The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic starkly revealed fundamental deficiencies in health care delivery around the world, including endemic racial disparities, the fragility of supply chains, the vulnerability of staff, and the depth of uncertainty about both a novel disease and our own systems. It also sparked innovations in the delivery of care and a transient change in how our organizations are managed. Many credited their successful Covid-19 response to flatter hierarchies, easier access to senior leaders, a sharper focus on what really matters, quicker decision-making, rapid experimentation and tolerance of experimental failure, and less-experienced staff spontaneously stepping up to lead. As one academic observed, “In a small crisis power moves to the center,” but in a big one, “it moves to the periphery.”
10 Leadership Lessons from Covid Field Hospitals
Executives from NHS Nightingale and Boston Hope shed light on what’s worked for them.
November 16, 2020
Summary.
The pandemic has forced leaders of hospitals around the world to adopt new practices as they have struggled to contend with the crisis. In this article, the senior leaders of two emergency field hospitals in the United kingdom and the United States — the NHS Nightingale and Boston Hope — share 10 lessons that they learned as they led their clinical staffs during the crisis. These lessons will help hospitals provide better care during the continuing pandemic and after it has ended.
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Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Leading People. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
What you need to know about being in charge.