As business owners and leaders, the COVID-19 crisis has provided a rare opportunity—time to think and reflect. Our meetings have upended as we are closely monitoring our situation and huddling with rule makers and enforcers.
Old plans, those set at the end of the year, are obsolete. We are now thinking about recovery plans. Our emails bombarded with advice from consultants and opportunists in a time where there is no “been there, done that.” We are in new territory.
Instead, what we need to do is be the leaders we aspired to be early on in our careers.
We are a mentally fragile and physically exhausted community. We need to acknowledge, candidly, the depth of our challenges and the sacrifices necessary to pull through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leaders lead vs. manage. Now is the time to look forward because the next set of challenges is on the way. We need to build revenue as we decide how far to cut expenses. Review the overall cost structure and calibrate it for what lies ahead.
As leaders, we need to move quickly and course-correct in real-time, not ruminate for months. We must move at a pace both strategically and financially, that may not be in our nature. We need to prepare, not panic.
We need to take care of our people with greater energy than ever before.
Let’s rise above the chaos and be leaders.