Manila, 18 March 2020 — In Grow3Leaders we practice positive change in a time of crisis.

How are we coping with Covid-19, what are we learning from it, and how we can help others using the leadership behaviors we practice in the Grow3Leaders community? That’s how we kicked off yesterday’s #LEADcast session, with Sogol Ghobad in Sydney facilitating. We welcomed the team from the Institute of Social and Environmental Transition (ISET) in Kathmandu, led by executive director Kanchan Mani Dixit.

Our discussion took place in the context of our Grow3Leaders March theme BUILD, on how leaders build habits, a toolkit, and integrity.

In earlier posts, we unpacked how to avoid Three Leader Traps that hold leaders back from making progress: the Inconsistent Leader, the Ineffective Leader, and the Inconsequential Leader traps. We also explored that leaders need to be decisive when it comes to habit building and that this means to Kill Off Choice. 

Turning to this week’s #LEADcast discussion on Coping with Covid, here are some highlights and reflections.

Building Habits

Citizens in countries around the world have been asked by governments and medical experts to implement a raft of behavior changes, from frequent and prolonged handwashing, sanitizing surfaces, practicing self-isolation and self-quarantine, to various forms of social distancing. 

No more handshakes, hugs, kisses, and hi-fives to greet and celebrate. Instead, Nepal’s custom of folding your hands while greeting ‘Namaste’ has become popular, similar to the Wai gesture with the ‘Sawasdee’ greeting in Thailand.

Together, these are major changes that clash with deeply ingrained cultural practices in many parts of the world, and influencing a change in such habits is not easy. Yet with the help of popular social media, we now see that changes can also go viral and be spread faster than we thought possible. 

Meanwhile, many offices have closed and moved their work online to the extent possible, with unprecedented numbers of people now seriously exploring how to conduct effective meetings online. That trend will stay, in all likelihood, as a paradigm shift.

Health experts have also guided us on how to practice hygiene in a modern way, such as sneezing into our elbows rather than our hands. We are now advised to practice social distancing by keeping a distance of 1 to 1.5 meters between us, making it harder for virus transmission to take place between people through the air. 

Our LEADcast discussion underlined the importance for citizen leaders like us to Be The Change we want to see in our communities, by modeling the way. There is no chance that governments and health care providers alone can solve this crisis, so it is up to citizen leaders like us to help by acting responsibly, adopting and advocating the behavioral changes, and helping others around us by our leadership. We are all in the same boat, so to speak, so we must row together and lead by example.

Building a Toolkit

Just like effective leadership requires us to build a leadership toolkit that fits various situations, we are now rapidly getting used to a new set of tools in the battle with Covid-19. These include and also go beyond regular hygiene practices from the past. 

Essential tools now include soap, alcohol, sanitizing gel, face masks, and other protective gear for health care workers. While there is widespread consensus on how to clean up by washing hands, there are different views of who should wear face masks and when. These views have been reported as reflecting a more individual-oriented mindset of choosing what is considered the right way to only wear a mask when you have symptoms versus a more collective mindset to support widespread public use to reduce risk both individually and collectively and with a sense of solidarity.

What is clear is that many of the ‘tools’ are in dramatically short supply at present, putting pressure on governments and businesses to invest in rapid production to make up for the shortages. Moreover, in a situation where governments make different choices on strategies to adopt, the advice of the World Health Organization is that individual tools have limited efficacy if not used in a comprehensive package of measures. That applies to each of us as citizens, and well as to our governments. The crux of the matter is how the measures we take work together to provide protection and slow down transmission. We must act as ONE.

Building Integrity

In the LEADcast discussion, we spent considerable time exploring what building integrity means for leaders in this time of Coping with Covid. Some members reflected on practicing calmness, noting that it can be as contagious as fear and the disease itself. When we look around us and observe concern and anxiety on the faces of people we meet, we can question ourselves what our own face is showing, Sogol Ghobad explained. Very often, our emotions will get reflected and amplified by those around us. Leadership with integrity is about passing on positive attitudes and behaviors.

Other members noted how important it is for leaders to practice giving clear and helpful advice and guiding others to reliable news sources. Rather than spreading stories of concern, leaders can inspire others by showing up as the best version of themselves and stimulate others to do that too.

They also remarked that integrity implies that we don’t prioritize ourselves, and find opportunities to support our family, community, business, city, country, and ultimately our world. While putting people at the center of our discussions, we make sure it’s more WE than ME. Everywhere around the world, we now hear stories about positive local actions for good, showing good examples to emulate. Collective support for our frontline health care providers is an integral part of that. 

Building Continues

In Grow3Leaders, we want to explore further how each of us can make a difference in this time of challenge, both individually and collectively. How we practice together will also give us a big boost to our self-leadership. We will continue our discussion on Coping with Covid in the next LEADcast and explore additional perspectives, such as how we can encourage colleagues to maintain mental health and wellness during this challenging time, and where we can help mitigate social and financial impacts on society, economy, and development around us.

If you are interested to grow your leadership and grow leaders around you in this time of crisis, consider joining us by taking up the Grow3Leaders challenge. As the name suggests, you join by inviting 3 colleagues from your workplace to form a Collab with you to influence a meaningful change ‘Out Loud’ together over a period of 6 to 8 weeks, using the tools and experiences for effective leadership behaviors we share in the community.

Joining Grow3Leaders is free of charge—not free of commitment. Come to BUILD with others and make a difference in this time of great challenge. See you in the next LEADcast!