Lessons learned from the pandemic, and a hearty good riddance
May 11 is the big day when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will declare the COVID-19 pandemic officially over. That doesn’t mean the disease is gone, but it is no longer considered a public health emergency.
I have been fantasizing about this day for the past three years. I pictured it to be something like the celebration in Times Square on V-J Day in 1945, when people poured into the streets and kissed strangers.
I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I certainly plan to celebrate on the 11th with, at the very least, a toast to our resilience and a sense of gratitude that we made it through.
Lessons learned from the pandemic: the good, bad and ugly
Besides lifting a glass, however, this is a time for reflection about what great leadership looks like in a time of crisis — where we succeeded and where we fell short.
Here are some things leaders did right:
In many cases people pulled together, both in the workplace and in their personal lives. We saw and heard about countless acts of kindness and generosity.
Many individuals and groups of people showed exceptional bravery, especially first responders. Those evenings when we stepped outside to make noise celebrating and thanking them felt good. They deserve a lot more than pots clanging.
The innovation was breathtaking. Companies moved into the virtual world at a pace everyone would have thought impossible prior to the pandemic.
And here are some of our sad mistakes:
The messaging around the pandemic was terrible. I was especially frustrated with information about mask mandates. I understood that masks offered some protection and I cooperated, but I hated every minute of it. I didn’t like breathing in the mask, I didn’t like getting my glasses fogged up, and I hated not seeing people’s faces. To engage more people in this unpleasant yet important behavior, we needed a campaign that was inspiring and maybe funny, not schoolmarmish lectures. I wish I had seen wrestling champions and NASCAR drivers growling, “Don’t breathe on me!” Great leaders know how to deliver a message in a way that makes it easy for people to hear it.
We did a poor job of managing uncertainty and ambiguity. Information was shared as if it was certain and then turned out to be wrong. Here in Chicago, the mayor overreacted and shut down the lakefront for months at a time when it could have been a place of solace. Great leaders know how to say, “I’m not sure. This is the best information we have.”
Our leaders politicized the pandemic. This was tragic because it undermined the American tradition of working together to overcome obstacles. Think of the barn-raising scene in the movie “Witness,” or the workers coming to help Sidney Poitier build a chapel in “Lilies of the Field.” This could have been a time of tremendous unity and compassion, but instead it deepened the divisions in our country.
A time to heal and regain lost ground
Now we have the tough task of repair, and we must use these lessons learned from the pandemic. Many families have lost their elders. Parents have been exhausted by the wrenching demands placed on them. And the children — oh, my, the children. They have missed out on opportunities to develop essential social skills. They have been torpedoed academically by years of makeshift education.
Businesses have failed, and there are empty storefronts and offices everywhere. Many people face ongoing COVID-related health issues themselves or care for others affected. The ruins of the pandemic are all around us.
The task is not over. There is work to be done. Let’s celebrate the greatness we saw over the past three years and learn from the places we fell short. That’s what great leaders do.
Happy May 11! Maybe we should call it V-P Day.
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