SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to literature on leadership and leadership development through reviewing China’s early response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, we argue that leadership, professionalism and innovation have been essential in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. These qualities made a considerable difference in this critical situation and played a prominent role in the containment of the Covid-19 virus. We illustrate this by documenting the performance of four Chinese doctors at different stages of the outbreak in Wuhan. These medical professionals were Dr Jixian Zhang who reported the new disease; Dr Yongzhen Zhang, who identified the pathogen behind the outbreak; Dr Nanshan Zhong, who publicized the human-to-human transition and helped the government to put in place significant measures to reduce its impact; and Dr Chen Wang, who proposed and implemented Fangcang shelter hospitals to solve the shortage of hospital beds in Wuhan. They demonstrated that they had the essential traits of leadership-honesty, intelligence, decisiveness but also compassion. We explore the events in China at the start of the pandemic in light of the fact that there are growing signs of conflicting views of what happened when the virus was recognised as a new pathogen.