Crisis leadership, part 1

In the 1970s, nearly 20 million people were infected with a micro-worm parasite spread through the bite of a fly. Many of these people lived in western Africa, barely surviving at a subsistence level. Nearly half of those infected would eventually be blinded by the parasite. The condition was known as river blindness. Known treatments were not very effective.

Also in the 1970s, the pharmaceutical company Merck made a discovery of a bacterium that was highly effective in destroying parasitical worms in animals. By 1978 Merck had a drug on the market that was highly effective in the treatment of ear mites in cats and heartworms in dogs. Further research at the time indicated the drug might be effective against the river blindness parasite. At this point, Merck leadership was confronted with a moral dilema—honor the expectations of Merck’s shareholders (who expected a profit), or save millions who could not afford the drug from blindness. Merck CEO Roy Vagelos chose the “greater good” and made the drug available for free forever to those who need it.

This story is related in the book The Leadership Moment by Michael Useem and from it he draws some implications on how we might prepare to offer excellent leadership when these moments of choice confront us. One implication he makes is that leaders can foster a favorable organizational culture, build a committed team with high morale, and establish a great public reputation if they identify ways of building up long-term stakeholder and public interest in spite of temporary shortfalls in stakeholder value.

How might such a methodology play out in a church that is plateaued or declining? An effective leader will probably need to make decisions that are unpopular with some segment of the membership. After all, change is necessary to move off a plateau and for many church members, change is very difficult. It is likely that some part of the existing church culture will have to be given away to the dismay of the entrenched members. Making change more acceptable is something we will talk about in the next Crisis Leadership post.