When the Boss Gets Covid-19… Twice
The Pandemic’s Secret Leadership Lesson
Last month, I found myself in a position I had only days earlier never imagined would come to pass: I was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Now, perhaps you’re asking yourself what the hell makes me so special, why should I think myself impervious to a pandemic that has claimed nearly 3 million lives across the globe and transformed everything about the way we live, work, and even think for over a year now. Its impact is inescapable, we see how it’s reshaped our lives every day: masked faces, plexiglass dividers, hand sanitizer dispensers, social distancing dots on the floor at the checkout counter, empty chairs at our dinner tables. It’s impossible to ignore the toll it has and still is taking on our lives. But see, I had good reason to think myself wildly unlikely to get sick.
I already had COVID-19. A year ago.
In fact, I found out I had COVID-19 for a second time a year to the day after I had tested positive the first time. This time around, I contracted the B.1.1.7 variant, just as it was about to become the dominant strain in the U.S. I’ve joked that I’m an early adopter when it comes to this disease. Back in March last year, I got sick almost immediately as lockdowns began, during those first terrifying days when nobody knew what was coming and there was genuine fear that we might not make it through the impending disaster. I didn’t know much of anything about the future, but this was New York City at its lowest; we lost hundreds and then thousands. Our hospitals were crushed with patients. Our streets were abandoned. There was every reason to be a little more than concerned. But my people were depending on me right then more than ever before.
Offices were abruptly shuttering, the economy was in shock, and any sense of normalcy and stability vanished in an instant. My company, Ericho Communications, is a unique public relations outfit. We’re laser-focused on our select list of clients, with a small army of talented young professionals from coast to coast who astound me every day. And suddenly, like so many people I know, they were terrified. Terrified that I wouldn’t be able to lead like they have all become accustomed too. That our clients would have to cut costs and walk away. That they’d be out of work on the verge of what was certain to become a severe economic crisis. There was no way I could just vanish to rest and recover the way that my doctors certainly wanted and advised. Instead, I recognized the moment we were in and did what I had to do: see the vast majority of my people through. I made communicating with my team a priority with daily emails and check-ins, not about their work but about our health and well-being, both mine and theirs. I consciously chose being hopeful and positive thinking like a life preserver I could share.
I am convinced we could not have weathered the storm without it, and there’s a secret silver lining in there that far too many have missed: if we are going to be a team, we have to be a team together, and that means being in it together. Transparency and communication had to be the tools that got us there, and with me confined to bed, they were pretty much the only tools I had. And shockingly — shockingly — the vast majority did the job perfectly.
There’s a lot to be afraid of. The last few weeks have seen a resurgence of gun violence and mass shootings immediately following easing COVID restrictions, while the pandemic continues to take its toll, the threat of variants grows, and white nationalism thrives. These are strange and uncertain times, but I remain convinced that our best way forward is with openness, compassion, human understanding, and hope. So much that my second diagnosis with COVID-19, while concerning, never approached the same sense of crisis as the first. We’d been here before. We knew how to handle it. I knew my small army was doing their best work. They knew I wasn’t going to abandon them. And we all knew that we really were stronger together. That’s what’s made it possible for us to have the success we’ve seen over the last year in terms of client satisfaction and retention during both debilitating illness and debilitating recession — something not every company can claim. We proactively made it work together.
That first bout with COVID knocked me down for three months — 30 of which were spent confined to a bed, with another 60 of ongoing long-hauler symptoms, some residual lung damage, and more time than anyone wants in need of a little supplemental oxygen. The second one? Two weeks, in and out. It’s symbolic in a hacky novel sort of way, obvious and blunt. The work my body had done over that first infection to shore up its defenses against this kind of intruder — in this case, the B.1.1.7 variant — made it possible to blast through the second one, just like the work my team and I undertook to strengthen our bonds of communication improved our overall company health as much as it got us through my first stint with coronavirus.
Let’s try and learn the right lessons from this, not the wrong ones. The healthiest teams are those that held tightly to each other and worked through it, not just to their bottom line. The strongest teams are those that faced each day with honesty, communication and clarity instead of fear exacerbated by silent leadership. The most resilient teams are those where bonds were strengthened rather than lost and terminated. We forget that at our own peril. When we remember that our communities, whether at work or at play get stronger. Stronger is better. It’s sure worth striving for.
