APRIL 6, 2020
KARO-NA! Leadership Matters
Last week I was informed that our Principal has retired and our Headmistress, second in command, has taken charge of this coveted position in our school. I believe leadership is a defining factor for every institution. The current turmoil has once again highlighted the role of leadership in every sphere. It does not matter whether it is a country, state, municipality, panchayat or any other institution like schools and colleges. Leadership defines the path of every institution and its role becomes critical in times of crisis.
If we look around the leadership, which is handling this monstrous crisis differently, there appears to be some correlation with the result or outcome in relation with the COVID-19 situation in different countries. Why Germany, despite sitting in the middle of Europe, has lower infections and mortality rates - when peers and neighbours are counting body bags; why Korea, Japan, and Singapore much smaller in size, resources, and technology when compared with much bigger countries, are managing the current situation much better. Although, it is too early to assess the role of leadership around the world in handling coronavirus, however, current state of affairs are indicating that leaders around the world are adopting different approaches in dealing with a fight against an invisible enemy.
Historically, humanity is driven by its leaders and the personality of every leader influences his or her outlook towards the role and responsibility arising out of such a position. Ideally, a leader should have understanding of his/her role and position in a given situation and the ability to act accordingly; ability to delegate key responsibilities to people down the order for quick implementation of policies and decisions; leading from the front by taking responsibility for wrong decision and change the course as and when required; flexibility and openness to accept divergent views; keeping all channels of communication open and last but not the least - leading by example.
Each country has responded differently to the current crisis with the common objective of saving humanity. Yet, results and consequences are markedly different. Sociologists suggest that every leader is a product of its system and his/her social surroundings. A broad analysis of institutional mechanism and social structure around the world will reason out as to why Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, Angela Merkel, Shinzo Abe, and Giuseppe Conte acted differently in this common cause and the outcomes are drastically different. There is no common thread which defines “successful” leadership or “unsuccessful” leadership in the current crisis. Each and every head of state responded as per his/her understanding of the situation in terms of timely identifying the criticality of the situation, prioritising humanity or economics, and preventive or curative approach.
Till now, something has worked for “successful” leadership and has not worked for so called “unsuccessful” leadership. We at least can identify common factors among “successful” ones in their approach towards coronavirus - reading early footprints of this disease, prioritising humanity over economics, using resources strategically and listening to experts. These are certainly differentiators for “unsuccessful” ones. Coronavirus has, certainly, acted democratically as it has not seen race, caste, gender, geography or economic situation - it has hit equally hard everyone with the same force. Ironically, the developed world with massive economic strength and robust health infrastructure is worst affected. Another noticeable feature of this disease is, although data doesn’t support, countries infested with poverty, malaria, SARS, and numerous other viruses, have fared much better than other countries around the world. This claim is based on a possible suggestion that immunity levels are different in these two worlds on our planet.
This disease has brought the world on its knees and whether we will go flat or stand up once again - would depend on how global leadership deals with it here on!