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GREAT RESOURCES for the Road Ahead After this pandemic

Hello friends,

There is plenty of nonsense from online extremists. I’m sick of it. You may be frustrated too.

One of my clients said, “I’m just paralyzed. I’ve submitted my PPP application to Wells Fargo because I trusted them to deliver. Now they say I should consider a new bank. I don’t know who to trust.”

Another client said, “We have adopted new norms for remote work. Everyone has a laptop with a secure virtual private network (VPN). But, people are late for meetings. WebEx doesn’t work. We get interrupted by crying children and barking dogs. Our deliverables are down 20% in 3 weeks.”

That’s why I want to give you these 6 great resources:

  1. As a species we have always adapted to aversive stimuli with resilience. 100 years ago over 600,000 people died as a result of the Spanish Flu Pandemic.  Our grandparents survived. 100 years from now we will have new global health protocols. You and I will not be alive, but our children will learn from our work today. Resilience defines us. We can adapt. Some great resources are at the Greater Good Science Center.
  2. Teams are stronger than individuals. They always have been stronger. Consider any project team, family team, virtual or direct team… Teams will always will be stronger because teams provide different perspectives, tension, innovation, results. Social isolation leads to anxiety and depression, and kills more people than cardio-vascular disease, obesity and smoking. Combined. Lately I have been calling at least 5 old friends every day. Physical isolation is critical. Social isolation occurs when we do not reach out to one another.  Some great free resources are here.  You can strengthen your teams today.
  3. Networks of teams are stronger than individuals. Networks look like spiderwebs or a map of your favorite highways. Networked organizational maps make it possible for anyone to be a leader. One good article on the road ahead using networks of teams is from McKinsey. It’s worth sharing with your teams.
  4. The road ahead is paved with new leaders, from many networks. Consider recent examples of healthcare leaders like your local physicians and nurses, or Dr. Anthony Fauci. Consider thousands of leaders in education who quickly migrated course content online and are encouraging songs across the physical distance. Leaders emerge when teams practice using OKRs. Objectives and Key Results (OKR) increase accountability and engagement, especially with over 50% of the workforce who are millennials. Recently, over 20% of the U.S. workforce has lost their job or is underemployed. Please share this link from my newest book with anyone in a career transition. For anyone interested in learning about OKR Leadership, please share this link to chapter 1 in audio or digital format.  You may be a great leader for your loved ones.
  5. We finally have a new language to describe our virtues and character strengths. Over 7 million people use the language of signature strengths to describe themselves or others “At your best.” For the past two years I have listed my signature strengths in my email signature as a small experiment.  I strongly recommend that you take the free VIA assessment here and practice developing your strengths daily.  When we leverage our strengths, then we are more capable of flourishing. The science and practice of character strengths has gained momentum during this pandemic, because people want to know, “What really works?”

Just thinking of you, today, at your best.

Respectfully,
Doug Gray, PhD, PCC

CEO, Action Learning Associates, LLC
704.995.6647 mobile, 615.236.9845 office.  Calendar Me.
My top signature strengths: creativity, hope, perspective, honesty, zest