We’re in a global crisis as the whole world is facing one of the worst public health challenges any country has had to deal with.
John Maxwell says “everything rises and falls on leadership.” As such, a tremendous burden has fallen on every leader in this season. Therefore, to serve our people well, we must be at our best.
Here are 7 Tips for Leading Through the Covid-19 Crisis that I believe will help you to be at your best and make a lasting impact through this crisis.
1. Lead from the Point of faith, not fear.
Right now, it’s faith or fear and many are falling on the side of fear. But as a leader, you must lead from the point of faith. As a Christian, I trust that nothing happens by accident. God is not surprised by the Coronavirus. We can trust that he that allowed it has a reason and purpose for it. As a leader what you can do is to lead your people to have faith in the sovereignty of God over their lives so that through their faith they can overcome fear and find hope in God.
2. See Crisis differently.
Crisis such as this with Coronavirus can seem hopeless especially as you hear bad news after bad news. Your ability to point your people to a ray of hope that you see as a leader will help your people to know that not all is gloom and doom. Usually, people appreciate later what they have learnt from the hardship they have gone through. Sometimes just telling them, “this situation has come to stretch our capacity or to help us grow in gratitude or to draw closer to God” can be so helpful to direct your people to where they can find hope.
3. Lead with the best interest of others.
As a leader who seeks to add value to the people he leads, it’s important that you lead with the best interest of others. Many leaders had to cancel programs, events, Sunday services, business meetings, family gatherings to protect their people. If you have to, do it. It’s a hard decision that comes with serious consequences. However, it preserves the lives of many of the people we lead. It’s said, “people don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”
4. Seek Wisdom
You’re not an expert in everything. So get expert advice. For the first time, I heard our president, allowing professional doctors to fill in his statements as he addressed the state. Why? Those are the experts. Surround yourself with wise advisers. Seek to understand and appreciate them for their wise advice. This is also very helpful in this era of fake news. Sometimes, victory is won by getting the right information.
5. Don’t lead alone, Lead as a Team
A tremendous burden has fallen on every single leader. As such, it’s important that you lead together with your team. Don’t make the decisions alone. Lean on the help of your friends, partners and teammates. One great way is through delegation. What that does for you is that it allows you to focus on a few things per day. It frees you to catch your breath.
We can all learn this principle from the story of Moses and his father-in-law, Jethro, in Exodus 18. Moses was shouldering all the responsibility of leading and judging in small and matters. But Jethro advised him to appoint leaders over a thousand, a hundred and over fifty. Moses heeded the advice of Jethro and avoided burn-out. Everyone was happy with the new system and God blessed them.
6. Lead by example.
Leading by example establishes your integrity. People love to follow leaders who demonstrate their belief by their action. In our present crisis, a simple thing as regular hand washing speaks volumes.
7. Explore new possibilities.
Sometimes it’s easy to go by what you already know. But new challenges come with new possibilities. I pastor a church and as a church, we had never had service in small groups. But we and many other churches, as well as businesses, are being challenged to find new ways of keeping in touch with our members or customers. So, explore new possibilities.
In conclusion, crises come to rest our faith. However, the Bible says we’re to “consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you go face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3). It’s my prayer for you, that as you lead in this crisis, that God will be with you to make a lasting impact for his glory through your excellent leadership.
What area of your leadership do you need to change so that you’re at your best in this season of Covid-19?