LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The welfare of the people should always come first, writes

The current pandemic has exposed the gap between political leadership and management skills, amongst many heads of state. Covid-19 has afflicted 203 million people globally and has caused 4.3 million deaths. The global economy stands crippled. Over 200 million people will be rendered jobless across the world according to United Nations. An additional 115 million could sink into extreme poverty according to World Bank. President Trump refused to take Covid-19 seriously for many months. He refused to wear a mask. He was at constant loggerheads with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Chief Medical Advisor to the President, on the management of the pandemic. He even stopped funding the World Health Organisation (WHO). Many leaders were concerned about ensuing elections. They devoted more time to their campaigns than managing Covid-19. They refused to lockdown many crowded cities, afraid to cripple the economies. They did not want unemployment or low rates of growth before the elections. The result was that Covid-19 took a tenacious grip.

The callous approach to the disease took its toll. President Joe Biden immediately focused on managing the pandemic, on a war footing. He declared selective lockdowns, encouraged vaccine producers and launched the vaccination drives on a war footing. He even evoked wartime laws, to foster production of vaccines and medical equipment. His initiatives helped to control the spread of the disease.

The UK Prime Minister Mr. Boris Johnson also followed Mr. Trump’s lead and refused lockdowns in the initial stages, which aggravated the situation.

The management of Covid-19 in India has also been wanting. The national lockdown was declared in March 202o, with just hours’ notice. Every restaurant, shop, office and factory was shut. People did not have enough provisions at home. They had no time to withdraw moneys from their banks. They were simply marooned in their homes. Single citizens, who depended on restaurants, did not know where to eat their meals.

The richer citizens could improvise solutions to their problems. However, the poorer citizens suffered the most. Around a 100 million migratory workers in the towns, lost their jobs. They had no incomes or food. Since the trains and buses had stopped, they trudged walking to their homes in the villages. Many of them marched around 500 kilometers to reach homes. Some died on these exhausting, inhuman walks. Governments could have just pressed 100,000 buses to help the workers to reach their homes.

The management of the vaccination program in India, is also tardy due to errors in forecasting, planning and execution. Victory over the pandemic was declared repeatedly by the leaders, even as citizens were dying due to shortage of beds, ICUs and even simple oxygen. No efforts were made to boost vaccine production throughout 2020. The harsh fact is that just about 8.3 percent of the Indian population has been fully vaccinated in the last seven months. India is desperately short of vaccines. The country may have to wait till the third quarter of next year to vaccinate 80 percent of its population. Countries who are banking on exports of vaccines from India, will agonize. They may seek succor elsewhere.

Leadership of countries is a massive responsibility. Leadership is a mandate. It is not an end in itself or an opportunity for self-glorification. There are some fundamental ethics and tenets that leaders should follow.

First, leaders should tell the truth to the people. They should keep themselves abreast of developments in a crisis, like the current pandemic and keep their people fully briefed. They should not lie or sugar-coat.

Second, the welfare of the people should always come first. Their own personal and party agenda, like elections should be subjugated to the wellbeing of their people. Elections come and go. Political jobs like presidentship and prime ministerships also come and go. However, human lives that are lost, are lost forever. They leave gaping holes in families and lives of loved ones.

Third, leaders should acquire management skills. A person can be an astute politician. However, that does not make him an able manager. Whilst doing a programme at the Harvard Kennedy school of Government, I was surprised to note that a former Prime Minister of Tanzania had studied there. Presidents and Prime ministers have political skills. They should acquire management skills if they wish to manage their countries sensibly.

Fourth, leaders must delegate, especially in large countries. No leader, however smart, can manage all the portfolios like finance, health, trade, agriculture, etc., by himself. It would be foolish, to try to do so. Leadership involves selecting competent deputies and empowering them to work diligently.

Fifth, leaders should avoid authoritarianism and coercion. Some leaders just cannot handle any criticism. They even deploy the investigative agencies to smother any dissent.

Sixth, leaders must always stand tall, in an emergency. When everything is falling apart, the leader must take charge. He cannot disappear in a crisis.

Seventh, a leader must never gloat. Many leaders have indulged in grandstanding on the basis on incomplete information, merely to bask in public glory. Chestthumping and finger-wagging is not leadership. People are not suckers. They see through.

Eighth, leaders should know that they too will wither away. No leader is bigger than the country and its[RKA1] people. Leadership positions are like temporary visas. If a leader behaves with dignity and integrity, he is well remembered. Otherwise, people just wait for him to fade away.

Ninth, leadership is a full-time job. The right to sleep, is non-existent, when you lead. Lamentably many leaders across the world slumber, as people agonise in this pandemic. Nevertheless, all the people cannot be fooled, all the time. Finally, leaders must talk less, deliver more. Eventually, a person judges his government, by the quality and quantity of food on his dinner plate every night. And, dinner plates across the world, are getting barer in this pandemic.

A crisis really tests leaders. The current pandemic across countries, teaches us that we need to choose our leaders more judiciously in the future.

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