We are facing unprecedented times; that is a simple truth. While millions fear for their lives and health, millions more fear for their livelihood (job security, financial stability, and more). While this article will by no means provide a solution for the various impending hardships millions are facing, the hope is to provide a glimmer of positivity and even productivity. Seeing an opportunity we can all draw upon in times of tragedy, is the ability to take a step back and evaluate what really matters in our personal and professional lives. We have many things to be grateful for. Some things we already knew about and they are merely reinforced, and others may have been forgotten or lost in the fray. Being able to re-evaluate what matters most in times of crisis, will not only be helpful to persevering our finite resources through hard times but will enable us to emerge as more focused and productive individuals and professionals when the dust finally settles.
While there are infinitely more items than could fit into this article, here are some that came to mind when evaluating what matters most. It would be great to hear your shortlist as well.
Elevating others every… single… day…
As the saying goes… “people will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” Most recently, before the COVID-19 outbreak, this adage could be frequently experienced as part of every core sales and marketing philosophy. Today, the meaning of this phrase holds more impactful significance than ever. Focusing our efforts on elevating our friends, family, or even strangers EVERY SINGLE DAY in any capacity, instead of fighting over the remote, arguing about politics, or beating a stranger to the last parking spot, gives us the opportunity to cherish what’s really important.
If we can help a friend, colleague or loved one reach their potential, we are elevating all of us through that collaborative energy. As a colleague shared, “let’s remember that for us to survive, we ALL have to be using Purell. Hoarding or fussing over scarcity will never amount to anything compared to sharing with a sense of abundance and the prosperity to come once we get through all this.
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Channeling our ‘inner leader’
Panic is contagious, but so is inspirational leadership. In these challenging and evolving times, inspirational leadership manifests through perseverance, intuition, and compassion, all of which are traits we can all activate within ourselves, whether we are already managing and leading people or are evolving towards being the leaders of tomorrow. Channeling our own ‘inner-leader’ is how we overcome our collective challenges in the short term and elevate ourselves and others in the long term. No act is too small and every opportunity to grow [ourselves] as leaders are worth undertaking. Remember too that leaders are born in the vacuum of leadership. One of our coaching clients is a general manager of a national retail chain that was not mobilizing regarding the best practices espoused by the CDC. He put his neck out on the line by creating a predictive analysis of the number of employees and patrons who would likely be infected by failing to yield to the suggested protocol. Who knows how many lives he may have saved?
Finding opportunities to innovate ourselves and our work
By evaluating what matters most, we can also take advantage of a slower global pace to innovate the way we work and to take time for the ideas we’ve had over the years to flourish and maybe even execute. The opportunity is now to innovate the way we work, communicate and produce as individuals and as teams and to think about the new services and products that may need to emerge to prosper and support the “new normal” of remote work, whether that ends up being temporary or a long term trend. Inclusion and belonging are the first steps to elevating others and our organizations through our actions and our work through collective innovative energy. By innovating how we work now and what products and services we offer, we can set the table for future solutions to obstacles that have hindered job satisfaction and workplace happiness for decades prior.
Why it’s Important to Evaluate What Matters Most
Taking stock of what matters most is how we weather these uncertain times, but more importantly, it’s how we come out stronger when the fog clears and our ‘new normal’ (whatever that may be) takes hold. We will need everyone to step up and elevate each other if we are to overcome the challenges ahead and build a new future.
Wishing everyone well and looking forward to hearing your own items to add to the topic of ‘What Matters Most’. Onward and upward!
