Leadership will be defined in times of uncertainty

This article originally appeared in the Puget Sound Business Journal on April 20, 2020.

In 1982, an Air Florida flight departed Washington National Airport and, seconds after takeoff, crashed into the 14th Street Bridge that separates Virginia from the nation’s capital. The crash into the Potomac River occurred amid a snowstorm where ice and below-freezing temperatures impeded most rescue attempts by passersby and first responders.

Five people survived, rescued by a police helicopter crew who kept returning and returning to pluck survivors out of the icy water. One passenger tragically drowned after rescuing several others.

As a young pilot watching the rescue unfold on television, I remember the events vividly. I remember them today as I see again and again the extraordinary lengths people in our home state are going through to help one another in this time of crisis and uncertainty. This requires a kind of leadership that’s rooted in compassion and humility by people who show up, set an example for everyone and inspire hope.

The coronavirus crisis implores us to show up for one another in a way unlike anything we’d anticipated. It challenges our assumptions of what it means to help, and it compels us to think critically about every action we take — from grand plans to the routine and mundane. In doing so, this crisis holds every one of us accountable.

This isn’t a rescue effort by one extraordinarily brave helicopter pilot, but by leadership from all of us.

From its start, the virus has recharged our instincts as Americans. The instincts that tell us to come together and to connect, to rush in and help without hesitation and to hold and comfort each other have carried us through disasters.

Showing up for each other means something different today. It means calling your loved ones, not visiting. It means making grocery runs for your neighbors or those who can’t get out. From a distance, we’re present and engaged for the people who rely on us by checking in on them and proactively reaching out to our employees to allay concerns, congratulate hard work and offer support.

As someone invested in the hospitality, travel and tourism sectors in the Pacific Northwest, showing up has been immensely personal. In the face of social distancing guidelines and before “stay at home” guidance, it was necessary to be there in person in the restaurants, hotels and transportation businesses we manage. I saw the worry and pain of my colleagues, but being there with them to make sure they knew they were supported was the choice. There are few harder decisions business owners make than to furlough employees. I couldn’t ask our team leaders to do something that I wouldn’t do, especially if that means temporarily shuttering enterprises and laying off hundreds, knowing they’d be better off with full UI benefits than fewer hours. Showing up is about being there every time.

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Even when we don’t have all the answers, we can be examples to our colleagues and our community by being there to demonstrate support.

I built my career around travel, hospitality and restaurants because they allow us to socialize our unique corner of the country with the world. With the pandemic hitting these industries particularly hard, I feel motivated to be engaged. From the outset, it was important that my colleagues understood that we are in this together. Layoffs, I said, were temporary. They will be back and we will greet each one as they walk back in through the doors. Those decisions will affect the lives and livelihoods of many. Being present is more important than having all the answers right now.

Finally, leadership includes being hopeful — it’s an invitation to put faith before fear. Real leaders spread hope during times of crisis, which inspires people. This was embodied last month by the employees who lit up one of the downtown towers with a heart to remind us of the strength in our city.

It’s in spite of the harsh realities we confront that we dare to hope, and it’s because of that hope that we continue supporting each other.

Closing doors to protect others is an act of courage. Planning for the day when those doors reopen is an act of hope that will inspire others.

In times of uncertainty, leadership calls upon us to show up, to be an example and to inspire hope. Years from now, we’ll look back on the bravery of nurses, doctors, first responders and researchers. Right now, we can support them by looking out for our communities.

This is what the crisis demands. In another time, we may have had the luxury of going about our lives while others fought off disaster or suffered its effects.

This one’s different. We each have a role to play, and we will get through this together.