Three Leadership Lessons We Can All Take From the Pandemic

[April 17, 2021]  When the news of a dangerous new virus spread across the globe in March 2020, nobody could rightly assume how the world was going to look a year later. From this point in time, however, we are able to see more than we could hope for back then.

With a light at the end of the tunnel in sight, we can now look past the fear and uncertainty and embrace the learning opportunities posed by this unsettling event. Physical distancing allowed for a lot of time we have on our hands to be spent (re)thinking our values and beliefs, professional and personal alike.

It’s time to make a meaningful recap and turn the experiences of the past year into an opportunity to grow, and here are the three vital lessons in leadership the pandemic has taught us so far.

1. Health has no alternative

Before the COVID-19 crisis, we focused on developing hard skills, nurturing soft ones, and rushing to be successful as soon as possible. The pandemic made us press pause and remember something we might have forgotten about entirely: our health, physical and mental, has no alternative.

People are the most important resource any business can have. This is why aiming to nurture their well-being is a lot more than a catchy phrase: it’s the duty of every leader responsible for business growth and people management.

From running a government to owning a small business, taking care of your health, as well as the health of your employees and coworkers, becomes one of the crucial priorities. This is a lesson pandemic taught us that we should never allow ourselves to forget.

2. Flexibility is an irreplaceable trait

In business and in life, change is the only constant. We all heard this maxim many times before. We repeated it at conferences and seminars, wrote it down as a motivational quote and hung it on the walls of our offices—but have we really understood this before the pandemic struck?

The work of a leader is never finished, as even the best-laid plans can come apart when the ideal setting changes abruptly. Adaptability, therefore, remains one of the paramount traits a leader must develop, now more than ever before.

The pandemic has shown us that we must be willing and able to readjust to an ever-changing world. The leaders who fail in doing so, won’t have a chance to be leaders for long.

3. The true strength lies in unity

In a time of emergency, the natural defensive mechanisms often kick in. When the ship seems to be sinking, “every man for himself” might look like a valid course of action. Still, the global health crisis has undeniably shown us that there is strength in unity and cooperation.

When we work together and help each other out, we can minimize the damage more quickly and rebuild what we worked so hard to accomplish.

Whether it’s a neighboring country or a department in a company that needs a helping hand, it’s the leaders’ duty to provide assistance and support in times of hardship and turmoil. Predicting the winner and looking out for one’s own interests isn’t a good course of action.

 United we stand, divided we fall might just be the most important lesson the pandemic has taught us until now.