text: Guidance for Health Care Leaders During the Recovery Stage of the COVID 19 Pandemic A Consensus Statement The COVID 19 pandemic is the greatest global test of health leadership of our generation There is an urgent need to provide guidance for leaders at all levels during the unprecedented preresolution recovery stage To create an evidence and expertise informed framework of leadership imperatives to serve as a resource to guide health and public health leaders during the postemergency stage of the pandemic A literature search in PubMed MEDLINE and Embase revealed 10 910 articles published between 2000 and 2021 that included the terms leadership and variations of emergency crisis disaster pandemic COVID 19 or public health Using the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence reporting guideline for consensus statement development this assessment adopted a 6 round modified Delphi approach involving 32 expert coauthors from 17 countries who participated in creating and validating a framework outlining essential leadership imperatives The 10 imperatives in the framework are 1 acknowledge staff and celebrate successes 2 provide support for staff well being 3 develop a clear understanding of the current local and global context along with informed projections 4 prepare for future emergencies personnel resources protocols contingency plans coalitions and training 5 reassess priorities explicitly and regularly and provide purpose meaning and direction 6 maximize team organizational and system performance and discuss enhancements 7 manage the backlog of paused services and consider improvements while avoiding burnout and moral distress 8 sustain learning innovations and collaborations and imagine future possibilities 9 provide regular communication and engender trust and 10 in consultation with public health and fellow leaders provide safety information and recommendations to government other organizations staff and the community to improve equitable and integrated care and emergency preparedness systemwide Leaders who most effectively implement these imperatives are ideally positioned to address urgent needs and inequalities in health systems and to cocreate with their organizations a future that best serves stakeholders and communities 