Combating Coronavirus

COVID-19 is sweeping across the world at an alarming speed and everyone, on a personal and professional basis is wondering how to best react. I am currently no expert on medicine or policy-making, but I can still use my expertise the best I can to make a positive difference. Developing Inter- and Intrapersonal intelligence.

Everyday I hear of more and more quarantine and lockdown. Countries are closing their borders in an effort to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus and protect the fragility of our healthcare systems. While I do not wish to question the wisdom of lockdowns, I would like to speak to the fact that even while social distancing, it is integral that we pull together as a world-wide society and work together as a team.

Leary's Interpersonal Circumplex (1957) suggests that Selfish behaviour (Competition, Aggression, Defiance, and Withdrawal) leads to more of the same. When I hear Trump talk about keeping USA's "numbers low" or look at the Worldometer website tracking cases by country, I understand the rationelle behind it, though I also recognize the competition built into such action. Countries affected less by the virus have a feeling of being better off than those affected more and act accordingly. Tight aggressive responses such as limiting toilet paper availability per customer or shutting down HoReCa is met by defiant behaviour such as French protests carrying on despite lockdown announcements.

I am happy to report some of the examples of team behaviour I have witnessed as well. Neighbours in the community offering help to those around them more affected by the pandemic than themselves. I see young and fit people bringing groceries to the sick and elderly to allow them to stay in quarantine. I've seen people offering childcare services as schools are cancelled, allowing parents to continue working, keeping our hospitals and the like open and providing care to those who need it. It is exactly this type of cooperativeness and helping behaviour that we need to recognize and support within our communities. If we cannot come together at this time, we will succumb to the effects of the Coronavirus and we will all experience hardship and loss.

Many businesses are struggling now and many more will continue to struggle in the future. Some larger businesses can afford to take a break or to provide the technology needed for its employees to work from home. Some however, are too small to survive a few weeks or months of hardship and/or closure. I can only hope that the leaders around us, whether it be politicians or larger corporations who understand the necessity of the SMEs in their communities, understand their role as leaders for those who work well with them in a more dependent capacity.

In the coming months, once this crisis is under more control and daily life begins to get back to its "normal", I hope companies understand the stress on its employees on a personal level. I fear that many will look at their bottom line and worry about their shareholders and forget about their stakeholders that make the business run. Our businesses are made of people. People who have struggled through months of fear and uncertainty. If companies can understand that and play their part in preventing more of the same, their teams will function and pull together to achieve what they couldn't before. But, if businesses begin laying people off, adding to the stress and pressure of unrealistic production goals and the like, Leary's model (as well as my own experience) suggests that these behaviours will be met by defiance and withdrawal, leading to only more strife. Training and Development are often the first things to go in times of trouble. I urge companies not to forget that their key resource is their people, and people can do extraordinary things when working together. Care for them, and they will care for you. Leave them unsupported and don't be surprised if your Coronavirus troubles do not end with the Coronavirus.