Engage workforce, reassert trust in firm's leadership

THE shock is palpable. A global, collective anxiety that, for the most part, has left billions of people stunned, disorientated and struggling to make sense of what's happening around them.

It is in such times of national and global crisis that we instinctively look to governments for leadership. And yet the common sentiment is that few governments outside Asia have truly stepped up to the mark early enough. Information has been lacking, communication has been poor and there is little in the way of clarity as to what an "exit" strategy might look like. Waiting at home is not a strategy.

The fundamental challenge that all governments face in communicating with an entire population is rarely a logistical one. It is that they are asking, first and foremost, for people to trust them. Without that trust, people's compliance and cooperation is driven by fear and uncertainty. That is unsustainable.