For the first time in my lifetime - and in possibly everyone’s - we are facing an unseen, global threat and it doesn’t matter what country you are reading this in. The issues that we are waking up to each day surround the Coronavirus. Whether it is directly or indirectly, this pandemic is affecting all of us.
So, as business leaders what do we do?
There are many things out of our control right now, but we always have control of certain aspects of our life. The way we think: we have a choice whether to be positive or negative. We could see this situation as a massive restriction on our ability to work and socialise as we normally do, or we could see it as the opportunity to re-connect with our families.
Some may say that we cannot move forward with our businesses. I would take this opportunity to create content on blogs, look at internal systems that have been compromised during these times and work out ways to reduce the impact going forward. Just because we are unable to physically move our businesses forward, we can prepare our teams to ensure they are ready for when we do return to a level of normality. How would you feel if you had this golden opportunity to make some real, positive changes in your business, but you failed to use the time productively?
Now it is more important than ever to realise that TIME is our number ONE commodity. We only have a certain amount of it and we can NEVER get it back.
Our choice currently is whether we go into a state of suspended animation and pause or decide to make the best of a bad situation. I know which option I am going for. As I have said many times before, nothing lasts forever; this really is a double-edged sword.
Over the weekend I raised a glass to a fellow former paratrooper who unfortunately died as a result of COVID-19. He was a great man and raised a lot of money for Airborne Forces charities.
There have also been times in my life when, like now, I have told myself that nothing last forever and every time, so far, I have been right. So, lets try to press play, even if it is in slow-motion, we need to be moving forward; don’t expect too much from yourself or your business in the short term but why not do one thing every day to move forward, improve your personal, professional or business situation so that when the brakes come off and we can return to normal, we can positively say “We did this during the COVID-19 lock down and I’m glad we did this!”
I like to feel like we can help people, especially at times like these.
The types of things we can help you with are:
H&S document reviews.
E-learning for health & safety and many courses on Intuity Training.
Practical advice with home-workers, lone-working and reduced workforces.
Desktop Canopy Safety H&S Audits.
Advice on ways to prepare your business for the return to work.
It is also important to look out for our teams at times like this, just because we are not seeing them everyday, we should try to stay connected with them.
My wife, Kat, runs fitness classes and one to one PT with clients and the Coronavirus has had a massive impact on her business. We brainstormed last week and over the weekend she carried out 4 Zoom fitness classes and 2 online PT sessions. This pandemic will change the way we interact beyond the lockdown, more people are using technology to connect and meet and this could be a massive shift in how we continue to work productively in the future.
Be positive.
Look after each other.
Stay at Home.
Stay Safe.
Lee Kennedy – Managing Director KVF
This blog is dedicated to Lee Crichton. Rest in Peace Brother.