Leadership is a phenomenon that has been around since the beginning of time. There have been leadership gurus of different eras all around the world; some of whom have bolstered theories about leadership that many of us have adopted and incorporated into our own leadership styles today. Throughout our lifetimes, many of us started learning about leadership as early as elementary school. We joined organizations like the Cub Scouts, WEBELOS, Boy and Girl Scouts. We went to college, joined social clubs and fraternities where we started learning about becoming socially conscious and connected to our communities. Eventually, we moved on to the workforce; either in corporate America, the military, or even entrepreneurship, armed with the ideals of making our marks in the communities we live in and the world-at-large. Ambitious leaders continue to improve themselves by going to leadership workshops, conferences and other forms of professional development to hone their leadership skills. This is the call of a leader.
Currently, as a global population, we find ourselves in the midst of a world-wide crisis in the form of a pandemic caused by the Novel Corona Virus 19, also known as COVID-19. This is the kind of world crisis that most of us who are alive today have never experienced before. Therefore, we have been inundated with information and statistics, conspiracy theories of all types, visitations back to historical events in the hopes that it can bring us some form of understanding of what we are truly dealing with in the United States, as well as the rest of the world. This is where great leadership must step up and shine brighter than any other form of light as we continue to traverse our way through uncharted territory.
We could argue back and forth about what we should do next. Is a lock-down truly necessary? Should businesses close or remain open? Should we close state borders? It’s enough to cause confusion, terror, and even chaos if we are not careful. Leaders, we have an inherent duty during this time of uncertainty to squelch the white noise of confusion for everyone who may be following our leadership and direction.
Let us remember that leadership is influence; no matter what the time, circumstance, or location. Now is the time for real leadership to step up. We must be in the forefront of what’s going on in our world and how we move forward into the future. Obviously, we have our spiritual leaders, other community leaders, and elected officials. There are also those informal leaders with and without official titles and positions who have experience, expertise and wisdom that can aid in the advancement of our survival during this COVID-19 crisis and as well as any other crisis. Also remember that we, leaders, are the ones that will blaze the trail through the land of the unknown as others follow. We cannot shy away from this charge. We are facing a problem that we cannot avoid, and it will not go away on its own. But we can continue to work together and be empathetic towards each other. We can arm one another with truth, hope, faith, and most importantly, love. Be the navigator that charts this course. This is our legacy. We must stand tall. Shine on leaders, and let your leadership rise above the crisis!
