Leadership Lessons from a Pandemic: Lesson 3: Be the Expert

Leaders lead from the front; not the rear.      In February, we had an employee who was certain he had “the COVID.” Why? Someone walked past him; he got really cold, so he knew it jumped from her to him. I said well it doesn’t really work that way.  His response, “Oh I watch the news.”  

 In a pandemic, part of leading from the front is knowing more than any of your employees about the subject.  That doesn’t mean “Professor Google” or a casual knowledge of the subject, or watching your favorite news channel. That means hours of study in the evenings pouring over medical journals; contacting trusted medical authorities; double checking what they tell you; triple checking the information and then disseminating in a way that is clear and concise to employees.  

In this current pandemic, there are times I feel “fear” is worse than the “virus”. Fear in most instances comes from a lack of knowledge and understanding, so your job as a leader is to keep the work force educated; informed and knowledgeable.

Now this only works if they already trust you.  If you have always been honest; transparent and genuinely concerned about the welfare of the organization and of them, they will trust you; they will listen to you; and they will follow.

I go home every night from work and start researching; reading medical information; how to boost your immune system; breathing exercises to strengthen our lungs; how to clean safely and effectively; recipes; apps for better sleep; what are the numbers; what do they mean; defining what is a virus; what is a pandemic; how does this compare to other pandemics; what do the models means.   I learned how to do statistical modeling on our demographics in order to tell them what COULD happen if WE don’t all follow our measures we took starting in February.    Employees now jokingly refer to me as “the poster child for COVID.” 

Is this in a leader’s job description? Doubt it. BUT it’s what a leader does in a pandemic. They light the path; they provide the accurate up to date information in a format that’s understandable, and they continue to be the person the employees trust; and will follow down this path we create for them. 

Lessons?

First, if they don’t trust you, forget it.  Build that trust; build that rapport; always be in those trenches with them.

Second, know more about the crisis than anyone else. Share the information in a format that’s easy for them to understand and take home to their family.  Never assume “they know this.”

Lead from the front; not the rear.