Transformational Leadership and Discursive Construction of Solidarity and Caring in Post-Pandemic Malaysian Insurance Firms

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed structural and human vulnerabilities within the insurance industry, highlighting the critical role of leadership in sustaining organizational resilience. This study investigates how transformational leadership fosters post-pandemic resilience in the Malaysian insurance industry through the mediating discourses of solidarity and caring. Methodology: Adopting an interpretivist qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six insurance professionals across life, general, and takaful segments in Malaysia. Data were analysed using deductive thematic analysis informed by Transformational Leadership Theory, Organizational Resilience Frameworks, and Discourse Theory. Findings: The findings reveal that transformational leadership enabled adaptive sensemaking, innovation, and emotional regulation during crisis conditions. Leadership influence was not direct but mediated through solidarity and caring as dominant organizational discourses. Solidarity functioned as a collective resilience mechanism by reinforcing shared purpose, mutual support, and coordinated action, while caring emerged as an embedded organizational value that enhanced psychological safety, trust, and sustained commitment. Implications: This study advances leadership and resilience literature by reconceptualizing solidarity and caring as central mediating mechanisms rather than peripheral cultural attributes. It offers a culturally grounded, human-centred perspective on resilience, with practical implications for leadership development and policy frameworks in high-responsibility industries. Originality: The study provides rare qualitative evidence from the Malaysian insurance sector, extending transformational leadership and resilience scholarship beyond Western and outcome-centric models.