The Strongest New Tool in Fighting COVID-19? Strong Female Leadership
I’m gratified and amazed by the ways women around the globe are stepping up to lead us through the pandemic – and I’m not alone in my assessment. As women worldwide work shoulder-to-shoulder to fight the spread of COVID-19, major media outlets from Forbes and the New York Times to The Japan Times, are recognizing the achievement of female leaders – and wondering why more women aren’t in positions of power.
From German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Taiwan President Tsai In-Wen to, here at home, U.S. Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, female leaders elected and appointed have assumed their places at the front line of this viral battlefield and are successfully beating back the virus. Heroes all, their uniquely feminine blend of reason, composure, and empathy appeals to their constituents’ better natures that the following women leaders bring to this international fight makes them worthy of our respect, our admiration, and our celebration.
Angela Merkel: Cool, confident competence
Germany’s Merkel arguably is the fiercest face of female resistance to the coronavirus. A former research scientist with a doctorate in quantum chemistry who was raised in the now defunct country of East Germany, Merkel posesses both a deep understanding of the science that drives measures to address a pandemic and the psychic impact of limiting freedoms.
Her matter-of-fact, rational approach to shelter-in-place orders; testing programs; and aggressive monitoring and medical treatment of those contracting the virus – matched by her clear communications about the science underpinning Germany’s official response to the pandemic – have captured the attention of government leaders everywhere. And her calm demeanor in the face of rising public panic – and her emphasis on shared responsibility in a democracy (‘I firmly believe that we will pass this test if all citizens genuinely see this as their task”) – have seen her political star rise even further in Germany, which isleading the globe in flattening the curve of new COVID-19 cases.
Tsai Ing-Wen: Decisive and driven
Newly reelected Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen is leading what many believe is the most effective national response to the spread of the coronavirus, taking swift, decisive action that thus far has seen Taiwan’s loss of life capped at just six deaths. Hailed by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for her leadership of an official pandemic response “worthy of emulation,” Tsai’s rapid measures to combat spread of the virus in the island republic and her measured, transparent communication powered her ready reelection by voters who share CNN’s assessment that the small nation’s containment effort has been one of the best in the world.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir: Tech, Testing, and Tracking
Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir is winning the day for her small nation by employing the collective power of comprehensive testing, high-tech analysis, and tracking. By offering free testing for all, aggressively tracking cases of exposure and positive results with an easy-to-use smartphone app, and actively tracing contact histories, Iceland has been able to limit cases without shutting down schools and other essential governmental functions. Perhaps more important, Jakobsdóttir’s efforts have laid the groundwork for the tourism-dependent country to reopen its borders to visitors in mid-June – predicated, of course, upon strict testing of all inbound visitors.
Jacinda Ardern: Decision action, decided popularity
New Zealand’s youngest Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, this month became its most popular leader in a century, with “Jacinda-Mania” following one of the strictest anti-COVID lockdowns in the world. The third woman to serve as prime minister of tiny country, she put in place strict shelter-in-place orders that recently were loosened to allow limited commercial interactions with strict social-distancing requirements – requirements that resulted in a compliant café turning her away for service despite her popularity. New Zealanders give her full marks for her decisive action, her calm demeanor, and her clear and compassionate communications in the face of the strict lockdown conditions.
Erna Solberg: Love and leadership
Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg is winning her country’s hearts and minds with a move as simultaneously recognizable to women around the world as it is unheard in the male-dominated world of politics: she conducted a children-only press conference to directly answer and address the question and fears of her smallest constituents. And she told them “it’s ok to be afraid.” Forbes perfectly captures Solberg’s unusual power move: “The originality and obviousness of the idea takes one’s breath away. How many other simple, humane innovations would more female leadership unleash?” How many, indeed.
Dr. Deborah Birx: Steely focus, steady communication
After more than two decades of fighting disease at the national level, Dr. Deborah Birx – US. Coronavirus Response Coordinator and longtime director of the U.S. response to AIDS – is known for her scientific acumen and clear communications style – a mix driving US public perception of appropriate virus-containment measures.
Master of a delicate balancing act known well to so many women – effecting a desired outcome without ruffling the feathers of those around her – many health policy-watchers say that Birx is proving to be the more effective health-policy adviser to the Trump administration, recently edging past Dr. Anthony Fauci’s role in pandemic control in no small part because of her ability to communicate what are frequently unpopular anti-virus recommendations without becoming a political lightning rod. (She also, it has to be noted, rocks a stylish scarf at all times – a sartorial choice that’s now driving sales of her signature Hermes scarves).
Truth. Decisiveness. Intelligence. Compassion. Inclusiveness. Flexibility. Style.
As women, we all recognize these traits in each other, and know well from our own experiences as entrepreneurs, managers, executives, and, last but not least, wives and mothers the unbridled healing power that feminine energy and female leadership bring to any and all situations. It’s the same energy and leadership that sees every one of us successfully negotiating the competing demands of Zoom calls with clients and the remote management of office functions with homeschooling and contactless grocery delivery. We’re all female leaders in the worlds we inhabit, and we’re all worthy of celebration.
Women. We truly make the world go around – a truth bomb that appears to be the latest side-effect of the spread of COVID-19.