadership before the first case date (21 January) and from that date to National Emergency Announcement (March 13) period through the lens of “The Framework for Assessment of Crisis Leadership” proposed by Boin et al. (2013). In the light of events and testimonies, it is possible to say that Trump's pandemic response has negatively affected both his political destiny and the destiny of the Americans.

Keywords

Crisis leadership, Early detection, Making critical decisions, Sensemaking, Donald Trump

EPİFANİDEN ÖNCE: COVİD-19 PANDEMİ ARİFESİNDE DONALD TRUMP’IN KRİZ LİDERLİĞİNİN DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

Abstract

Yönetim disiplininde “kriz” ve “değişim” kelimeleri genellikle birçok noktada birlikte anılır. Psikoloji disiplininde “epifani” kelimesi, bireylerin yaşamlarında ani ve şiddetli değişimler nedeniyle olumlu gelişimini temsil etmektedir. Bu bağlamda covid-19 pandemisinin sadece az gelişmiş ülkeler için değil, ABD gibi süper güçlü ülkeler için de epifanik bir deneyim olduğunu söylemek mümkündür. Çünkü, Donald Trump liderliğinde Covid-19 salgınıyla karşı karşıya kalan ABD, beklenmedik bir şekilde bu mücadelede başarısız olmuş ve derin bir epifani yaşamıştır. Bu vaka çalışmasında, pandemi müdahale sürecinde ABD lideri Donald Trump'ın kriz liderliği açısından rolü analiz edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Daha spesifik olarak, krizin arifesinde Trump'ın neye sahip olduğuna ve pandemi salgınının başlangıcında krize nasıl tepki verdiğine bakmak için birkaç adım geri gidilmiştir. Böylece kriz liderliği çerçevesi bağlamında Trump'ın potansiyel gücü ile kinetik gücü arasındaki mesafe (boşluk) belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Bunu yapmak için, ilk vaka tarihinden (21 Ocak) önce ve bu tarihten Ulusal Acil Durum Duyurusu (13 Mart) dönemine kadar Trump'ın pandemi liderliğini Boin ve Vd.. (2013) önerdiği “Kriz Liderliğini Değerlendirme Çerçevesi” merceğiyle yakından inceledik. Olaylar ve tanıklıklar ışığında Trump'ın pandemi yanıtının hem kendisinin siyasi kaderini hem de Amerikalıların kaderini olumsuz etkilediğini söylemek mümkündür.

Keywords

Kriz liderliği, Erken teşhis, Kritik karar alma, Sezme kabiliyeti, Donald Trump

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