Sheri here –
Rosabeth Moss Kantor, the Harvard University chair and director of the Advanced Leadership Initiative has said: “Change is Hard in the Middle”.
A New Normal
Here we are hitting the reset button on a “New Normal” – major abrupt change.
What has happened?
For some, the pace has slowed; there is less traffic and clearer skies; more time with the family; and creative ways to stay in touch.
For others, that is not their reality. It is different, they have lost jobs, temporarily or permanently; their stay at home is confining; their health might be compromised; or they fear for the safety of their loved ones.
We have choices: 1) to incessantly complain about a world out of control, 2) move forward without a care or concern for anyone but oneself, or 3) stay in the moment, and take advantage of this time to hit the reset button, to complete things, to explore new learning, and to spend time with loved ones.
Some are on the front lines, the health care workers, the first responders, those in essential jobs, including grocery and drug store workers, and all their families.
Community
Yet, for many, an enhanced sense of family and community has risen to the forefront.
In this time of change, it is an opportunity for compassion and empathy, for looking out for one another more. An opportunity for our communities to bond differently, with care and concern for each other as if we were more closely related.
Where have you bonded with your community in new ways? Share with us in the Facebook Group “Money Talks with Sheri”.
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We are in the middle of a substantial change. While we have experienced pandemics, job losses and stock market crashes before, we haven’t experienced them concurrently.
Change
Add to that the “safe at home” directive many of us are under and the massive closures of “non-essential” functions – it is disruptive, in addition to massive change.
Many have been pushed to work from home. Businesses of all sizes have gotten creative in how to do that. Additionally, there are large numbers of parents who are home schooling their children. All of us are learning to share space in new creative ways.
Opportunity
This time at home is an opportunity to build new skills, to continue to stay in contact and enhance your business.
But there are those who are hurting. The hourly workers with no safety net, who were struggling before everything shut down. The employees in industries that have been shuttered: travel, entertainment, restaurants and brick and mortar stores.
Many are fearful about their personal financial situation and understandable so.
We need to be aware and supportive of those around us in physical and emotional pain. We do not know what burdens they carry. We need to allow kindness to soften our response to others.
Will we emerge more united and bonded as we did after 9/11 (for those who remember), changed forever, but in different ways? Most likely, but no telling how.
Change Looks Like Chaos in the Middle
Things are changing and its hard – chaos in some ways.
I remember Rosabeth Moss Kantor also saying that “change looks like chaos in the middle”. That certainly describes where we are now.
Stuck in the uncertainty of change? Look past the chaos – if you want to talk strategies on how to do that, then let’s talk. Just click this link to setup a time to do that!
This is also a time of massive opportunity, but you need to look around to find it. You need to be open to the possibility of new opportunity. Look past the chaos.
Stay safe. Stay connected! Leave a comment below and until the next time…..
Ciao and hugs,
Sheri
