Adaptation and Evolutionary Leadership in the Medical Field/Era of COVID-19

According to the evolutionary theory of leadership, leadership is a highly adaptive trait. In the early stages of life on earth, the environment that homo sapiens inhabited was extremely harsh. Naturally, leaders emerged and took charge of his/her group. Leadership amidst COVID-19 can be compared to the evolutionary leadership of the hunter/gatherer (early) stages of human life. Life during the pandemic is extremely harsh and unpredictable, just as it was during the hunter/gatherer stage. Naturally, leaders have emerged and taken charge of his/her group. One example of a leader that has emerged given the evolutionary circumstances is Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York. After the initial stages of the pandemic, New York, especially New York City, was in dire need of good leadership. Governor Cuomo stepped in, and as of right now, New York City is one of the largest cities with the least amount of daily reported cases. Another naturally emerging “leader” (group) was the host of my internship, Asheville Eye Associates.

Asheville Eye Associates, before the pandemic, was the leading ophthalmology office in Western North Carolina. Given this status, they were already a leader in their field. But, given the current circumstances, they emerged as leaders during the time of a pandemic as well.

Obviously, no business wants to close their doors (therefore losing money) for any reason at all. But, given Asheville Eye’s dedication to the health and safety of their staff and patients, Asheville Eye was among one of the first doctor’s offices to shut their doors, and the first ophthalmology office in Western North Carolina to close shop during the pandemic. Many doctor’s offices followed Asheville Eye’s lead, closing their doors for at least two weeks while information about medical field safety during the pandemic was being released. Asheville Eye Associates remained closed for three weeks, ensuring that when they re-opened their doors, they would be ready to keep every person that entered the office healthy and safe. During this time, every employee (outside of the business-owning doctors) was given full compensation.

Many offices followed the exact, or close to exact, protocols that Asheville Eye Associates set for the re-opening and maintenance of office health and safety. The clear leadership that Asheville Eye held during the pandemic was residual (given their prior leadership status in their field), as well as evolutionary, given the never-before-seen circumstances surrounding COVID-19. I am proud to say I was a member of the Asheville Eye Associates team during these trying times!