#CoronaTimes - The Best Time to Go Figure…

I am sitting here writing this article as my younger son is watering our newly planted vegetable saplings… on his own initiative.

My priorities have changed during the last month. Our priorities as a family have changed dramatically. What we considered a ‘must do’ and a ‘nice to do’ has changed too. A renovation project is postponed, a new automobile purchase is on hold. I am sharing home schooling and cooking duties with my spouse and the kids are helping far more actively at home. I am able to find time in between my hectic day to grab a hot chocolate with cinnamon. Or go for a bike ride post lunch. Or may be make a video from time to time.

This 100% digital lifestyle which till a few weeks ago would have seemed improbable - I have taken quite nicely to it. 

The Easter weekend we managed a #socialdistance conducive way to host a friend’s dinner. Just our immediate close bunch. All the food was home cooked, there was enough wine, the kids were happy doing their own thing - and there was no pressure. Nobody said Monday is an early start and so let’s go. After ages, we really let our guards down and spoke into later hours of the night. It was after so many years that we carried the boys back to their beds, because they had fallen asleep where they were playing. Old school simple pleasures that we had forgotten about. We grabbed a last glass of wine together before calling it a night. The boys helped with the cleaning the next day - I didn’t have to tell them. They were at it long before we woke up. 

We are privileged to have our work and income despite this pandemic. And now there are very few options to spend that money on. Funnily I am not missing anything though. Maybe in a few more weeks we will look for vacation possibilities but that’s that.

As we got talking the other night though, there were so many changes that I noticed in my friend’s group. 

One of the couples were leaning against each other while we spoke. They were completely relaxed in each other’s presence and just laughing and cozying up. I had never seen them like that. Both are senior professionals in their own right and they always seemed to carry a bit of their designation with them otherwise. This Easter though there was a different energy they brought. 

There were no work stories. It was all home stories. 

The wife did answer a call from her colleague though. She spoke with the colleague for almost 20 minutes. The earlier version of her would’ve sent this person a message saying, “can I call you later”, if interrupted during another engagement. She came back and said her team member was struggling with making a layered cake. She was laughing about it and said I didn’t know my team likes to bake. We’ve never discussed it. 

As is my habit though, I couldn’t let it pass. But why would a colleague call you on a weekend? 

She said “why not? There isn’t a lot of difference between a weekday and weekend these days. And it’s a new situation for all of us. Just keeping in touch for even the unusual reasons keeps her connected with her team”. 

I understand this. I am constantly ensuring that my brand appeal with my partners and clients stays even if we may not be working on an assignment currently. 

Another friend said that he’s putting on weight and loving it. Having been underweight for years, he hadn’t realized that the constant stress of daily life was getting to him. Now that he has the time to really sit, relax and eat, it has begun to show. 

Admittedly a lot of us found it super tough to adjust to the new reality of both partners working and homeschooling our kids. Undoubtedly there was more bickering about the kids, the chores, the space and what not. But most of us are learning to live in this new reality – some of us are even thriving in it. A friend of mine mentioned today that she has no intention to work from her office any more – the last 6 weeks she has been far more effective and efficient working from home, and that’s what she plans to do now – and ensure her supervisor agrees to that as her results have shown. 

This is the time when you need to do all that you can to ensure that you build on your #PersonalBrand and your #LeadershipBrand. To do work that’s aligned to what you really enjoy -as so many ‘shoulds’ have disappeared for many of us. 

Interestingly, through these social connections with family and friends we are also bolstering relationships that truly matter. Of course, when the virus recedes, many of us may be expected back at our desk, but by then we will have found the things that truly matter to us. So, while we are all still trying to acquire new customers, and sprucing up our profiles, it makes sense to check in with the existing ones under no pretext and just announcing that you are around. 

At a recent social gathering, which has now moved to zoom, we had a new joinee and we were sharing how we spend our recent weeks. I narrated my experience of delivering a Crucial Conversations ‘Train the trainer’ live online to a group of trainers who would then train hundreds of people in their own organization. Meetings and webinars we all have been exposed to, but can training be equally effective. In my experience yes – and in some ways even better than in person. Now two of the leaders in this group want to introduce me to their teams. 

How’s that for mixing social life and work. Unintended – but highly productive. 

Dare I say that this may be an opportunity for us to lead fuller and more integrated lives. If we choose to. 

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About the author:

My passion is to create opportunities and catalyse relationships that help us thrive! I believe that personal, organisational and societal change is an interactive development process and through my interventions I seek to build awareness and action across all. I have had the privilege to have coached and trained leaders and management teams in 40 plus countries globally and on all continents.

Over the last two decades, I have engaged with leadership development, L&D and talent management across the entire spectrum from diagnosis to design to implementation. Currently I run my own niche Executive Coaching Practice to accelerate leader's path to success through my focus on #LeadershipBranding.

Drop me a message at [email protected] or to schedule a call with me please use : calendly.com/shivangi

Here are 2 initiatives I have founded : www.thrivewithmentoring.com, a non-profit that catalyses women to women mentoring (currently present in 5 countries) and www.xponential.cc (through which I bring award winning leadership trainings such as Crucial Conversations and Power of Habit).