Background: Organizations are constantly going through inevitable changes due to global crises that risk the organization's existence. Crisis management work is thus an important process that refers to how these crises are handled. Leadership is an important component during crisis situations as the leader's role determines what the crisis management work looks like and how effective it is. With the help of leadership skills and competencies, the leader can succeed in crisis management in a productive way.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate and create a deeper understanding of how leaders handle organizational crises that arise because of global crises and the importance of different leadership competencies that are fundamental in crisis management.

Method: The study follows an interpretivist paradigm and refers to the phenomenon of organizational crises and leadership. The study is based on the qualitative research method and has a deductive approach. Literature and scientific articles form the basis of the study's theoretical frame of reference. The empirical material of the study is based on five semistructured interviews with the CEO from different niche banks.

Conclusion: Leadership is an important and crucial factor that affects crisis management in the organization when a crisis occurs. The leader's role is fundamental in how crises are handled, which leads on to crisis management. Crisis management efficiency depends on leadership skills and behavior that the leader chooses to have in order to adapt to the ongoing crisis. It is essential to possess leadership skills that can be applied during crisis situations and lead to effective crisis management. Furthermore, leaders can choose what behavior they have towards the crisis, which is also decisive for how the crisis is handled and how the results ofthe crisis management emerge.