Trust, leadership and responsibility

Almost at the same time as the UK government was talking about creating a legal ‘duty of candour’ for the police but not for themselves or other public bodies, the former prime minister Boris Johnson was talking at the Covid inquiry. There is a lot of irony in the situation. I have reflected on the approach Johnson took to the questioning and the inquiry. I will leave it for others to consider it in light of the duty of candour approach. 

This blog isn’t just about criticising Johnson. When he talked about not reading the minutes from Sage meetings but instead trusting the information he was being given, I totally understand. The person at the top of the organisation needs trusted advisors around them who are specialists that can make technical and complex information understandable. If they tried to go into a huge amount of the detail it would impact on decision making. But they need to be open to listening and I mean really listening to the advice that they are being given. Leaders do need to understand the risks and be involved in the process to oversee possible risks. In addition, the risk process should expect the unexpected and challenge accepted thinking. History does not always repeat itself. 

Decisions of leadership

It is clear that weak leaders make weak decisions. This is because they don’t listen, or they act in haste without considering the details. There are also those leaders who avoid making decisions because they are paralysed by the possible impact of what they do. The bottom line for anyone in a leadership position is that making decisions comes with the job title. But they should continue to test their ability to make decisions, and understand how they could improve. They also have to recognise they take ultimate responsibility for the crisis response. 

Organisations need to be built on trust to be effective at a time of crisis. There has to be trust in those responding to the situation, trust in the leadership and of course trust from those outside that what is being done and said is in the best interest to deal with the situation. It is important to build this by ensuring what you do and what you say are connected. The ‘partygate’ situation was a huge blow to trust and confidence as was the trip to Barnard Castle.

Culture of work

Johnson talked of the fact the gender balance should have been better within meetings but also said he didn’t need the data on the impact of Covid on ethnic minorities. This was a missed opportunity to recognise the diversity in all forms should have been better throughout the crisis response. It is also hugely important to communication, and everyone must recognise this and ensure it is reflected in plans. This also links to the culture of the work environment. Johnson said a number of times that it was a good place to work and that he didn’t remember emails highlighting concerns. And yet the language within messages was said to be for private use. The reality is that language is important and offensive comments in meetings defines the accepted boundaries and ultimately contributes to the culture. It is also vital that leaders can see the organisation’s culture for what it really is. There is no place for the ‘emperor’s new clothes’ with everyone saying all is fine when it is not. 

Accountability

Finally, there was a lot of ‘it wasn’t me it was others’ in the responses that Johnson made. This lacked the vital accountability and is evidence of that weak leadership. The former prime minister may have made an apology but this wasn’t reflected in the rest of his evidence and without trust would never have an impact. Remembering the people affected by the crisis is critical and despite the apology this appeared to be lacking.

My major concern about the situation is that with no acceptance of what needed to change and how things should have improved will the inquiry really have an impact? Will we ensure that the same problems will not happen again? I was left with the concern about what the pandemic response plan would look like if I saw it today.

Amanda Coleman is a crisis communication expert and consultant, founder of Amanda Coleman Communication and the author of Crisis Communication Strategies. Read the original post.