Leader crisis communication and salesperson resilience in face of the COVID-19: The roles of positive stress mindset, core beliefs challenge, and family strain

The resilience of B2B sales forces is crucial in face of severe wide-ranging challenges during a crisis. This study aims to investigate the role of leader communication of the crisis in promoting salesperson resilience during the COVID-19. The data were gathered from 418 salespersons from 36 manufacturing firms in times of the COVID-19. The data were analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling. The results demonstrated the positive relationship between leader crisis communication and salesperson resilience, mediated by salespersons' positive stress mindset. Family strain and core beliefs challenge were found to attenuate the positive linkage between leader crisis communication and salespersons' positive stress mindset. Theoretical and practical implications are presented. This study offers insights to help managers in B2B organizations better understand and implement mechanisms that can foster resilience among their B2B sales forces in the COVID-19 outbreak and other crises. • Leader crisis communication is positively associated with salesperson resilience. • Positive stress mindset was a partial mediator for the effect of leader crisis communication. • Core beliefs challenge and family strain were contingency conditions.