Amid all the uncertainty of the current times, one North East business leader shares their own traumatic experience and urges people to look after themselves during the pandemic
The New Year has brought new plans and new resolutions, but the same old Monday grey morning in January, the same old Covid uncertainty and restrictions, and the same challenges we carefully shelved behind the tinsel.
Even the week of festivities was interrupted by amended plans and new tier announcements. And this week brought questions over schools, leaving people wondering who would have childcare issues, who was going to struggle to work from home, as well as the impacting on maintaining services and whether our businesses would still have any customers.
2020 has required so much resilience on everyone’s part. As leaders of organisations we have had to take agility to a new level - balancing pragmatism with cheerleading; planning, forecasting, re-planning, re-forecasting; learning new rules, new technologies, dealing with new people challenges in light of the move to WFH and all while trying to remember to unmute yourself.
And besides our organisations, we have lives and families, and loved ones too. Elderly parents, kids, spouses, financial pressure - none of us truly know the challenges going on behind each persons front door.
All of this takes its toll, and requires constant drawings from our resilience pot. But what happens if you let the pot get empty and you are unable to make a withdrawal?
I am a reasonably well known, long standing member of the North East business community and on New Year’s Eve I attempted to commit suicide.
It was perfectly planned and organised, my affairs were sorted and in order, and but for my inability to work out how to time delay sending an email (and given all the other research I did for my plan, this was most irritating) and a friend working later than planned (did they not have somewhere better to be?), I would not be writing this piece today.
And so back to the office. The first item on your list needs to be: what are you going to do today, this week, this month, this year, consistently, to ensure you are making regular deposits into the resilience bank.
There is a reason they say put on your own mask first. There is a reason why, in Star Trek, they try not to let the Captain go on risky away missions.
Leaders and leadership are vital for the survival of our organisations. Make it a key part of your 2021 plan.
