Today’s prevailing buzzword in social media circles seems to be resilience, and it is not hard to see why. The challenges presented by Covid19 have tested all of us in different ways. As business owners and human beings, we have been stretched to our limits and ask to completely change our natural human behaviour and instincts. We are naturally social, but we must keep a fair distance away. We mustn’t hug, kiss, shake hands with anyone except living in our direct household. We understand this is for everyone’s safety and protection. Most are doing the right thing.
But accepting this required change and being selfless enough to put others health and safety first has required us to learn how to express emotions differently and communicate and work with each other in new ways. Zoom meetings are now more common than catchup’s for coffee.We work from home more often than we go to the office. We have missed birthdays, anniversaries, and dinners with friends. Some of us have suffered incredible loss and personal tragedies, and our heart goes out to those families. Businesses have closed down forever. Lives have been lost. But we carry on, because we must. Tomorrow is another day, and we should do all that we can do ensure that each day will be better than yesterday.
To carry on, we have needed to show resolve, inner strength, optimism, and most of all resilience.
I have the privilege of observing Resilience in Action every day in my role as a business owner and an accountant in practice. 6 examples spring to mind:
- Resilience is stepping up by going to work every day while juggling family commitments, homeschooling, and running a household, when work is now at home because the office is closed.
- Resilience is not giving up on your business when sales are down and customers are not paying or delaying projects because of declining confidence.
- Resilience is finding the time to work on your business, while running your business, even when the challenges of #Covid19 have meant that you completely needed to change your business model to survive and stay competitive.
- Resilience is having the self-belief to know what you want your business to look like in the future, and working towards that goal, even when it seems impossible.
- Resilience is built upon finding the right team to support you throughout the toughest times, where everyone lifts each other up and works towards a common goal
- Resilience is strengthened by knowing you can’t help everyone, but doing your best every day by showing up, giving 100% to the task at hand, and prioritising for maximum effectiveness.
I am extremely proud of my team for the dedication they have shown to helping others, including all the extra hours without complaint in these busy times.I am proud of everyone who is carrying on when it would be so easy to give up. Our resilience is growing day by day.
I hope that we can all take this opportunity to learn from the challenges posed by Covid19 and make improvements that will endure long after the virus has gone.
Click to read the original LinkedIn article that inspired this blog
