Opportunity

Change is Hard in the Middle

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.

If you haven’t joined the Facebook Group yet, just click this link and join us in the group.

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

Creating Community Differently

Sheri here –

Creating Community is not easy for social, community minded individuals who are being told to observe “Social Distance” and increasingly, just stay home.

I’ve been staying quiet the last couple of weeks, watching events unfold and trying to make sense of what’s going on with the coronavirus and the ripple effects.  Trying to figure out how to help myself, my family, my clients and those around me in my communities to weather this storm.

For social creatures to be “social distanced” is difficult – so now what.  How do we manage? How do we create community differently?  We are certainly more fortunate than at any time in the past because of the tools we have available: the internet, smart phones and online apps.  We can be in touch more easily.

Creating Community

The other day, I started using one of my favorite business communication tools – Zoom meetings – to bring a group of friends together, to reunite our community.  Since we couldn’t meet for a regular dinner together, we met online.  It certainly provided comfort to all of us.

Yesterday, we paid an online visit to our grandkids and even played a game of Candyland with my son-in-law, Tyler, our proxy moving our token around the board.  A bit of normalcy in a world of social distancing.

This morning my Toastmaster’s Club met online.  It was a joy to see the smiling faces of friends.I was using a tool in a new way.

Self-Care

In today’s circumstances with continuous updates, how do we minimize the fear and look for the positive.  Ok, maybe that is a Pollyanna approach, but there is still so much that we can do.

The first thing is to take care of ourselves.  Put your oxygen mask on first.  Then we are available to see to the needs of others around us.

Selfcare includes the connection with your spiritual guide, your God.  Maybe some meditation and prayer, to find that calmer spot within. Certainly sleep, exercise and nourishment are also high on the selfcare list.

Be in Communication

Be in communication with loved ones, find out how they are and let them know you are thinking of them.  Maybe, you can extend a helping hand to those who need an errand run and cannot do it themselves. Speaking of communication, I took a recent poll in my Facebook Group“Money Talks with Sheri” about ways of adapting to life with social distancing.  The winner of the poll was for this tribe to have a community Zoom meet-up to help ease the social distancing anxiety

If you haven’t joined the Facebook Group yet, just click this link and join us in the group and create a community experience with us.

We had a community get together online within the group using Zoom.  It was quite fun!

Room for New Opportunities

While many of us can work online and can continue to show up for our work-related commitments, it may still leave us with time on our hands. 

Maybe now is the time to do some of the things that you have been putting off.  Like doing some decluttering or finishing up old projects.

Make room for new opportunities. 

Be in communication with people you haven’t talked with in a while. 

Even though you may be staying home, you don’t need to isolate.

While we may get hooked into thinking that everything around us is bleak, if you look carefully, you may find a fertile ground for a new idea or doing something in a new way.  The opportunities are there for those who can change their thinking and see old things in a new way or new things completely.

Look carefully, you never know what you might see!

Until the next time.

Ciao and hugs,

Sheri

P.S. If you need a quick shot of positive, a breath of fresh air, check out our Business Facebook page or Instagram.

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