To enhance the effectiveness of leadership, it is vital to understand the kinds of strategies and behaviors that help leaders navigate periods of unpredictability and disorder. This paper explores leadership at Canada’s federal level during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to establish a new conceptual framework that clarifies how leadership functions and influences outcomes amid instability. The core contribution of this framework lies in identifying behaviors that allow leaders to respond to unforeseen crises across four progressive stages: Collecting, Safeguarding, Confronting, and Unifying. By concentrating on Canada’s experience during COVID-19, the study delivers insights that can advance both leadership performance and training.
