Getting through COVID-19 Together...You Can be an Everyday Leader!

We in Canada have watched our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in recent weeks as he has handled the COVID-19 crisis.

Let's take off the table for now any feeling you may have about what more the government should/could have done, or even any personal distaste you may have towards Trudeau. Let's instead put ourselves in the shoes of the British people during WWII as they watched the menacing cloud of Nazism barrel toward them; and as they picked through the rubble of their daily lives and their cities.

Regardless of personal and political differences, the British people knew this: their survival rested on the courage of their gruff, cigar-chomping leader, Winston Churchill, pushing back against Hitler.

I'm researching a concept called Everyday Leadership, for a book I'm writing. My proposition is that  real inclusiveness in a shared environment takes more than edicts from Head Office leaders. It takes everyday leaders, ordinary people down the line modeling the vision and in so doing influencing others accordingly.

But I'm going further in my definition of everyday leadership. For example, what made ordinary Britons sacrifice everything from stockings (nylon was needed for parachutes) to their sons and daughters who joined the fight? Was it Churchill's famous 'We shall fight them' speech?

"We shall fight them on the beaches…We will fight in the fields and in the streets. We will fight them in the hills…We shall never surrender…even if we are starving.” Churchill is reputed to have then turned to a colleague and said, “We’ll fight them with the butt ends of broken beer bottles because that’s bloody well all we’ve got.”

Or did Churchill and our own Prime Minister tap into something deeper within themselves and within those who heard them, that is, everyday leadership? There is, experts say, a difference between "authority" and "leadership". A Prime Minister has the authority to make their people obey the law. A leader inspires their people to obey the law. An everyday leader by modeling the law motivates their people to sacrifice.

I feel like Trudeau modeled last week qualities that we all can model in our own circles of influence.

For example, an everyday leader is wise in their utterances. Says Linda Daskal, author of The Leadership Gap, "We all admire those people who can keep their cool in tense situations. Controlling frustration may be a demanding skill to learn, but it’s one that every leader should master." 

It must have taken supreme effort last week not to have a few choice words for the U.S. President in response to his dangerous and insulting proposal to put troops at the Canadian border to prevent COVID-19 stricken Canadians from sneaking into his country.

How about calmness grace under pressure. Calmness and grace are not cowardice and weakness. I wasn't there to see Churchill, but I imagine the resolute glint in his eye that as he spoke, a glint that said to his people, "We will not cede ground to a Nazi bully. We will triumph...together". I saw that same glint in our leader's eye last week. "We will not cede ground to COVID-19". 

In our own homes and workplaces as we put into practice the new rules, we too can display calm, even when inside we are just as fearful. Those who watch us are desperately looking for it in our eyes.

Whether we are positional leaders heading a country; management leaders heading a team; church leaders responsible for congregants; parents responsible for households; or friends who enjoy the respect of others, we can all practice everyday leadership by doing what Jesus asked us to do: let our lives shine before the people around us!

Let's get through this together.