They say history favors the bold. In this current pandemic crisis, the same adage will ring true when it comes to who made early choices to deal with the threat head-on even if that meant going against the prevailing message.
Some of the lessons learned from those who made bold choices can be put into action in our own businesses everyday.
Looking back to earlier this year, “bold, early pushes for social distancing appear to have paid off immensely” according to New York Times writer Farhad Manjoo. In his article The Leaders Who Passed the Coronavirus Test he notes, “The Bay Area … reported some of the first ‘community spread’ coronavirus cases in the country. Now the region is leading the nation in ‘flattening the curve.’” Manjoo looked at leaders in California, Ohio, and Maryland to see what these early leaders shared in common.
There were a few things that California, Ohio, and Maryland governors did that helped them stay ahead of the curve and save many lives. Manjoo outlined a few of those decisions that are good leadership practices for any business, not just in times of a pandemic.
First, the governors of these three states heeded the clear warning. Instead of ignoring the potential threat, they looked at it with clarity and openness to make an informed assessment. Objectively looking at the potential problems or opportunities associated with new products or trends is a good leadership practice and one that pays off at any time.
Second, trust the experts. No one has all the answers. By listening to different experts and seeking advice from many sources, good leaders can evaluate the relative threat or non-threat. Trusting in others who are able to provide perspective and guidance is also the hallmark of a good leader. Not all decisions will be correct, but hearing out those who have more experience is a critical difference in making leadership decisions.
Lastly, the leaders of these states also moved forcefully but incrementally to make changes to protect their citizens. Sometimes it’s not the huge actions you take, but the small incremental actions that are the difference between being ahead of the curve or behind.
Leadership is not just about being in charge. It’s all the small decisions, the right and wrong ones that make a true leader. Keeping eyes wide open and looking for opportunities is one way Brivo tries to stay ahead of the curve.
As a market leader in access control security, we recently took anonymized data from our cloud-based security platform and mapped it to show the impacts of COVID-19. The closing of offices, businesses, houses of worship and many other locations around the U.S. reveals staggering drops in the number of daily active users entering the workplace.
We plan to share this data with as many people as we can and to watch day to day to show the state-by-state trends of which industries are returning to work and at what capacity. . Check back frequently to observe changes in the number of people heading back to work to help inform your decisions to lead your organizations into the future.