[March 16, 2015] While watching a recent television special on the Black Plague, one of its main themes was that the millions of deaths caused by the pandemic lead directly to the disintegration of many long established social institutions. It follows that the scale of the deaths and suffering led to probably the greatest leadership failures in history. 1
During and after the darkest days of the plague, all religious, social, and economic systems were thrown into confusion. Authority disintegrated, social rules broke down, fanaticism bloomed, and persecution of certain groups arose. Leaders and their institutions were seen as powerless to do halt the suffering and death. Appeal to authority simply did not work because they the leadership was without effective solutions.
The breakdown in leadership during the Black Plague of the 14th century can provide us with valuable lessons today. Such lessons can be applied to day-to-day leadership issues, not just to catastrophic, black swan events.
What are some of the signs of leadership failure during the plague, which occurred centuries ago, that we can use to help senior leaders today?
- Leaders became insular: they failed to look outside their own experiences for ways to mitigate some of the ravaging effects of the pandemic.
- Leader courage failed: they were often more focused on their own well-being and that of their families, than the rest of their citizens.
- Leaders let their ethical character slip: lawlessness and corruption was allowed to grow and little was done to halt its rise.
- Leaders became risk averse: they ceased to care about their citizens and became more concerned about their inner circle of family, friends, and advisors.
- Leaders failed to communicate: partly due to the danger of the situation, but more because they did not know what to do, most leaders would not tell their citizens about possible solutions.
Looking back on the history of the 14th century plague, there is little here that is not already known when compared to a failing organization today. And the leadership failures continued for years and in some cases for decades … a pattern repeated today, though on a smaller scale.
Some say that some good things came from the destruction wrought by the black plague. The claim is that all institutions changed in positive ways; the feudal system fell, the church lost its political control, worker wages improved, and starvation was reduced. Certainly there was an expensive price to pay for these advances.
Leadership means getting things right even during times of great duress. In the 14th century, leadership often failed miserably.
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[1] No event in recorded human history had caused this level of suffering and death. Estimates vary greatly but between 75 and 200 million people died worldwide as a result; 30 to 75 percent of the total population. The survivors were scared physically and mentally for life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death