The Clouds of Covid-19 War

By: Chris Pace

As February’s murmurings of a global pandemic caught our curiosity, March and April certainly caught our attention. Now, with most of us clamoring to adapt to the ‘new normal’ it is our hope that May will catch our invigorated interest, so the rest of the year and foreseeable future plays a brighter, stronger note. Now, you might be saying, “what the heck is invigorating about economic turmoil and a public health crisis?” Well, I would propose that while this global event certainly has it’s novel characteristics, we have been engaged in this type of gritty, trench warfare before and with some reflection, focus, and hard-nosed effort, we will triumph once again.

Some of you may know that I’m an amateur collector of classic books and magazines. That being so (and thanks to the advent of some extra time at home), I recently dug out an old steamer trunk that houses some of my favorite old tomes. As I was perusing copies of old Saturday Evening Posts, Time Magazines, and the occasional Galaxy Sci-Fi rag, I noticed a Life Magazine dated April 21, 1941 (retailed for 10 cents!). The cover features a US Cavalryman looking stoically into the distance with his hand firmly on the reins of his trusted thoroughbred. My interest piqued, I decided to read the issue from cover-to-cover.

The gathering clouds

What struck me the most about what I read is how eerily similar the national sentiment was at that time with how one might view the national discourse today. To get a better feel for what the country was facing at the time take a few minutes to follow the WW2 timeline at https://www.pbs.org/thewar/at_war_timeline_1941.htm. The US was edging closer to war with Germany and we were a mere 9 months behind the attack at Pearl Harbor. Reading the articles in present day, one could feel the national resiliency in the various authors’ words and the drive to focus on keeping the status quo despite a seemingly unavoidable conflict. Not completely unlike what we’re experiencing today in the intensifying restrictions to curb sickness around the globe. While I don’t aim to directly compare the world events (WW2 saw more than 70 million lives lost), I do think there’s a nugget of retrospection that might serve us as we navigate the hidden territory of the COVID cloud.

Primarily, we are an utterly stubborn species. 

While we certainly have our quirks, our species’ ability to collaborate, persevere, and protect one another from unknown evil is just plain astounding. Despite our nuanced differences, when it comes to rallying together to fight a common enemy, the human race is simply inspiring. We innovate, adapt, and execute in ways that continue to drive adaptation, evolution, and progress as the years roll by. So, let us investigate that through a more granular lens – like our common business landscape.

What drives us?

As an organization, times like these compel us to prioritize variables in our business that “good times” can simply gloss over. We’re forced – as entrepreneurs and leaders – to step outside the current chaos of the moment and review the table-stakes of our enterprise, making tough decisions in order to drive the business forward and provide continuing opportunities for those in our care. Make no mistake, this is a battle. With battle, comes casualties and heartache. However, battle also begets triumphs and most importantly… heroes emerge!

So, what brings forth a hero… in the business sense?

While there are many factors influencing this hero persona, I think one clear constant in every hero is courage. Courage requires patience, thoughtfulness, and decisiveness. Courage does not require making 100% right decisions or knowing everything about a situation before acting. It does require, however, that decisions get made and when actions are executed, they’re done with precision, follow-through, and with an intensity that shudders their foe.  

And that’s the opportunity before us… isn’t it? We all have the current opportunity to rally our teams, focus on our adversary, and act so vehemently gritty in the face of opposition that if we do so accordingly, we can’t help but triumph and emerge from all this stronger, more united, and with a hope and excitement for brighter days ahead. It will not be easy, and it will not be quick, but it will be worth it.

So, what is our challenge? It is what can we do EACH AND EVERY DAY to drive positive results in our business?

Some considerations

What is your battle strategy? Showing up and being present is only 50% of the effort needed to succeed.

Who are the key players on your team? Are they playing to their strengths or simply filling a gap?

What is the worst-case scenario and how would you combat that from occurring?

What is the best-case scenario and how can you reverse engineer the process and identify benchmarks that light the way there?

How are you communicating progress to your teams?

Are you utilizing all your allies to affect an augmented, positive impact towards success?

How are you maintaining balance between battle and rest? This is critical to the process as exhaustion will destroy morale and threaten focus.

How often are you letting the team help inform the strategy? The best insights often come from those on the front lines!

The list could go on, but the important thing is to identify just a few to get the ball rolling and to consider the major themes.

Where to now?

No one knows what the future holds. One thing we do know is that the communal spirit of our people is one of the most awe-inspiring phenomena ever witnessed. Individual actions over the past few weeks confirm that the spirit, talents, passion and commitment in this country are unwavering. Even more inspiring is the relentless dedication to persevering in the face of adversity and the resolute courage to lead people and business through this long, dark night.

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