Interview with Lothar H. Wieler and Esther-Maria Antāo

Prof. Dr. Lothar H. Wieler: Competence, structure, objectivity, clear responsibilities and clear roles are key. Anything that is unclear makes crisis management more difficult. If everyone knows what to do, then the crisis is already half-managed. Everyone has to know for themselves what they are good at and what they are not – get people who are better than you. The key: successful leadership and resilience can only be achieved in a team that complements each other perfectly.

Dr. Esther-Maria Antāo: People’s character traits also influence how difficult situations are resolved, e.g. acceptance, patience, optimism, responsibility, transparency and honesty. At the same time, the organization needs a clear vision and mission as well as a culture of error, agility and good expectation management. Trust and a culture of error must be in place before the crisis hits.

Prof. Dr. Lothar H. Wieler: During the first few years of my time as RKI President, I worked above all on ensuring that all departments work together and that trust is created; trustworthy communication is central to good cooperation. It was a year-long process to develop the mission of the RKI and put it into action.

Prof. Dr. Lothar H. Wieler: Problems need to be analyzed and we need to practice in advance what needs to be done in a crisis. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) does this continuously. The baker is constantly baking bread and we are constantly practising the crisis.

Prof. Dr. Lothar H. Wieler: We had daily 2-hour crisis meetings in which all those responsible for the respective decisions and information generation presented their data and analyses, including with peers from IANPHI, WHO, ECDC, etc. The decisions were then made after discussion. A decision was then made after the discussion. The better the data and analyses, the more informed the decisions. In crises, however, it is not always possible to wait until all the data is available, and decisions may have to be made on the basis of incomplete data. This is where the expertise and experience of those involved are of great importance. The experts assess the significance of the results and know how the figures are obtained and how their significance is to be assessed. It was important to look at the same data with different levels of experience and expertise and to discuss the experiences with other experts at home and abroad. Foreign countries were even more important here, as the pandemic was spreading in waves and certain experiences were already available in other countries. Good decisions require a fundamental openness and a good understanding of the problem:

• do not enter the discussion with a preconceived opinion
• first discuss and listen to different perspectives and only then make a decision
• do not make the decision alone, but enter into discussions with an open mind and seek advice
• you must have confidence in your team
• discuss objectively
• mitigating conflicts – the organization should have the goal of making it work
• as a manager, you must fulfill your duty of care: professionals must take a break when they are exhausted