We live in interesting and challenging times. The pressures, frustrations, anxieties and everything else you might want to use to describe 2020 and the first weeks of 2021 are there in spades. People are trying to cope with extraordinary events and circumstances unlike anything they have ever experienced. As a consequence, our personal reserves are being tapped, stretched and even shattered like never before. The consequence of this is we may have found ourselves wanting, perhaps not quite up to the challenges, and acting in ways, that in better times, we would never imagine. I say this in part as a hope that some of what we have seen of late can be chalked up to stress reactions.
That being said, a phrase that comes to mind in times like these: adversity does not so much build character as it reveals it.
So what does it say about us as individuals and collectives that in these times "we" have rushed the Capitol in Washington, vilified and threatened each other in online forums, made death threats against public health officials throughout Canada and the U.S. (and perhaps more) and, as of January 23, saw fit to rally in the front yard of Saskatchewan's Chief Medical Officer of Health. There are, it seems, no bounds to what we believe is acceptable behavior or discourse, nor do we see anything wrong in attacking - perhaps even killing - those who have given themselves over to serving the public.
What does this have to do with leadership?
This type of behavior doesn't exist in a vacuum. Too many of us and most often, and disturbingly, our political leaders have been creating the environment that not only permits but encourages this type of behavior. And the seeds of this reality were not just sown in the past year nor with the advent of someone like Donald J. Trump in the U.S. four years ago. Too many politicians have determined that their path to power is abetted by attacks on our public servants. And the collective "we" have become accustomed to attacking government waste and inefficiency, turning the word bureaucrat into a bad name, and even suggesting our public sector is this nefarious deep state intent on subverting the will of elected officials. We have turned expertise, experience, and education into qualities to be questioned and dismissed, recommendations coming from such quarters to be held under suspicion and thrown away if they don't accord with what some leaders wish to believe. Shoot the messenger for suggesting that the emperor has no clothes, their draft policies have no legs, and that plans are not grounded in reality.
We have normalized a narrative that sees public servants as the other, as alien, and not worthy of the same respect we would demand for ourselves.
As noted, this is not a new phenomenon. I have personally experienced several examples of this perspective dating back decades. As an administrator, vice-president, and CEO in Canada's public health care system, I have been subject to more than my fair share of eye-popping attacks.
Example 1, individual members of my own Board of Directors deciding that their best course of action in voicing their displeasure with a Board-approved operational/budget initiative was to attack my credentials and my motivations in our local media. Let's be clear - those attacks came from a couple of my bosses, roasting their own employee, likely to protect themselves from potential community backlash. It was convenient, easy and wrong.
Example 2, straight out of the "I pay your salary through my taxes, you work for me" category (e.g., this is my desk Nancy Pelosi), getting calls literally at all hours of the day or night - and mostly night, at my house. I was rapidly disabused of the notion that I could have my name and number in a phone book. When I suggested that I would be more than willing to debate the finer merits of the issue during working hours, it was made clear that my public position meant my open for business sign was on all night. While I might have signed on for some of those realities, my family clearly had not. Number became unlisted after that.
Example 3, after having made the effort to meet with a few community members whose community was about to be impacted by a provincially mandated decision, it was suggested that I ran the risk of being shot between the eyes. The implication was that I needed to back away from the decision. No discussion about other alternatives we could have worked through together. Assassination seemed to be in order. And this particular insight was not offered by any random member of the community. It was provided by a manager of a financial institution in that community.
What does this have to do with leadership? In light of some of the more newsworthy public events of late (e.g., Capitol riot, protest in Saskatchewan), we see political leaders stepping out to express their dismay at such events, to offer condemnation of the perpetrators, and support for public servants. Too often those words ring hollow or hypocritical when these very same "leaders" have set the stage with their words in actions in the years prior to where we now find ourselves.
I leave you with the following statement, which has a distinctly healthcare flavor to it, but which I believe should act as a call to do better in relation to how we should be treating all of our public sector employees; i.e., doctors, nurses, teachers, police, fire, civil servants.
"Since the beginning of COVID-19, this worrying phenomenon has escalated. What began as online harassment has evolved into threats and in-person intimidation. We have seen protests at the private residences of #Saskatchewan’s chief medical officer of health and #Quebec’s National Public Health Officer.
We must speak out against such #intimidation, whether online or in-person, and urge those responsible for overseeing social media platforms and law enforcement bodies to put an end to this highly alarming conduct. Peaceful protests are an important feature of our democracy, but these recent demonstrations have crossed a crucial line between free speech and willful intimidation.
Public health officials and #HealthCareWorkers in Canada have been working tirelessly — under stressful and very challenging conditions — since the beginning of the pandemic to keep Canadians healthy and safe. They deserve nothing short of our full appreciation and respect.
These disquieting acts of aggression must not be tolerated."
Dr. Ann Collins, CMA President
Actions matter. Words matter. Do better. It's About Leadership!
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Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions
gregh@breakpoint.solutions
www.breakpoint.solutions
780-250-2543