I LOST MY JOB, MY PARTNER AND MY NEW BUSINESS
Last year, I had to shut a venture I co-founded. For five years I had put my heart and soul into it. It made a great product that helped a lot of people but we had to close it down for reasons that were out of our control. It was going to be my last big hurrah - but instead I had to start all over again.
It was a low, low point.
Then, just as I got back on my feet and started something new - an AI for managing innovation and uncertainty (https://www.vencortex.com/) - COVID-19 hit. No one was interested in my new venture.
Oh - did I mention I was told my apartment was covered in combustible cladding and we had to begin rectification works right away? And one of my oldest closest friends got a brain injury after an assault and now is permanently disabled and in 24-hour care? Then my partner broke up with me just before the lockdown in Australia. That was in mid-March 2020. By now, I was thinking,
“How much more of this can I take?”
Well apparently, more than I thought. That goes for all of us. This is where my skills for resilience kicked in.
resilience during covid-19
Australia, and the world are headed for the worst recession in history. Current estimates are that global economy will shrink by more than 3% and Australia by more than 6.7%. Unemployment will reach 10% in Australia, much higher in some parts of the world. That is on top of the emotional and physical cost.
Many jobs and organisations will not survive.
In the midst of this pandemic, what does resilience look like?
Does being resilient mean you will sail through unscathed?
Does not being resilient mean everything will come to a grinding halt?
Neither extremes are true.
What can you expect if you are resilient?
(If you want to check your resilience, download the free Resilience Compass ©.)
What to Expect if you are resilient
What you should expect is that there will be a dip in your normal level of functioning. This applies to everyone - no matter your degree of resilience. Most will return to a normal level of functioning - after a period of time. (By functioning I mean any kind of activity you do – i.e. functioning as a leader, partner, colleague, parent, director, CEO, athlete, carer, or any other role, professional or personal).
So, if everyone takes a dip – what difference does resilience make?
A lot.
Check out the graph.
The more resilient you are, the faster you will learn and adapt. The flatter the downward part of the curve will be, the quicker you will recover, and most importantly – the better you will recover.
Your degree of resilience determines how quickly you and your team will bounce back
and how well you will bounce back.
It will also set you up to respond better to future adversities.
resilience for the future
COVID-19, is not the first, and it won’t be the last adversity, you and your organisation will face. This pandemic is just one of many shocks you will face. Once we’ve dealt with the COVID-19 crisis – we still have to deal with the environment, wealth inequality, politics, traffic congestion, competition, staff leaving, divorces, death, restructures, people jumping the queue and the annoying dog next door.
Once you’ve recovered from the shock of losing your job, you still have to adjust to life without work, or changing your direction, or a new career.
Once you’ve come to terms with your business closing down, you’re still going to have to put things into hibernation (or shut up shop), undertake an orderly wind down and decide what to do next.
If you’re lucky enough to still have a job, you may be adjusting to no longer working face-to-face, to having to trust your remote staff, and to continue meeting your targets, and to the reality of relentless competition (unless your competitors have all stopped working).
(Managing a team remotely? Can you help us with our survey (< 7 minutes)? All respondents get a free “working from home” cheat sheet.)
The most resilient will emerge from COVID-19 better than they were before.
Better businesses, better ways of functioning, more robust, better way of handling the next crisis/pandemic/challenge. They will emerge knowing they have the internal resources to prevail.
But in the middle of it, admittedly, it won’t feel good.
anyone can become more resilient
The good news is we can all become more resilient. What makes you more resilient? Six factors that are summed up in the Resilience Compass © :
Accepting your circumstances
Having a strong sense of self
Turning to others (friends and strangers)
Approach goals - a sense of direction
Making more self-less decisions (community)
Learning from adversity
when you fall, make sure you pick something up
We are all getting a dose of suffering. You may as well learn as much as you can from it. The most resilient will not just work on improving their current situation, they will also work on improving themselves. They will look at their attitudes, beliefs and values - and think about what is important.
How do you adapt?
What really matters at this time?
What aspects of your worldview will damage your resilience?
What are you learning about yourself?
What triggers your fear and how can you reduce the effects?
What are your strengths?
How can you prevail?
COVID-19 and the ensuing recession is not something anyone would wish for - but it is here. How will you move on from it? What version of yourself will you be on the other side of it?
*Caveat: I am not talking about physical resilience, getting ill, or recovering from the sickness physically. That’s for the medical professionals. I’m talking about the effect on your psyche, your business, your organisation, and your general levels of happiness and functioning.
So, practice being resilient, apply the Compass, and to paraphrase:
Do what you can,
with what you have
in place that you are,
with the time that you’ve got.
Go well, my friends.
Book Cris for a session with your remote team. Learn how to become more resilient or “Smash It” and stay energised, focused, and productive while working at home.
PS: BTW - this is in no way diminishing that some people will become seriously ill and may die. I have concerns for my 76-year-old mother - who has just lost her partner in the midst of all this.
PPS: If think you or anyone you know might need professional counselling please contact: