People's Assessment of the Leadership Competencies of the Local Chief Executives During the Pandemic

Abstract

This paper aims to assess and analyze the leadership competencies of the local chief executives based on the perception of the people-respondents during the pandemic and arrives at recommendations for improvement. The leadership competencies during the pandemic from 2020 to 2021 were evaluated by the people-respondents using a survey questionnaire and the results were analyzed using statistical treatment. It appears that the local chief executives showed competencies moderately in terms of leadership, clear purpose and vision, responsiveness to community needs, partnership development/ external relationship building, skills and commitment, effective processes and systems, well-managed resources, organizational learning, innovation and change, accountability, and organizational management, integrity, professionalism, and respect for diversity. Furthermore, the data indicated that the local government was inefficient in dealing with the pandemic crisis. The findings recommend the creation of a community-based crisis management council that is independent and empowered for a long-term mission, tasked to mitigate, implement, monitor, and assess crises before, during, and after they happen. Furthermore, they must be autonomous and enjoy fiscal autonomy to prevent the politicization of the council.