Covid-19: A global leadership disaster

Vision is core to any leadership, more so for global leaders. People across the world trust their leaders with their personal growth, livelihood and survival. Especially in the democracies of the world, it is that trust and reliance which ensures successful election of leaders in their respective nations. Common people go about their everyday personal, family and social goals, reposing faith in their leaders that the larger aspects of their State, region, nation and the world are handled efficiently and timely.

Covid-19 has clearly proven beyond doubt that the global leadership has let down its people. The incompetence and criminal negligence with which the current world order led by USA has handled the unprecedented human crisis, is nothing short of a historic global leadership disaster. Unimaginable human suffering, pain and thousands of untimely deaths which are steeply rising day by day across the world, exposes the utter lack of vision, war-readiness, accountable action and congruence of nations which claim economic, social, political and military superiority.

Not acting in time to arrest the transmission of Covid-19 right after the 'first reported case' is a horrendous failure. However, there is a long list of larger systemic and governance failures of every single democracy in this world, especially the 'first world nations. I feel the fundamental criteria to assess and bracket these nations as 'first world or developed' is warped. Unfortunately, not much of finger pointing on leadership competence can be done for all the other nations in the lower order, categorized as 'developing nations' or 'under-developed'.

The below are some key indicators of global leadership failure in our times.

Politics above governance

Politics has overtaken governance in many democracies across the world. It has become 'a new normal' world-wide to excessively indulge in politics even during non-election season, instead of delivering progressive and accountable governance. This impacts everything. The first to receive a deathblow is avision-based macro strategy to protect the nation and the world from Covid-19 like sudden and massive attacks from nowhere.

'Politics above governance' can blind the governments and its leaders to become myopic and short-sighted in their quest for immediate outcomes, and to score electoral brownie points. The diminishing quality of electorate also becomes a partner in crime by promoting and qualifying this type of faulty governance models.

No wonder, even the first world nations driven by these trends have failed their people by being too busy politically and not acting when the Covid-19 first case showed up on their shores. The average response time of most nations is hovering around 4 to 5 weeks, before reacting to this pandemic with any quantifiable and concerted counter measures.

Many national leaders have let down their people with their self-serving and self-centered leadership which seem to have a singular agenda – 'attain & retain power' at any cost. This time around, the cost is exponential.

Lessons not learnt

Leadership is about learning from the past and ensuring nations don't make the same mistakes. Nations should have also understood the imminence and possibility of these pandemics re-occurring in different forms and modes.

COVID19 is neither the first nor the last pandemic.

Below, are some not-so-recent and recent pandemics, which have challenged the humanity and caused massive pain and death.

Sixth Cholera Pandemic– 1910 to 1911

Death Toll: 8,00,000+

Cause: Cholera

Flu Pandemic - 1918

Death Toll: 20 -50 million

Cause: Influenza

Asian Flu -1956-58

Death Toll: 2 million

Cause: Influenza

Flu Pandemic - 1968

Death Toll: 1 million

Cause: Influenza

HIV/AIDS Pandemic –2005-2012

Death Toll: 36 million

Cause: HIV/AIDS

COVID19 – 2019 – Ongoing

Death - 45,000 +

Cause - SARS

If the global leadership learnt lessons from this pandemic history, nations would have been well prepared to face COVID19.

It's quite evident, none are.

Wide social / economic gaps

Some nations with recorded history of structured governance spanning over 200 to 500 years, haven't even achieved ample social equilibrium, communal harmony and economic security till date. These are just few factors from many others, which could have caused less pain and suffering in times like now, when lock downs have been imposed but not quite successfully world over.

Everyday compulsions of the poor, communal prejudices above national interests, lack of empowering education, lack of robust health infrastructure, shortfall of medicines and personal protection equipment to the frontline health workers, showcases the wide gaps and serious lack of 'real progress' from centuries. All the above, despite being governed by the world's best possible governance model called 'Democracy'.

Missile defence - But no microbe defence

What good is all the military strength put together in the world, when one can't defend a microbe which is killing thousands by the day?

What good are all those billions of dollars of budgetary allocations to defence equipment, when the very future of humankind is challenged by a microbe & not a missile?

A good fraction of that money could have helped build more hospitals, procure more emergency medical equipment, employed million more medical workers or funded more powerful research, for accurate counter measures.

Time to redefine leadership

Covid-19 is a gigantic challenge to humanity. It's a historic disruption to the almost mechanised and unconsciously programmed lives of the most evolved species 'the Homosapiens'.

I strongly believe there is an opportunity disguised in this massive adversity. The humankind can press a reset button and reinvent our purpose on this beautiful planet. We can only find a new path after all this ongoing mayhem is over one day. Then we must 'redefine the leadership' for the new world.

By now, most of our children are shocked and confused about 'who's in control?' - as they were taught all along, that we humans have everything under control, always. Such a lie, we have been propagating for generations and today we stand overtly exposed with almost no control.

I believe new global leadership must be expansively visionary. It must be empathetic to weak and poor and sensitive to other beings on this planet. The redefined leadership must work with conviction for economic and social equality. It must restore higher order human values and redefine good life. The new leadership paradigm must reorder human priorities above personal greed, and erase all racial, communal, religious fault lines globally.

(The writer is the chief spokesperson of the BJP Telangana State unit, a global leadership coach and an organisational strategist)