Food Safety standards are not optional for companies to follow. Neither are workplace health and safety policies. When public safety are concerned, the government tends to set the rules for everyone to follow. And yet, now as the UK seeks to ‘come out of COVID’, decisions about things like wearing masks on public transport is ‘up to the bus and train companies‘ to decide. And they are recommended for busy times, but busy will mean very different things to different people. Why is this type of public health decision handed over to the leaders of private companies? Are they any better placed to make decisions about public safety than leaders whose job it is?

To complicate things further the rules in England are different than the rules in Wales and Scotland. Therefore if you are a train zipping along at 100mph once your carriage goes across the border you must put your mask on or be fined and penalised. Even though you are still in the same carriage, with the same people, the rules instantly change.

Leadership is about clarity and courage, not shirking responsibility. This is true in politics, organisations, and teams no matter what sector of work you are in.

The choice is up to us.

Photo by Zhang Kenny