It’s said that pressure reveals a person’s true character. Well, pressure from the pandemic is certainly revealing the fears of some people regarding vaccinations. How does this fear reveal itself? One of the ways is through the failure of people to accept the reality of the pandemic and the consequences it causes. This then manifests in a failure to wear a mask, to socially distance and in a refusal to be vaccinated.
When it comes to Covid vaccinations, people fall into a few different camps – the pro vaxxers, the anti vaxxers and the not-so-sure or wait-and-see groups.
One of the key responsibilities of leaders in the midst of the pandemic is to make people feel physically, emotionally and mentally safe. And one of the ways to do this might be to lead the way to the vaccination station.
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate has become a serious talking point, with science quietly providing sound reasons why we should have the vaccination, and opposing groups providing passionate reasons why we should not. Of course, modern technology has given everyone a platform from which to address global audiences, so all who wish to can air their views. What’s important for you as a leader, though, is to ask yourself what the responsible thing to do would be.
Try to keep a cool head while passionate people shout at you and bear this in mind … when someone’s argument is weak, they feel the need to shout to win the argument, while people who have a strong, evidence-based argument don’t feel that same need. Ask yourself, therefore who’s shouting the loudest …
While those opposing vaccinations are doing everything possible to dissuade others from being vaccinated, the delicious irony of this is that those same people are probably alive and well today because they and/or their parents were vaccinated as babies. In fact, when they were young, children could not be enrolled at a school without their vaccination certificates so it’s very likely that they were indeed vaccinated then. Were it not for vaccinations, therefore, a truckload of the anti vaxers simply wouldn’t be here.
But they are, and they’re very vocal and, on the surface, very convincing. They distribute videos showing people having convulsions while explaining that the convulsions are a result of their being vaccinated. I showed one such video to a doctor friend of mine and he commented that people having a convulsion can’t speak clearly like the person in the video. Make of that what you will …
Then there’s the conspiracy theory that Bill Gates wants to put a microchip in everyone’s vaccination dose to be able to track them. Well, dur … hello! (as the youngsters would say), your mobile phone has been providing your location ever since you bought it so, if you don’t want anyone to track your whereabouts, throw your phone away.
Yeah, didn’t think so.
And what about the Big Pharma conspiracy theories that suggest they want to shorten our lives so we’ll all be dying in five years’ time? As one commentator said, “Why would any business in their right mind want to kill off its customer base?” Much better to keep them alive so you can sell them more stuff.
Then there’s the one about the vaccine not being safe because it was developed too fast. As reliable experts have pointed out, vaccine development technology is not new and technology now provides for researchers to be able to quickly and easily share their findings with researchers in other countries, thus speeding up the development of vaccines.
The above provides a mere snapshot of some of the views put forward as to why one should not be vaccinated, but there are equally, if not more, compelling reasons why we should be vaccinated. Besides, do you really think thousands of doctors – who know a lot more about medication and the human body than you and me – would allow themselves to be vaccinated? Not at all.
You owe it to yourself, your partner, your children and your fellow humans to consider that, by being vaccinated, you will be playing a role in making people safe, mentally, emotionally and physically. It will be terrible to have to live with the burden of knowing you infected someone who subsequently died.
I encourage you to keep a cool head when making your decision. That’s what responsible leaders would do!
Alan Hosking is the Publisher of HR Future magazine, www.hrfuture.net and @HRFuturemag. He is an internationally recognised authority on leadership competencies for the future and teaches experienced business leaders as well as millennial managers how to lead with empathy, compassion, integrity, purpose and agility. In 2018, he was named by US-based web site Disruptordaily.com as one of the “Top 25 Future of Work Influencers to Follow on Twitter“. In 2020, he was named one of the “Top 200 Global Power Thought Leaders to watch in 2021” by peopleHum in India.
