Allostatic Leadership: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Opportunity for Stress Management in the Universities

Introduction

The outbreak of COVID-19 Disease has caused a great deal of fear, anxiety, and worry among people around the world. This has disrupted all aspects of human life, including education, worldwide (Paudel, 2021). Its rapid spread has led to the closure of educational institutions. The United Nations Organization (2020) report shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the largest disruption to education systems in history. Facing the uncertainty and increasing intensity of the COVID-19 epidemic, with a strategic decision by academic leaders and policymakers, universities and higher education institutions moved towards online learning (Khoshbakht et al, 2021). Although senior university officials play an important role in university response to crises, in reality, the role of university leaders in creating a culture of trust, collaboration, and shared leadership before a crisis is significantly greater and affects the ability of universities to resist in times of crisis (Kezar et al, 2018). In this way, the decision to focus on online teaching and learning requires new transformative learning for all beneficiaries and serious adaptive work, which is stressful, because, in the attitude, values, and beliefs of some beneficiaries, many academic institutions lack the necessary digital infrastructure, while the transition to providing online courses requires fundamental changes. This condition is clearly visible in Iran and other countries in the world (Mousavi & Jafari, 2019)

This stress can have adaptive (usually beneficial) or maladaptive (often harmful) effects depending on time, duration, the intensity of stressors, and individual differences. The acute psychological and biological effects of stress responses are generally adaptive and beneficial. Activation of psychological processes, such as cognitive appraisal, allows individuals to use past experiences and available resources to respond effectively to a threat or challenge. Simultaneous activation of these systems to respond to stressful factors is necessary to maintain mental and physical health. When these systems are disrupted by repeated, chronic, or traumatic stressors or illness or physical injury, responses may be inadequate, and even those responses that are highly adaptive may fail (McEwen, 2004). It is important to note that these biological and behavioral reactions that respond to crises can lead to some kind of survival or success, but do not respond to a stressful or critical situation that tries to develop itself. In this regard, in response to the stress caused by the COVID-19 crisis, academic leaders may cross organizational boundaries at different levels to exert creative influence during change periods (Kezar & Holcombe, 2017). Looking to the future, the emergence of an “allostatic leader” with an adaptive capacity to learn and evolve in a crisis, as well as to deal with future stresses and crises, is considered very important.

The term allostatic leadership describes leaders who consider, respond, adapt, learn, and change all factors in response to situations and demands to optimize their impact and effectiveness in current and future stressful situations (Yarnell & Grunberg, 2017). According to Heifetz et al. (2009), allostatic leaders use their skills and insight to deal with challenging situations and help other people cope with discomfort when they experience the “imbalance” of challenging situations. The basis of the current process is that Cannon observed that the body's ability to adapt in the face of changes is associated with limitations and concluded that the acute and adaptive response is faced with limitations (Burrows, 2015). This was the beginning of further thinking about stress responses, which helped in the search for an ideal and inclusive type of leader. In this type of leadership, a leader changes after learning from challenges and crises. With flexibility, understanding, and compassion, these leaders can create an environment where learning can be pursued in an online or blended environment without any stress on the part of faculty, staff, and students.