Top three lessons from the pandemic.
We’ve returned to having our Leadership Group meetings in person, and getting to see members’ businesses as well as discussing their challenges and opportunities.
I’ve met with 40 business owners in the last week, and it’s been wonderful to learn of the incredible number of improvements and innovations that have taken place – not to mention nearly every one of our members has had a record year financially.
I asked each of them the same question: “What’s one lesson you’ve learned from this pandemic that you’ll take forward into the next normal?” Although there were a variety of answers, a pattern emerged, and three were repeated over and over.
1. “We’re capable of achieving far more than I previously imagined to be possible.”
This was the most common theme. The pandemic forced us all out of our comfort zone and we had to react to extreme circumstances. The lesson though is that it shouldn’t require a crisis to trigger significant change and innovation – we have the mental and physical strength to do so at will.
2. “To be nimble.”
Many of the old models are now consigned to history. Most of our members will keep some of the working practices they adopted during the last 18 months, in particular a far more flexible and yet conscious approach to time. The big lesson is that people can adapt very quickly, and if treated appropriately, embrace change far better than perhaps we would have previously thought.
3. “To be confident, even when scared.”
When we went into the first lockdown, even the most seasoned business owners and directors were running scared at times. Sleepless nights became the norm for several weeks. “But we survived, didn’t we?” one member expressed to her Group. The lesson is one told by Jim Collins, (the Stockdale Paradox, which has been discussed in previous four-is), on the one hand always retain hope, keep the faith that we will get through this, but on the other hand, confront the brutal reality of the current circumstances one day at a time.
Many commentators suggest we will experience “Black Swan” events more frequently. It certainly feels that could be the case. If so, and even if not, these three lessons from Covid-19 are worth remembering all the time.
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