COVID-19 Leadership: A Response Model Being Commended

COVID-19 leadership is not another leadership style to add to the ever-growing list, but it is about how those who practice leadership are leading during the pandemic. The leadership that I understand can lead any time and under any context because of how they lead. It is about a model response by those who practice leadership. Being on the ground in South Korea, a nation commended for its response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak; observation continues to confirm that “leadership matters wherever it exists, for the good or ill of people.” Many actions observed in the region are not novel. This coronavirus may be novel; what leaders must do in practice and principle is not. This list of observations from an epic center is not another one of those all-encompassing lists of what makes a leader though lacking universality; the list does reflect characteristics that emerged in the effort and are accounted for in leadership’s grand theory. The same observations are helping to combat COVID-19 from a leadership perspective while gaining global recognition.

Leaders Observations at Various Levels

1. Leaders listen. Listening to government and health officials is important. Some have the onus to protect the lives of citizens in this context and will be held accountable; it is not the same for everyone. Other leaders have their respective responsibilities in their span of influence but need to listen, understand, and support such talent. The national government, local government, and health officials worked together in the nation's epic center. The prime minister went there and set up an operations center. Some politicians who were doctors went out to the front lines because there was a need for more doctors.

2. Leaders effectively address concerns – testing. Innovation in testing came by leaders and health officials observing long lines which violated social distancing guidance, and contamination of medical facilities. Possible infected persons congregating in lines made no sense. Arbitrarily going to one’s doctor, increased the threat of contaminating hospitals and emergency rooms. Korea has a national health care system. This system puts it ahead in responding to citizens, managing prescriptions, payments and controlling items sold in pharmacies. The system became strained and endangered. There was an internal problem with a cult that exacerbated the nation's effort. One woman came in contact with over 1,000 people who were infected. The epic center accounted for over 70% of South Korea’s infection cases , with the majority of the cases associated with the cult . Leaders responded. The South Korea model differs from the China model because the contexts are different.

Leaders should recognize what is working, what is not, and also recognize where innovation is needed. If possible seek understanding of the driving force and factors behind the innovation. Understand there is also tacit knowledge present. Drive-through testing reduced a vulnerability on public transportation and prevented community spreading while shielding those who may not be infected. Social distancing was also at play. Designated test locations use real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to return quicker results. I received a negative test result back in?4 hours, with a message via the short messaging system (SMS) to confirm later. The system accounted for and knew how to contact me. Regular public service announcements are sent by SMS or text scroll across the television screen. If one is allowed to enter the country under certain circumstances, a cellphone application is provided to the individual to track the health condition over the next 14 days. The individual is required to update the application daily. If a day is missed, there is a warning of a possible visit from an official.

3. Leaders and industry cooperate at many levels. There is a central call in number (1339 ) that anyone can call; South Korea also has a 911 (119) equivalent. This is not one’s doctor, but a control center which questions the caller and facilitating a unified message and screening. Based on the answers and a national protocol at the time (e.g., symptoms, travel, exposure to a known case, others), the caller is given instructions. If testing is determined to be necessary, the caller is directed to an appropriate test center that is prepared for who is coming based on information gathered in the initial call. That person is tracked and advised with updates transmitted by SMS to the cellphone. This is different from when it is said “call your doctor” before going to the hospital. If the doctor has a small number of tests along with other constraints, you may see the bottleneck and emerging problems.

If there were a million tests available nation-wide, the government could place an objective number of tests in each state or according to projected or actual needs. Leaders should not want testing at every hospital; testing locally at designated hospitals is important to avoid contamination of hospitals and infecting medical personnel caring for other seriously ill patients. To enter the so-called clean hospitals, there is screening and redirection of suspected cases. The designated hospitals have the capacity for testing and further action. Since South Korea has an underlying health system, it has an advantage in contact tracing and a host of other interventions needed to win the battle against COVID-19. The health system helps to overcome obstacles presented with PII, privacy, and trust issues.

4. Leaders do not bash other leaders but influence them. What is the goal, bash them for ulterior motives and arouse the worse of reactions while burning down bridges? Is it to influence them to cooperate for the good of people? Bashing contributes to division, not multiplication. One thing learned very early on a leadership journey, there is a leadership vantage point. By virtue of what leaders do, a better view of the facts and broader context are afforded because of where leaders stand. People need to know what helps them in a timely manner. Its delivery may not be perfect, therefore facilitate not agitate. As reported by The New York Times , here in Korea the opposition party continues in their efforts to bash their president in the middle of a crisis. This degrades the capacity of a nation when fighting a virus that does not take a political position. There is strength in unity. Good leaders know how to communicate effectively in private and when in public offering good examples worth emulation.

5. Leaders need to be seen doing the right things. Communications experts estimate that 65% of every conversation is in part interpreted by non-verbals. Actions still speak louder than words, particularly in crises. Leaders need to rightly go before those they aim to mobilize.

6. Leaders understand fear and fear not. As it is said there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Some say fear serves its purpose, but detection of threat is only part of the process. I say knowledge is better held and used. Knowledge can mediate with the conscious processing of outputs from the limbic system in the neocortex. Fear understood by some as an interface between stimuli and behavior. If the variable called fear is present before awareness, and before altering behavior as a response, further research needs to clarify and educate, thus helping to mitigate its contribution to unproductive behavior and anxiety disorders. An old proverb states “anxiety of the heart causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” Seek those good words, knowledge, and understanding about a matter or the stimuli.

7. Leaders do not allow price gouging in the markets in times of crisis. It is not moral since it harms people's ability to obtain needed items to sustain themselves in a crisis. In Korea there was the early observation of buyers from China and other parties purchasing large shipments of masks, thus creating shortages due to supply constraints. Some of the same actors purchased significant quantities and increased the costs to citizens on Internet sites. The prices of masks in some places rose as high as 20 times the prices before the outbreak. Mask usage outside of the medical arena is common in South Korea, due to the yellow sand that travels in from China. Leaders at the government level purchased masks, then distributing them to its citizens free of cost or selling them at normal market pricing.

One may see the rightness of such action, using prudent interventions to correct abuses in the markets. Besides, there was a form of rationing implemented, allowing every citizen to purchase a certain number of masks based on the last digit on their identification card number, on certain days. There were no long lines, social distancing was being practiced, and when a citizen came to purchase there were at least two masks available for purchase. After more regular business transactions, the supply chain adjusted, and periodic oversight at production locations discouraged immoral practices in the crisis. Unethical actors will try to circumvent interventions, which may call for presenting the picture ID with the designated number for the day, verified in an integrated system nation-wide. Currently, most items purchased in grocery stores are available like before the COVID-19 outbreak. There is no wide-spread panic buying at grocery stores. Korea is the 11th largest economy in the world, the United States is number one.

8. Leaders thoughtfully communicate. Leaders thoughtfully communicate on matters of death. Reporting on the sensitive matter death in this context affects too many people at once at different levels . Government leaders through a unified system released numbers daily to the public. The number of infections and deaths should accompany the other, thus lending to analysis and a more accurate picture. Simply reporting each death as breaking news may not be the best approach, since it serves as a stimulus to fear and panic which negatively impacts rather than informing.

9. Leaders mobilized sanitizing teams. Sanitation efforts are continuing on public transportation and public facilities, providing jobs that help people while contributing to the nation’s efforts to combat the coronavirus. After a major outbreak, a sanitizing team was seen at the site. Self sanitizing capacity is available at most facilities were the public gathers for routine business and other activities.

10. Leaders do not allow scapegoating. We already know that diversity is a strength in a nation. Research showed higher performance with a diverse team working together. There are many Chinese students and workers in Korea. There are no significant signs of scapegoating, but in a melting pot like New York built on diversity since its founding, it does happen. A campaign was established to mitigate such occurrences according to the Washington Post . Treating people differently because they are of Asian descent is not acceptable behavior. Leaders protect people. The virus has no respect of persons. The name SARS-CoV-2 and associated disease COVID-19 instead of an association with the name of a country was a good decision unlike in the past. Some may say there is scapegoating involving a cult in Korea's epic center, but that another story for another time.

11.?Leaders take other appropriate actions for the good of others. Leaders at the government level sought cooperation with other leaders, suspending public events for two weeks at a time monitoring the situation. These are conferences, schools, and church services. Churches innovated by providing online services to the home and can sustain this model if necessary, since it goes back to its early roots (house-to-house) but with the inclusion of technology.

12.?Leaders adapt. Adapting is what leaders do. Leaders adjust when a context requires for the good of people. There is enough uncertainty in the world. Understanding and possessing leadership's common core provides the right foundation for the most effective adaptations. What seemed like early containment, became unnecessarily difficult. There were contexts and reasons for extensive testing and reasons for the numbers reported from Korea around the world. This may not be the same for other nations. The nation is handling the outbreak well; the nation's leaders learned and adapted quickly. Korea could effectively test, with most of its infection cases in one city (epic center). Leaders elsewhere need to understand the reasons for Korea's approaches and not simply try to outnumber, duplicate, or panic. Many are beginning to recover from infection in South Korea. See the Figures 1-4 for available data at the time of editing. Nevertheless, national and local government leaders worked together and adapted together.

Figure 1

Coronavirus Statistics South Korea I

Note. South Korea infection, death, and recovered data April 7. Adapted from John Hopkins University & Medicine, Coronavirus Resource Center. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Figure 2

Coronavirus Statistics South Korea II

Note. South Korea infection and deaths data - later (May 26). Adapted from John Hopkins University & Medicine, Coronavirus Resource Center. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Figure 3

Coronavirus Statistics South Korea III

Note. South Korea infection cases data - later (April 4, 2021). Adapted from John Hopkins University & Medicine, Coronavirus Resource Center. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Figure 4

Coronavirus Statistics South Korea III

Note. South Korea infection cases data - later (September 19). Adapted from John Hopkins University & Medicine, Coronavirus Resource Center. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

What Does it All Mean?

The actions of national and local leaders are helping the nation combat this novel coronavirus, but the actions are not new. When leaders conflict in public it creates confusion. Consider the home, space where leadership can exist, when parents conflict in the presence of family rather than finding an appropriate place for resolving conflict. There are matters best saved for an after-action review or lessons learned.

South Korea has demonstrated leadership while accessing its tool box, to intervene in the crisis. South Korea uses its communications infrastructure and technology as an advantage in its response. Korea has a national health system that works well. The nation's leaders appear to mobilize its social and civic organizations in the crisis. National and local leaders are working together in the epic center on the problem. Leadership's grand theory which contains only five dimensions, accounts for all of the actions observed. A future article after addressing important coronavirus related leadership observations will contain a detailed description of leadership’s grand theory - the sustainable-unsustainable leadership theory (SULT).

?A discussion of the grand theory will change the way leadership is commonly understood; the theory will explain how leadership works and does not work. A future discussion will involve some of the research that underpins the theory. It is what leadership should have been with the support of over 3,000 years of literature. The sustainable-sustainable leadership theory is highly predictive. If SULT was in practice after learning of necessary actions to prevent worse than SARS from the medical community, we would not be in a pandemic now. The sustainable-sustainable leadership theory is also prescriptive and preventative. As the degradation, harm, and losses continue to mount, SULT by demand will be the model for the 21st century.

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