COVID-19: Lessons Learned 2

Leaders across the globe have been challenged during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been fascinating to observe how individuals, organizations, and governments have responded to this crisis.Those with a qualitative research mind (like me) can see where case studies, phenomenological studies, or grounded theory research will come out of this season.The complexity of factors, novelty of the phenomenon, and the multi-faceted impact of decisions has made this situation a prime laboratory to learn about leadership.

I have been captivated by the decisions made at all levels, the process of decision making, and the diverse reactions. If you are a fan of "leading and learning," you probably are also very intrigued by the leadership scenarios unfolding every single day.

When leaders are faced with a crisis that they dealt with before (e.g. financial downturn, reduction of staff, breach of contract), they can rely on their experience to make the best decision. However, very few current leaders have any experience with a global pandemic. Even experienced leaders are at a loss (at least initially) to what is the proper path forward and how to lead through this crisis. From the president of the United States, to local mayors, to company owners, to school administrators, leaders are scratching their heads wondering what to do.

So what can we learn about leadership through this pandemic? How are effective leaders responding, and what are they doing?

Here are a few concepts to follow in order to lead effectively through a crisis ...

Lead with Humility

While I would argue that humility is a characteristic that effective leaders should always embody, humility doesn't make the top five (or even top ten) characteristics that people typically look for in a leader. For example, our POTUS is the antithesis of humility, and many political leaders align closer to arrogance than humility. However, even those who are not known for humility personally can lead with humility by doing some of the following things (examples will be from education during a pandemic).

• Call upon and listen to experts -- e.g. school leaders should seek input from their local department of public health, doctors, district school leaders, and legal counsel before making decisions.
• Seek advice from those in similar positions (different environments) -- e.g. all high school principals in the area discussing how to host graduation to end the school year well. 
• Avoid the "echo chamber" by getting differing opinions -- e.g. specifically seek out schools that are planning or are doing things differently and ask why; carefully listen to the "minority report" within your staff.
• Conduct tabletop scenario discussions with staff and stakeholders -- e.g. talk through best and worst case scenarios with your educational team, students, and parents before making any decisions.
• Be willing to pivot in light of new information -- e.g. after collecting more information, be willing to admit you were wrong and change the plan. 

By acting with humility, leaders will explore a wide range of scenarios, hear a variety of opinions, work collaboratively, and change course if needed through a crisis. 

Use Data to Make Decisions

Leaders must make data-driven decisions during times of uncertainty. When facing a new crisis (like a pandemic) with high stakes potential results, the situation will be accompanied by emotional and political forces. Outside experts should provide the data, and leaders must lean into this objective data as much as possible to make decisions. Emotional reactions rarely lead to good decisions for the organization, and, in fact, often cause sleepless nights and anxiety for the leader. In an uncertain situation like we are currently facing, every decision will be criticized, but it is important for leaders to know that they are making the best decision with the most complete information that is in front of them. 

Educational leaders understand this concept, as data is frequently used to make curriculum, budget, admissions, and staffing decisions in schools. The science of teaching encourages school leaders to seek out data, to use assessment intentionally, and to make objective decisions. Educational leaders during a crisis need to rely on these assessment skills.

Lead with Confidence

While this seems contrary to "lead with humility," confident (not rash) decision making is an important part of being an effective leader through a crisis. Once a leader has actively sought out advice from others and assessed the data, he/she needs to make a decision. If those being led have confidence that a leader has acted with humility and carefully considered the data, they will trust that the decision being made was the best possible one given the situation. The contrary is, of course, true; if a leader makes a rash decision without consulting others or considering the data, he/she will lose the trust of those being led.

The diversity of school leaders is probably a wider spectrum than most other industries. Educational leaders come with a wide variety of personalities and leadership styles, but, if they want to be effective, they all need to make tough decisions. School administrators are used to working collaboratively, evaluating data, and making difficult decisions; they are also used to dealing with harsh criticism / unhappy stakeholders. In fact they are more prepared than most to lead through a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.


I do trust our national, state, and local leaders and, for the most part, believe that they are acting with humility to take advice from experts, assess the data, and make the best decision from all that they know at this point. Our leaders are in my daily prayers ... I pray for God to give them wisdom, courage, energy, and humility.

I do not have all the facts, and I have not listened to all the experts, so I would not want to second guess any decisions made by our national, state, and local leaders. My only concern surrounds my first point ... humility.

Unfortunately, due to character flaws and the political landscape, I question if our government leaders (at all levels) have the integrity to admit when they are wrong. With all the new information (from local and global data) and a wide spectrum of models being tried in other countries and communities, I would be shocked if we developed the perfect plan from the start. However, I haven't seen many of our political leaders admit that they were wrong and drastically change the plan. This surprises me because we've never experienced a pandemic like this before and the issues are so complex that nobody would've anticipated them when we started dealing with this crisis.

Leading in uncharted waters demands humility, a willingness to admit they are wrong, and pivoting to a new course ... I haven't seen it yet, but I am still hopeful.

Pray for your leaders, obey your leaders, and keep learning through this pandemic.


The first blog in this series focuses on student learning during a pandemic: loving, pivoting, persevering.

• https://eduleadinglearning.blogspot.com/2020/04/lessons-learned-during-pandemic.html

COVID-19: Lessons Learned

We learn most deeply and our character is shaped most profoundly through difficulty. While distance is needed to fully realize this hard truth, I wonder what we are learning individually and as a community during the COVID-19 global pandemic. 

In reflection, I am reminded of James' challenging encouragement to "consider it pure joy ... whenever you face trials of many kinds" as this leads to perseverance (James 1:2-3). Paul also reiterates this in Romans when he uses a gradatio (or marching figure) to emphasize the growth in character that suffering facilitates: "suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3-4). I am also reminded of Ben Franklin's quip: "What hurts, instructs."

When specific suffering happens to an individual, the lesson learned is often limited to that person and those directly observing the phenomenon. However, the life of a community often continues unaffected. For example, a death of a parent deeply impacts the children and the immediate family, but after the funeral, the extended community continues as before the tragedy. However, when suffering happens on a larger scale, to a local or global community, the lessons learned can impact and reshape both individuals and a community. For example, the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, impacted both individuals and altered how we operate as a society.

The COVID-19 pandemic will impact individuals and our global society. We will learn so many lessons through this time; here are a few that come to mind.

1. Loving

The first lesson, for both individuals and our community, is a sacrificial (albeit sometimes forced) other-centrism, an actively loving of our neighbors. We are asked/required by our national and local leaders to sacrifice individual/societal freedoms and financial health to benefit others. This includes mandates on social distancing, isolation, and protective gear, but also includes shuttering businesses ... all to "flatten the curve" and protect others. Yes, we are also protecting ourselves, but the primary purpose is to protect others.

This is unusual and unprecedented. In previous outbreaks, the sick or at-risk are quarantined while the healthy continue life as normal. During this pandemic, the healthy are asked to self-quarantine to protect those who are at-risk. It is an active love of neighbor to sacrifice your own freedoms to protect others (even if much of this is forced).

"Good News" examples of individuals actively loving their neighbors is also occurring within our communities: neighbors are offering to get groceries for the elderly, families are writing messages of hope with sidewalk chalk, and individuals are donating money to help the un- or under-employed. Through the suffering of the pandemic, many individuals are setting aside their selfishness and are sacrificing for others.

We live in an ego-centric, selfish society that is so entirely counter to Christ's second greatest commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt. 22:39). What an important individual and communal lesson to learn! It is my prayer that we, as individuals and as a nation, will hold on to the lesson of actively loving our neighbors after the pandemic is over, even when it means self-sacrifice.

2. Pivoting 

An important life lesson that is being "taught" to everyone during this pandemic is the need to adjust to external factors in order to flourish. While many students are learning this lesson (especially on this scale) for the first time, this is a lesson that most adults have already been taught (not necessarily learned) in the workplace.

In order to thrive in this world, individuals must be able to pivot ... adapt, adjust, and finish well. When faced with an external challenge that is beyond one's control, everyone has a choice: he/she can quit and give up or figure out a way around the obstacle and finish the project. Although not on the scale of a global pandemic, there are a plethora of examples: a new supervisor changes the direction of a project, a company consolidation/down-sizing eliminates a position, or a revenue stream dries up. In each of these examples, individuals and companies (if they want to survive) need to adjust, adapt, and innovate through this change. Unfortunately, many individuals and organizations have not learned this lesson and an external crisis ruins them.

Hopefully, students (especially) learn this lesson for their future. This pandemic would ideally lead to a generation of innovators and intrapreneurs who are able to adapt quickly and effectively to change. Our dynamic and quickly changing world needs this more than ever.  Through this pandemic "crucible," educators are already seeing those students who have both struggled and flourished. Current students who learn this lesson well during this time will be the future leaders of culture and industry.

3. Persevering

One of the criticisms of the Millennial and Z generations is their lack of perseverance and grit. While they (stereo-typically) are passionate, that fire quickly dies out in the face of adversity. Returning to scripture, both James and Paul (in Romans) state that suffering produces perseverance. God knows how important perseverance is because He also knows how hard living in a broken world can be; thus, He uses suffering (even the COVID-19) to build in us the characteristic of grit.

Scripture is supported by research as perseverance (aka grit) has been the topic of recent sociological studies (Duckworth, et al. 2007) and connecting this characteristic to flourishing as a human being (Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, 2016). Essentially, individuals with grit flourish in our world.

We see this lesson in the educational sphere during this time. We often point to students who need to grow in grit, but a full spectrum of gritty-ness can be seen at the institutional and educator level. Some schools and teachers have essentially shut down learning in the midst of this crisis while others have persevered and even flourished. This, of course, trickles down to the students and the lessons that they are learning (or not learning) during this time. If you are in a school (like I am) that embodies perseverance, count yourself blessed ... you and your students are learning an important, God-ordained lesson during this time.

God wants us to persevere through suffering and to grow in our gritty-ness through this crisis. As a human, I don't like this tactic that God uses to grow me, but I know He is preparing me for future situations as I live in the "already but not yet" time awaiting Christ's return.


We are all learning a ton of lessons during this time; it is my hope that we come out the other side of this pandemic much improved, as individuals and as a society. That we learn to love, pivot, and persevere to flourish in tomorrow's world.

Stay tuned for more lessons as this pandemic continues.