Loughborough University London’s Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance have created a series of mini-lectures that discuss the effects of Covid-19 on a national and global scale. The lectures have been distributed to students providing weekly video content that pose pivotal questions and encourage students to consider the implications of a global pandemic on politics and the economy.

Professor Helen Drake: Covid-19 and Political Leadership

In the final video of the series, Professor Helen Drake, Director of the Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance at Loughborough University London, asks what Covid-19 can tell us about political leadership.

Professor Drake tackles the difference between leaders and leadership, looks at questions of trust and communication and addresses the under-representation of women in global decision-making.

The lecture considers how the Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated the ongoing power struggles between the worlds biggest and strongest nations. Drake discusses how political leadership is more than the leader and who has authority, it must consider who trusts the authority and the legitimacy of that leadership. She discusses how leadership is as much about followers as it is about leaders.

Professor Drake concludes her lecture by asking what we – the followers – want from political leadership at this time of crisis.

Watch the video

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