Episode 30 Collective Conversations | Talking COVID-19 with Josh Reid Jones
Collective Conversations | COVID-19 with Josh Reid Jones
JOSH REID JONES, the Founder of the JUST BE NICE project is calling on business to stand up and set a high bar during this crisis to set a solid foundations for moving forward.
Suzanne Jones chats with Josh about leading through today and the days and weeks ahead.
This Collective Conversation episode to a must for those feeling a little directionless with the every changing events.
In this podcast Josh talks about-
In times of crisis or not, building things to the bare minimum, conducting yourself with the bare minimum amount of care, executing contracts and looking after people to the bare minimum letter of the law… is not leadership.
In times of crisis, we need to do better for each other, and for those who have no choice.
- Vulnerable people and communities
- Healthcare workers
- The healthcare system
- Those with unstable/cancelled employment
- Workers supporting those of us who cannot work.
The current situation is such that we are being encouraged to spend as little time as possible interacting with people we do not live with. Every interaction becomes exponentially multiplied by the follow up interactions that each person has after that, raising not only the risk of infection, but the risk of death and health system overload.
Just because they haven’t technically cancelled your business, doesn’t mean we should all just carry on at the maximum capacity possible if it will put people at risk.
Just because you can afford to, and haven’t been told not to buy all of the items in a shop, doesn’t mean you should.
When the crisis is over, just because you can technically hire, fire, pay less, not pay contracts, build poor quality buildings and products, can technically market things that don’t work or are bad for people, can sell lies and keep people in the dark about things, doesn’t mean you should.
Banks have been practising poor leadership for years in this space, doing what they can get away with, rather than what they should do.
Construction companies have been practicing poor leadership in this space, in a never ending race to the bottom for cheaper places, with more waste, poorer construction and less utility in their apartment buildings and new house and land building suburbs.
Governments have done it by slashing public services, investment in public education, science and sustainability and privatising industries for short-term gain, or letting whole industries die, shutting the door on economic opportunities in that space going forward.
There are dozens of examples, from dozens of industries. Lauding adherence to minimum standards and loopholes as being good business, or clever business people, regardless of the auxiliary cost in the long term.
Real leadership is not about adherence to the minimum standards. Real leadership is stepping up and doing the best possible thing, every, single, time.
Real leadership is doing things that are right in the long term, because that is the most important decision to make.
Real leadership is about making decisions and standing by them, and then learning from them.
Real leadership is compassionate, understanding, informed and accountable. It is forward thinking, consistent and it relates to human beings above all.
If you are in charge of an organisation, move away from minimum standards, and set high bars for yourself. High ethical bars, high performance bars, high bars for how you care about people and the community.
In your personal conduct, set high bars. High bars for your own performance, your character, your ethical standards and how you treat each other.
Lead by doing more for others, not simply doing more for short term economic gain. Do more to develop people and bring them along. Do more to teach, and do more to help. Do more to help build environments that allow people to thrive, and lean into opportunities.
Leadership is not about just adhering to minimum standards, and we should not celebrate any ‘leader’ who conducts themselves or their organisations in this fashion.
If you'd like to make 2020 the year where your impact is amplified and your leadership and impact is of the highest possible quality don't hesitate to get in touch. Or support the Just Be Nice Project for the long-term here, we cannot do it without you, and our work in 2020 is now more important than ever.