COVID-19 was the first pandemic of the modern era to strike with such virulence. We sought to understand this recent phenomenon and contribute to the empirical findings on the expectations from HEI leadership and management in Turkey. Drawing on the Turbulence Theory, we explored how the academic staff experienced the initial phase of the pandemic in Turkey and how they perceived the HE leaders' navigation of the crisis at the selected universities. Within qualitative phenomonology, data from semi-structured interviews with a convenient sample of 10 academic staff in five public and five private universities in Turkey, was analysed through content analysis. Findings highlighted the opportunities and challenges of the pandemic for the faculty at personal and organizational level in an intersectional pattern. Moreover, the ways HEI leaders navigated the crisis created binaries in the form of experience vs. inexperience and trust vs. distrust. The challenges derived from the rapid but ineffective decision-making processes and the heightened surveillance mechanisms over the academic staff; which in some cases resulted in lack of trust. Hence, the turbulence level was shaped by how the universities and their leaders addressed it. In such cases, practices of building trustworthy connections, more distributive forms of leadership and robust communication; which would help the leaders to navigate the turbulence at times of crises are significant. Further recommendations are provided for research, policy and practice.