My dear Bibi,
we recently celebrated your birthday. You had been looking forward to it for so long. 5 years old!
On the phone, you told me that when the virus goes away, you will come to visit me and we will sneak off to the hairdresser together. I will need it more than you.
On video, you showed me a book someone gave you. You really like it. It shows the outlines of many countries and continents with drawings of the animals that live there. Somewhere out there, a flying squirrel actually exists. You showed it to me.
The virus we no longer want, on the other hand, cannot be seen, and by now it is everywhere, on all the maps in your book.
You know, the virus hasn’t affected the whole world in the same way. In some places like New Zealand, Finland, Taiwan, Denmark, and Germany, it didn’t manage to spread as much as in others. The experts’ figures are, on average, better.
Why am I telling you this? Because four or five of the “safest” European countries are currently governed by women. That means, Bibi, that where women made the decisions, the virus took less of a hold.
Knowing you, you have already worked out why.
Because when they felt it coming, they decided immediately, without waiting. They told everyone what was happening and what they needed to do. They didn’t want to risk being late. A bit like you do, when you understand that to get to school on time, you need to go to bed early, wake up with a smile, get dressed quickly, and so on.
And to make sure everyone in their countries understood, these women used clear words that were easy to understand, even for a little girl like you. And they asked people to trust them. Then they said that they too were a little afraid of the virus, but that by doing things all together, that fear would lessen. They asked older people to be a little patient; they told parents they could work from home where possible, because not all jobs can be done from home. They told children it was better not to go to school because the virus likes schools, and so on.
You have turned 5. I am very proud of you, for the many things you can already do and that you are learning with your unstoppable curiosity. But do you know when I love you most of all? When you look at me with demanding eyes and an imperative tone, saying: “I don’t know this, explain it to me!” Those are the moments that always make me happy.
Because knowing everything all the time doesn’t matter. When you realise you don’t know or don’t understand something that feels important, you just have to ask.
Promise me you will keep doing that!
Happy birthday!!
Deine Oma
P.S.: (for the grownups!)
The information above was taken from an article published in “Handelsblatt”.
The author, journalist Melanie Loos, concludes her piece with the following reflection:
“Men and women have different leadership styles and different ways of exercising power. The coronavirus crisis shows this very clearly. This does not mean that women are automatically better leaders. Yet the number of women leading their countries with great reliability is striking. Who took the right measures will only be known in hindsight. However, we already know today that this crisis is giving us the opportunity to rethink what we mean by a sound leadership culture. And we can see that there is no shortage of examples to follow.”
Written by:
Brigitte Mauel
Senior Consultant at Hermes Consulting
