Too many leaders are letting their teams down during this global pandemic and I would like to inspire you to do differently.
1. Sacrificing your team as an easy solution to challenges is wrong!
There is a lack of masks in hospitals around the world and everyone is impacted. This is a challenge for most countries and hospitals are finding ways to protect their staff, even calling out to public help. Unfortunately, some leaders, instead of finding solutions to protect their staff invented a lie telling staff that the mask is not necessary. Countless reports from the Asian countries first affected by the virus tells and shows otherwise. As a result, many health professionals have been exposed to the virus unnecessarily and suffer a high number of casualties. Some leaders further blame their staff for carelessness.
This is poor leadership and humanity. Failing to bring solutions as a leader is not a reason to sacrifice teams and further blame them. Acknowledging the problem and finding other creative solutions is real leadership.
2. Caring and facilitating is part of the leadership role.
The truckers who are bringing food and medicine to populations everywhere, sometimes they spend days on the roads, many are facing closed public parking and no restrooms available for them.
This is unacceptable! How can no leader think about the humans behind the wheels and their basic needs as they serve populations? This is crisis management 101.
3. Cheating and stealing are not problem-solving.
We see another European country divert the masks that were destined to Italy, the European country most affected by the Corona Virus and desperate to have the masks. What kind of leadership is that? This is fighting against humanity.
4. Frauding clients is wrong!
A fraud of 5 million Euros happens with a Turkish manufacturer as Belgium orders masks from Turkey for the health sector. The products never arrive and hospitals are receiving an increasing number of covid-19 patients.
A ray of hope and great leadership lesson
In this terrible health crisis, Cuba, a small, humble country in the Caribbean with a terrible embargo over several decades and countless basic needs for its people, it is the nation coming to the rescue of other nations of the Caribbean and, most surprisingly, reaching out to Europe to help Italy. They did that while other European countries only look to fend for themselves and watch from afar the drama happening in Italy, or worse, turned their back to Italy. What an example of real leadership and humanity from Cuba!
Let's act responsible, regardless
Our inhumanity has led us to the covid-19 crisis besides many other disaster on earth. Only by embracing our humanity can we fight this pandemic. We are all humans but we have been self-destructing and this crisis proves that we all live at one address, the earth. Only by supporting and respecting each other that we can thrive and live in peace.
As leaders, we are not superiors to others, we only have different roles and responsibilities. In times of crisis, we get challenging decisions to make quickly. When we choose to destroy others to cover our responsibilities or lack of courage, we perpetuate the destructive cycle. Our role as a leader requires us to be more creative in finding solutions, caring, enduring, emotionally strong and human.
Care better for your family, your team and your clients during this crisis, that’s part of our roles as a leader. Embrace collaboration and not selfishness, courage and not cowardliness or irresponsibility, humanity and not indifference. We'll overcome this together!
Be safe!
Stay Emotionally-strong!