Trustworthy leadership for turbulent times

Dr. Aneil Mishra

During this time of great uncertainty, knowing whom we can trust becomes more crucial than ever.  We are vulnerable to a significant external threat over which we have little defense and even less control, and mixed messages from a variety of experts, journalists, and political leaders can be confusing. One great example of a trustworthy leader who has been in front of the public every day for weeks now is Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Fauci as the commencement speaker for my brother’s graduation from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1989.  Although I don’t remember the content of his speech, I do remember his style, which he conveys to this very day:  transparent, humble and optimistic.  These are qualities that I have found to be hallmarks of highly effective leaders whose positive influences and results have spanned not just years but decades in the organizations that they’ve led.

This positive, transparent, humble approach to leading can be summarized by what I call the ROCC of Trust:  Reliable, Open/Honest, Competent, Caring, and by another quality that both supports this and at the same time is made by possible by it:  Inspiring a Hopeful Vision of the Future.  Dr. Fauci has demonstrated the ROCC of Trust and inspired hope ever since he first began speaking to the public about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reliable:  Dr. Fauci has appeared on the major news networks several times a day for several weeks.  He recently admitted that he was only getting “about three hours of sleep each night, which is not healthy,” but that he was holding up.  Clearly, his dependability has come at significant personal cost to him, one that we hope will not lead to him succumbing to the virus.

Open/Honest:  He has repeatedly explained at length what we know currently about the virus and its rate of transmission, its lethality, and what can be done to avoid getting it.  He has neither sugar-coated nor exaggerated the threat, but instead said what we could expect given what we know at the time he is speaking.

Competent:  He has explained how the federal government made mistakes early on in making enough testing kits available to health care providers and the public, and what steps have been taken since then to remedy the situation.

Caring:  His constant message has been protecting the health and welfare of the American public, and not to protect any public official or arm of the federal government.

He has typically concluded any question and answer session by stating that although we don’t know yet the severity of the pandemic in the U.S. that the collaboration between the government and the private sector will quickly bring to bear the resources we need to combat it.

In our research on trusted health care leaders, we found that they work well in teams, listen to each other and are willing to disagree (agreeably) to solve problems.  During this crisis, Dr. Fauci is an outstanding example of a trustworthy leader.

Aneil K. Mishra, Ph.D., is the Thomas D. Arthur Distinguished Professor of Leadership in the College of Business’s Department of Management.

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• Management
• Thought Leadership