What we are all collectively experiencing right now is something that I believe will unite us when this craziness is over. We are all connected. There will be some good things to come of this.

Perhaps we can reframe the fear, uncertainty, and unknown into something that will calm us down and make us feel better. I know I’ve run the full spectrum of emotions over the last week myself, trying to do as much research and making decisions to keep things from feeling out of control. I am grateful for technology so that we can stay connected and share information.

Here are some reflections I’d like to share:

1. Humans and our planet are incredibly resilient.
2. We will get through this as well.
3. Practice acts of kindness now more than ever.
4. Do NOT panic or go into panic shopping mode. Get what you need to stock up but leave some for others as well.
5. If you are working from home now, do your best to be productive to keep your part of the business going.
6. Have your meetings virtually and if possible, use video for that human connection (Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp, etc).
7. If you have to go to work, be safe and thank YOU for doing what you are doing! (thinking of all the healthcare workers who are the HEROES of our time right now, the city infrastructure workers, etc).
8. Support the small businesses that are getting hit hard by the sudden halt in business (restaurants–order in, tourism, small service businesses, consultants, event planners and coordinators, etc).
9. Stop watching the freaking mainstream news—they are mostly feeding the flames of panic and are doing a disservice to this situation in my humble opinion.
10. Be creative—focus on solutions!

This is obviously a good time to think about how you can make some changes in how you work. Can you do more online? How can you organize yourself to work efficiently from home? How can you support others the best you can? What are your most important priorities?

Another area that comes to mind is that a strong company culture will be able to manage a crisis much stronger because it lives within your employees. Is your company culture the backbone to keeping your business going? The 5 Cultural Keys model we work with at Evoloshen can give us a clue:

1. Collaboration – working together to take teamwork to the next level, support each other like a family
2. Creativity – allowing ideas to come from within the organization, your people have the best ideas
3. Connection – how to have that deeper emotional connection, through the values, purpose, and how you communicate
4. Celebration – focus on the small wins and give plenty of recognition and appreciation
5. Contribution – how you can make a positive impact with your business that makes your employees proud and gives them meaning

We have never seen something that has affected the entire globe to this level in several decades! If we can manage to stay calm and stay connected, we WILL rise above. I’m inspired by all the videos being shared on social media of the singing going on during Italy’s lockdown—proves my point!

We are resilient, creative, and incredibly connected. Let’s focus on that!