Dr. Li Wenliang and doing the right thing
Dr. Li Wenliang tried to do the right thing and was punished. He was proved right but now he is dead, a tragic and inspirational figure caught up in the burgeoning international story of the novel coronavirus. His unlikely rise to celebrity stands as a lesson in the importance of truth-telling, courage and listening in times of crisis.
Li was not even an infectious disease specialist, he was an ophthalmologist working in Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus outbreak. As reported by the Star and others, on Dec. 30, he posted an alert in an online chat room speaking about the alarming appearance of what appeared to be a virus similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
For his public service, local authorities hauled him in and ordered him to sign a statement disavowing the warning and, for good measure, forcing him to dub it “illegal behaviour.”
We now know that it was part of a pattern in which Chinese officials tried to suppress news of the virus, likely contributing to its early spread. This is what happens in authoritarian regimes headed by strongmen who only want to hear an endless loop of glowing success stories. Mid-level minions, covering their own backsides, slap down anyone who dares cast a shadow.
Only when the scale of the outbreak became clear and impossible to suppress did Chinese national authorities belatedly rehabilitate Li. By this time, he was fatally ill with the virus himself. When he died, he was only 34 years old and expecting a second child with his wife.
While officially mourning his passing, Beijing continued to crack down on critical coverage of its management of the outbreak. We may never know the full truth of what happened.
Living in a country with a free and vigorous news media, we may be tempted to smugly assert that it could never happen here. That would be wrong.
In both the corporate world and the halls of government, there have been endless examples of truth-tellers or whistleblowers who were ignored, suppressed or punished for the crime of pointing out a wrong.
We fear for the future of the brave civil servants who dared to speak up about Donald Trump’s Ukrainian misdeeds, now facing the wrath of a vengeful president and his acolytes after the sham acquittal in the U.S. Senate.
Speaking truth to power in the corporate world can also be perilous. But wise leaders need to listen rather than discipline. We now know that many insiders at Boeing had grave reservations about the 737 Max 8, long before hundreds of people died in two crashes. If only those warnings had been heeded.
Firms facing bad news stories call in external crisis communications specialists in part because it can be careerlimiting to tell the boss he is screwing up. It is far easier for an outsider to give the painful advice that it is best to rip off the bandage, tell the full truth, say you are sorry and promise that you will do your best to fix whatever has gone wrong.
In crisis communications, I preach the core tenets of empathy, responsibility and transparency. Doing the right thing is invariably the best communications strategy.
Despite the compelling story of Dr. Li Wenliang, the lesson is unlikely to resonate in China.
But leaders in this part of the world should take heed.