Why leadership is crucial in a crisis

To the Times:

When I was a young lieutenant in the Marine Corps I was the Adjutant/Legal Officer and Executive Officer of Corrections Battalion, Camp Pendleton, Calif. As a young woman officer in a male-dominated organization, I was tasked with leading Marines, many of whom had served in combat in Vietnam. How could I possibly do that? How could I possibly measure up and earn the respect of men who had done so much and were so experienced, when I was barely out of college and had never supervised anyone or managed anything?

Here is what I learned. Leadership means asking questions and listening when you don’t have the expertise or experience. I asked senior Marines, junior to me in rank, but wiser than me in experience, how to get things done. I spent time after work in “bull sessions” asking those Marines to tell me stories about the ‘good old days’ and I extracted from those stories nuggets of wisdom about how the Corps worked and how to motivate men to achieve the mission.

One thing that was never mentioned was politics. I didn’t know whether the men and women who worked for me were Republicans or Democrats. We never looked through that lens. We were laser focused on “what actions help me achieve the mission” and “what actions do not.” Simple as that.

Flash forward to today. The mission is to defeat a toxic virus. The president is not an epidemiologist or a scientist, but he has surrounded himself with experts. The experts tell him to ramp up testing, maintain social distancing, and implement contact tracing. Rather than using the weight of the federal government to defeat the virus, he orders the governors to do it - then he blames them for acting to save lives.

President Trump is telling everyday citizens to rebel against the very same governors he has asked to defeat this virus. “Liberate Minnesota!” “Liberate Michigan!” Liberate from whom? From the governors? Who happen to be Democrats? Who are trying to test, maintain social distancing, and implement contact tracing? Things that he asked them to do?

And what about our own Pennsylvania Legislature? Last week Republicans rammed through a bill that would open up the Pennsylvania economy. They did it without a single Democratic vote. They did it without listening to the Democrats in the Legislature. They did it without allowing a single Democratic amendment. Those Democratic legislators represent not only Democratic constituents, but Republican constituents. Why weren’t they heard?

I know that adjustments need to be made to Gov. Wolf’s shutdown order. I have talked to small business owners and they are hurting. They believe more exceptions should be made. I have talked to people who need their unemployment check - they are hurting. They need the state unemployment office to act faster and with more efficiency. There are compromises to be had here that will benefit business AND protect our health. But those compromises will not be achieved without listening and without leadership.

Real leadership looks easy ... but it is not. It transcends party. It demands humility. It requires honesty and competence. It asks for forgiveness. And it requires empathy.

We are facing the biggest crisis since World War II. Not only do we need a Manhattan project to solve our testing failures, we need a Manhattan project to develop leaders who will look past partisanship to defeat an enemy that knows no party.

When you are voting in June and in November, remember the leaders who acted decisively, who listened with empathy, and who made the hard choices to save our lives.