2020 - the Big Correction

Well, we’ve all had time now to digest the often flimsy and fleeting ramblings of the various “Doomsday Propheteers” and “Conspiracy Theorists”. Surely, it’s time then to stop contemplating our navel and use our 20/20 vision to take a global view of what’s really going on here … and in our own business leadership environment, spare some thoughts for what we can do about it!

As the Coronavirus pandemic threatens our physical wellbeing and brings this planet of ours to the brink of economic collapse, our human values are being questioned on all fronts. Every one of us is having to embrace the prospect of significant sociological change, and this threat to our welfare is affecting almost everything about us, from our persona to our productivity.

On a personal level, we are drawing closer to our family/our loved ones/our inner circle, as forced isolation takes us into depths of loneliness not seen since the last world war. We are becoming more centric in our feelings, reaching out more cautiously and protectively from the core – from self, to family, to community, to country. We are becoming more conscious of our closer relationships – more caring, but more sparing, in our outlook!

Meanwhile, we are becoming apathetic about the outer circle; we are harbouring doubts about our foreign allegiances, as a growing disrespect and mistrust for the rest of the world festers within. We have started to rein in the boundaries of our patriotism!

In the survival stakes, we are beginning to realise that resources are not unlimited. As our income is threatened, our essential supplies are rationed, and our activities are restricted, we are beginning to feel the loss of freedom. In some cases, this threat of remoteness and deprivation has already descended into desperation, and we are already seeing the beginnings of selfishness - signs of a developing “everyone for himself” mindset. Physical and mental abuse is on the up, and as survival instinct kicks in and our respect for law and order is overridden by anxiety, we are already witnessing pockets of anarchy.

Ironically, this loss of privilege - this closing of the classes - has brought with it an appreciation of the plight of those less fortunate, igniting a level of compassion so sorely missing from our modern first-world societies. Thankfully, it has also generated an appreciation of the dedication of our frontline health and safety workers, and a recognition of the arduous decision-making challenges facing our public service leadership teams.

Philosophically, we are becoming more concerned about what comes next. As global tensions accelerate, we begin to harbour thoughts of international conflict, if not on a warlike footing, then certainly on a subversive basis. We start to question whether elevated trade barriers will limit access to essential supplies like food and fuel or hinder the supply of vital utilities; we wonder if yet another form of devastating virus pandemic, cyber-attack, will be used to cripple our vital communications networks and bring our online world to a standstill. 

The call of the environmentalist fraternity is also ringing louder in our ears, as we begin to ponder the ultimate question - whether this planet can really sustain us, and whether there is indeed a need for culling of the human population. This is where the inevitable conservation “blame game” creates even more animosity - from interpersonal, to international, to inter-generational. 

So, 2020 could well be a tipping point - a time of deep contemplation and unrest as we realise that the world, as we know it, has just undergone the first wave of a major change. Along with the various ages from Ice to Information, and the civil development eras from the Industrial revolution to the current wave of Digital Transformation, this year will surely go down in history with a label of its own. Very likely, it will be remembered as the year of correction.

Yes, there are plenty of “ifs, buts, and maybes” floating around, and back at the coalface, they will be preying on the minds of our team members. We can be sure that our colleagues, associates, and subordinates will all be deeply troubled over this sort of public speculation about what might lie around the corner, and there are certainly more questions than answers. So, with due consideration for these underlying but sometimes overwhelming concerns, let’s try to put aside all this distractive uncertainty - at least for the moment - and concentrate instead on the day-to-day issues.

Doing whatever we can within our own business and community leadership circles to calm the anguish and ease the immediate hardship calls for us to stand tall, with a quasi-parental approach. We can't tackle the big agenda on our own, so our individual mission must be to provide as much down-to-earth advice, assistance, and emotional support as we can for all of those around us – one step at a time. This is Leadership101!

“We’re All in This Together” has become something of a cliché, but it’s certainly a worthy catch-cry. So let’s not forget it … however big, or however small, let’s pitch in and play our part!

Keith Rowe is the author of a series of books, particularly focussed on the preservation of our interpersonal skills. His latest - a “beyond 2020” revision of his original KNACK of Selling publication has recently been released on Amazon. This article reflects the theme and contains extracts from it:

www.amazon.com/author/keithrowe