Leadership in Pandemic

In times of pandemic, People of every country and Industry are looking for strong leadership who can provide solace and path ahead in terms of vision. Leaders prepare the crisis management plans but pandemic takes country/industry to next level of extraordinary challenges where the situation is continuously changing in fast dynamic manner. Several world leaders’ popularity is being declined as the pandemic dragged on but the complete situation giving birth to some great leadership narratives. Some countries or whole world enters in a game where our opponent is pandemic situation, which is never experienced, and the nature of growth and reactions are unknown.

When the situation is unclear with fast changing environment, the basic management skills and human tendency may force the leaders to delay action, understate the situation based on benefit of doubt (Kerrissey & Edmondson, 2020), but situation may go beyond control if above actions are followed. The leadership requires to act in urgent, transparent and bold manner in this situation. All actions may not be correct in initial response phase due to limitation of exposure, cognitive biases, organizational push pull and political pressure but accepting mistakes, correcting the course of actions and taking calculated steps in repeated manner may help to come out of the crisis.

People across the world are learning from each other actions in different spheres of life from personal, social, professional, industrial to national and global level through evolutionary mode. Some leadership example from different areas are being appreciated. (I.e. New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern and many more)

Building on some example from the world leadership, we identify some qualities that a leader might bring to the fight against the pandemic.

 1-    Follow the advice of experts- According to Washington post survey conducted, highest percentage people chosen that leaders should form a leadership team of experts and should follow their advice. A true leader will want to build a team of top-notch people to share responsibility for solving the novel, complex problems that will inevitably arise. This leadership team will be better equipped to solve problems than any individual. Abraham Lincoln is the great American model for collaborative approach to crisis leadership when a leader must seek the advice of his political rivals also for the greater cause.

 2-    Communicate truthfully to the public- Communicating truthfully means providing true and correct picture of the reality of situation as clear as humanly possible. People can tolerate wrong steps in pandemic but not the hidden picture of reality. Communication need to be clear, simple to be understood by people and with empathy. It takes courage to communicate bad news, demoralizing people and threatening own popularity.

 Communicating bad news is not a problem but leaders requires to present their hopeful vision to come out of the situation which can motivate people to support it. Keeping the people motivated and generating the feeling of collective hope towards the resolution among the people is very important in the time of despair. Constant and honest communication can play a critical role to fight against the uncertain situation of pandemic.

 For example, Prime minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi addressed to Nation for 21 days world’s biggest lockdown with the situation of Coronavirus pandemic worldwide with the risk potential big economic crisis as a result of lockdown but keeping people first. He has been communicating with Indians regularly and directly from the very beginning and has not been shy of articulating that this pandemic would also need effective global response.

 3-    Act quickly- To take baby steps in hazy environment until we get clarity is human tendency but pandemic situation with fast moving environment requires leaders to act quickly with sense of urgency. The consequences of each day of delay in decision taking can be multifold in case of pandemic situation.

WHO said on COVID 19 outbreak, “Act quickly, act decisively, act robustly, so that you’re not caught having to deal with a much bigger, bigger problem later,”

 4-    Acknowledge mistakes constructively- It is evident that there will be mistakes despite of well thought decision even with recommendations of experts due to unforeseen complexity of situation but to acknowledge them constructively and move on to correct them with an eye on the larger picture is very vital for a leader to fight against pandemic.

 If you will take a step, it may go wrong, but it is important to take well calculated step to resolve the problem. If you fail, you must listen others, acknowledge mistake and readdress your team towards problem solution.

 5-    Follow Constant Iteration- When you enter in a game, your plan changes as per the moves of the opponent despite of well proven plan. In a fast dynamic changing situation, well thought plan may also to adopt changes as per situation. Leaders may require updating and follow constant iteration based on latest information and advice from their experts.

 A leader may need to face criticism that he/she did not have a plan, but he/she openly must accept that winning a game may require strategy change in a fast-changing environment.

 6-    Take Bold Decisions- Doing what’s right even if it is unpopular requires courage from the leadership. Taking Bold decisions is critical to fight in pandemic situation. It is also important to hold people accountable for delivering critical actions as per plan. Leader need to strengthen himself by seeing big picture for greater cause.

7-    Think People First- Leaders are made for the people. During pandemic situation, keeping people first is important. In the situation of panic and despair, people expect solace and hopeful vision from the leaders. Economy can recover with the help of people. If people will alive and remain motivated, they can recover economy by going beyond their capability and capacity.

Stay connected with people is very important. The stress on leaders is enormous. Like leaders, People are also feeling stressed about work as well as their family members. Listening them and helping wherever possible makes leadership effective. If all will sail through together, the storm will be passed.

8-    Take partnership approach – Sharing data, information, success and failure stories can help to win the fight together. Leaders need to act as family at industry, national and international level. It is obvious that protect yourselves first and then others.

Leadership in uncertain, fast changing pandemic situation will be more relevant in coming time. As per James Allen, “Adversity does not build character; it reveals it.” People are looking to leaders who do not avoid the responsibility, but rather embrace the challenge. Such leaders do not hold themselves apart, they bring along others with them. They delegate responsibility and authority, all the while remaining in the loop to monitor what is happening (Baldoni, 2020)

While we all hope that this pandemic will pass very soon but health experts have warned that we need to be more cautious with future repeat of similar situation. How world leaders act today will set the tone and pattern for how we deal with future pandemics.

I have tried to consolidate my thoughts while seeing different leadership around the world. Let me know your feedback and thought.

References-

·       https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/23/trump-leadership-coronavirus-election-biden/

·       https://hbr.org/2020/04/what-good-leadership-looks-like-during-this-pandemic

·       https://hbr.org/2006/05/preparing-for-a-pandemic

·       https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/31/coronavirus-who-special-envoy-tells-countries-to-act-quickly.html

·       https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnbaldoni/2020/03/11/pandemics-reveal-leadership-character/#2aca1c98757b

·       https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/20/world-order-after-coroanvirus-pandemic/