{"id":19500,"date":"2023-11-01T00:54:41","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T00:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/pandemic-inquiry-exposes-leadership-failings\/"},"modified":"2023-11-01T00:54:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T00:54:43","slug":"pandemic-inquiry-exposes-leadership-failings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=19500","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic Inquiry Exposes Leadership Failings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The official public inquiry into the U.K. Government\u2019s response to the Covid-19 pandemic was never going to be especially comforting. But the picture that has emerged this week is highly disturbing. Through WhatsApp messages and emails exchanged between ministers and officials as well as evidence given to the inquiry, which is due to run until the summer of 2026, there is the clear impression that there was no real plan for dealing with the virus. In particular, the man who was supposedly in charge \u2014 then prime minister Boris Johnson \u2014 was, according to the country\u2019s most senior civil servant, Simon Case, \u201cchanging strategic direction every day.\u201d This view was apparently echoed by Sir Patrick Vallance, the government\u2019s chief scientific adviser at the time, who in his contemporaneous diary released to the inquiry accused Johnson of \u201cridiculous flip-flopping.\u201d More damning still, Dominic Cummings, supposedly Johnson\u2019s closest adviser, described the then prime minister as a shopping trolley swerving unpredictably from side to side. The image was apparently used by insiders to describe Johnson at the height of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

These are serious accusations to make against any leader. When they concern the person who was supposedly heading the fight against a deadly virus they are scarcely believable. But then other evidence to the inquiry suggests that there was a general level of chaos and dysfunction within government that would have alarmed the public if they had known of its full extent at the time.<\/p>\n

Leave aside for a moment the fact that the evidence so far points to a government failing in its most basic task \u2014 protecting its people. What this appears to be is a colossal failure of leadership. And it brings to mind one of the key messages of When Everyone Leads<\/em>, a book published earlier this year by the founder and chief leadership development officer at the Kansas Leaderships Center. \u201cLeadership has nothing to do with role. It has everything to do with seeing and seizing moments to help a group move forward,\u201d they write. Elsewhere, while pointing out that most people follow rather than lead, they note: \u201cFollowership plays out most clearly among politicians. Politicians are lagging indicators of what\u2019s going on in society. Change rarely starts with them. A politician anticipates what their voters want and then follows the crowd that put them in office.\u201d Johnson, of course, was famed for his ability to defy party lines and to win elections on the strength of his personality. In other words, he anticipated what people wanted rather than \u2014 until it was arguably too late and all else had failed \u2014 tell harsh truths and make difficult decisions.<\/p>\n

Other factors will no doubt be found to have played a part in the U.K.\u2019s response to this greatest of challenges. Already, for instance, there have been suggestions that a lack of diversity of thought contributed to the lack of appropriate planning. But in the end a crisis demands leadership and \u2014 as is so often the case, not just in politics, but in business and elsewhere \u2014 it was lacking.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-ad><\/p>\n

When Everyone Leads<\/em> is aimed at all sorts of people and all sorts of organizations. But it does seem to have a particular relevance to politics. Perhaps that is because Ed O\u2019Malley, the founder of the Kansas Leadership Center and one of the authors, is a former Kansas state senator and gubernatorial aide, while the origins of the center back in 2007 lie in a desire in part to improve communities. But just consider the statements at the heart of what O\u2019Malley and co-author Julia Fabris McBride call their \u201ccountercultural\u201d approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeadership is an activity, not a position.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeadership is mobilizing others to make progress on our most important challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeadership is always about change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeadership is engaging others, weaving connections between people who think differently and value different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeadership is helping people accept loss. That\u2019s why leadership is risky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one exercises leadership without a clear and compelling purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the last of these echoes ideas we would expect to see in just about any management book these days, the others are somewhat unusual. But O\u2019Malley and McBride, a certified coach and former actor, insist that they suit the current turbulent times. The notion of leadership the statements describe \u201cplaces the common good at the centre. And when we place the common good at the centre we realise that although we each have tremendous power to make a difference, our individual power, expertise and ability will never be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pandemic may be over \u2014 although the virus itself persists \u2014 but there are plenty of other crises, notably in Ukraine and the Middle East, where it is clear traditional approaches to leadership do not appear to be working. Perhaps the people from Kansas should be given a go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The official public inquiry into the U.K. Government\u2019s response to the Covid-19 pandemic was never going to be especially comforting. But the picture that has emerged this week is highly disturbing. Through WhatsApp messages and emails exchanged between ministers and officials as well as evidence given to the inquiry, which is due to run until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"\nPandemic Inquiry Exposes Leadership Failings | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The official public inquiry into the U.K. Government\u2019s response to the Covid-19 pandemic was never going to be especially comforting. 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