COVID-19: What it means to us now and for our future: A Perspective

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change - Wayne Dyer

COVID-19 is identified as a global pandemic. It has taken the lives of many and is currently spreading wide without any line of sight to its exit from our reality. In this article, we have made an attempt to look at COVID-19 from a different viewpoint of both an individual and an organizational perspective. It is also an opportunity to start envisioning who we are going to be in the world past COVID-19.

This article is written with much compassion, empathy, and love for those who have lost their loved ones to this pandemic. We are in gratitude to those who have left us for showing us how valuable our lives are in the here and now. We offer our gratitude to the medical professionals and health care workers who are tirelessly serving us in this pandemic.

This article, with its perspective on this pandemic, began with the reflection that we all now need to wear a "mask" both figuratively and literally when stepping out of our homes. The need for a figurative mask has been deemed necessary to survive in the corporate world, where to be yourself was not appreciated nor encouraged. Now we are literally wearing the physical mask to survive wherever we go, thanks to COVID-19. We hope that via this article, it becomes evident that in order to thrive as human species, we not only have to rid ourselves of our physical mask but also the figurative mask that we wear, so we can be our true authentic whole selves, wherever we go.

Our perspective starts with a question:

What if COVID-19 is a messenger? A profound messenger mirroring to us some deeper lessons that we as human species have not been willing to internalize yet. 

Every experience in our reality offers us a choice. A choice to look at it as a positive occurrence i.e. an opportunity to grow and evolve or look at it as a negative occurrence where we are a victim of circumstances with no control. The positive perspective may be referred to as the Gift of that situation, and the negative perspective as, let's say, the Shadow. 

Let us look at what may be Shadows of COVID-19 situation, before we deep dive into the Gifts it has for us as humanity, so you can leave this article feeling better about the Gifts and the potential leading into the future. 

From a shadow perspective, COVID-19 mirrors the deepest fears of humanity – our fear of death - our mortality, our fear of isolation- of being alone and everything in between. 

While we all know that none of us humans will get out of Earth alive with this body, it still does not stop us from wanting to control what happens to us. This messenger has shown us so clearly, how little control we have on anything other than ourselves. This message is critical for the resiliency that future leaders will have to possess and is the cornerstone of the adaptive mindset that we will have to continually develop.

Those of us who are looking at the shadow side are spending time worrying if we have contracted it, what will happen if we do, what will happen to our loved ones, what will happen to the world after this, follow news like our life depends on that, asking when this will be gone, bored, worried, anxious or frustrated. This same shadow has traditionally limited our organizations’ ability to create an innovation culture when no attention is given to where our fears are coming from and why.

From a gift perspective, COVID-19 mirrors the highest lessons for us - Being in the NOW, without being depressed about our past or anxious about our future and our Oneness, how interconnected we are as human species. 

Social distancing and Quarantine has enabled us to BE in the NOW, to slow down, to take time for ourselves, spend time with our family, tap more into creative arts like singing, dancing, go for a nature walk, exercising, running, finding humor in the current situation. All these are ways to connect with our inner selves, with our spirit. It is the mix of the same ingredients we will need to maintain into the future if we are to learn from this tough experience. It would be wonderful to come out more reflective, thoughtful, able to focus much better than any time pre-COVID-19.

Although we are practicing social distancing, the occurrence of this worldwide pandemic has also shown us that we are all one after all. Regardless of how separate we may see, think, or feel ourselves from others, this messenger has shown - that which affects one, affects all. It has not differentiated us by race, color, nationality, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, financial status, or employment status. We all look and feel the same, to COVID-19. 

Even though we may not have contracted the virus, we are feeling the collective pain, the collective fear, the struggle of our fellow human beings across the Globe. It has woken us up to virtues that we embody as human species - Compassion, Empathy, Kindness, and most of all LOVE. We feel all this for those who we have never met, may never meet but do so because we are all connected, we are all One. 

This is the evidence of the quantum field that connects us all. COVID-19 has taught us to celebrate our Oneness. This enriching dose of virtues from the spirit of Oneness, is the central recipe in the cookbook of the future.

The hidden blessing and gift, besides those mentioned above, is that Mother Earth, finally is getting time to heal. What can be better than this? It has definitely reminded us of our responsibility towards the environment, which we have to be mindful of and respect moving forward.

COVID-19 is the start of humanity’s tipping point. From being a predominantly fear conscious species into being love conscious species.

Where there is Love, there is no fear.

That which is ready to be released must surface for something else to take its place. It is time to release the fear, so love can take its place. When we are able to operate from this “love” cornerstone in the future, the quality of our life and the value of our contributions will look, feel, and be very different.

But the question may be, how do we release this fear? 

By not resisting it, not denying it, but by accepting it. Acceptance is the first step, accepting the reality as is, so we can then learn to trust, surrender, and let go. Unfortunately, the word surrender and letting go for us may mean to give up and do nothing. This is also a word that triggers strong emotions for some of us who are wired for action, i.e. to make things happen. 

Here is a perspective on what Trusting, Letting Go, and Surrendering could mean. If this resonates, you can use this as a daily tool for your practice 

You trust knowing that you have the answers to your life’s path within you. This period of isolation is the opportunity to find that through self-reflection. Self-reflect to find who you are, what you are here for, what truly matters to you, what do you want to be remembered for once you leave this planet. An opportunity to dis-identify with our own ego and its fears, and listen to your heart and trust its message for you. You not only learn to trust yourself but also in the Universe. Affirmation: 

“I am a co-creator of my life in partnership with the Universe”. 

When you trust that you are a co-creator of your life in partnership with the Universe, you learn to let go of what your ego-mind thinks must happen, and allow for events to unfold, knowing that the Universe has your back. Every time an event unfolds in a way that is not per your mind’s expectations, you learn to let go of that attachment to outcome, you affirm, 

“This is a redirection from the Universe for something outstandingly better”. 

This is as powerful as the beginner’s mind that we possessed, but usually lose in touch with once we become adults, shattering our flow, and resulting in the inhibitions and organizational barriers that limit the potential for agility and experimentation. So let us take this reflection with us into the future to create the level of trust we have only traditionally aspired for!

When you surrender to Being in the NOW, you are open to ideas and inspirations that propel you into action from your heart, from a place of love, rather than your head that may be programmed for fear. Heart’s messages are subtle and nudge you quietly unlike that of a loud voice of your mind. Affirmation:

“ I hear my heart's voice and I know what it feels like to hear and follow my heart's voice”

As for organizations, it is no different. This is also the tipping point for organizations as they are built on humans who are evolving in consciousness. No better time than now does the work of Frederic Laloux, in his book “Reinventing Organizations” resoundingly resonate. The book deep dives into how every time humanity has shifted to a new stage of consciousness in the past, it has invented a whole new way to structure and run organizations, each time bringing extraordinary breakthroughs in collaboration. A new shift in consciousness is underway, per his book that was first published in 2014. 

“Each such shift occurs, Laloux says, when we are able to reach a higher vantage point from which we see the world from a broader perspective. Like a fish that can see water for the first time when it jumps above the surface, gaining a new perspective requires that we disidentify from something we were previously engulfed in.” 

This is that shift for us as humanity. We are now being forced to disidentify with our fears, COVID-19 has now forced us to jump out of our water, i.e. lives as we lived before the pandemic, and forced us to look at what is happening around us and within us. 

The agility exhibited by organizations - e.g. moving to remote work, virtual home offices is just the tip of the iceberg in demonstrating the new way of running organizations. This is our 2020 tipping point and the opportunity for us to gain that new perspective for restructuring into the future!

Laloux talks about Evolutionary Teal as the next stage of Organizational evolution. “The shift from GREEN to TEAL is a particularly momentous one in the human journey. People transitioning to Teal can accept, for the first time, that there is an evolution in consciousness, that there is momentum in the evolution towards ever more complex and refined ways of dealing with the world.” 

So how does evolution from GREEN to TEAL happen? Per Laloux, “The shift to Evolutionary Teal happens when we learn to disidentify from our own ego”. This is the very message in the first part of the article above in terms of the evolution of human consciousness due to COVID-19, our lessons to learn to trust, let go, and surrender. 

This means that organizations now have to look into their Purpose. As human consciousness evolves higher with the COVID-19 pandemic, to a more trusting, abundant, fearless, love centric society, organizations will need to be more purpose-driven to even employ these individuals that are now yearning for wholeness. This is the "must address" part of the equation surrounding the future way of working. 

It is also a wonderful opening for any and all employees (or now termed as leaders) to lead the path for such a deep transformation that the organizations, around the world, have embarked on.

With everything that we experience in our reality, we as individuals or organizations have a choice - a choice to look at the shadows or the gifts. It is not that we only experience one or the other. We usually oscillate between the spectrum of negative to positive. Sometimes we dive deep into the shadows and sometimes we uplift into the gifts. 

If by virtue of this article, you as an individual, are now aware of your dominant thoughts i.e. what you give energy to, and as an organization, aware of the opportunity to be purpose-driven, and are contemplating on ways to rid yourself of the "masks", we consider our mission accomplished.  

Disclaimer: Views expressed are those of the authors, unless explicitly referred to a specific source.

About the Authors

Dr. Al Zeitoun, PgMP, PMI Fellow is an Executive, Organizational Transformation and Operational Excellence Expert, Author, Speaker, and Board Member with global experiences in Strategy Execution, Portfolio, Program & Project Management.

Ajitha Srinivasan, is an Entrepreneur, Educator, and an Energy Guide. She currently educates corporations and individuals on Agile, Project Management, and Leadership subjects. She is also a Performing and Visual Artist, Speaker, Certified ThetaHealing(R) Practitioner and Instructor, guiding individuals on their journey of a quantum leap into self-mastery.