It has been a wild-ride these past few weeks!

I know I usually talk about negotiating health benefits, and share ways that business owners, CFOs and CHROs can come together to understand how to provide the best benefits at the best value for their employees. 

But here’s the thing.

Things are inherently different.

We’ve never done this before. 

None of us have. 

Which means we are ALL figuring things out as we go along. 

So, this blog post is a bit different.

Rather than sharing how to lower your costs or how  examine how to partner with a great broker I’d like share three core principles of #TrendBreakers and how they are especially relevant right now: 

We learn best when we listen first. 

We have an incredible opportunity to listen to those in our peer group and learn from others how we can best navigate these uncharted territories. 

Engage in the conversation.

Contribute what’s really working (or not) for you and your business.  Ask questions in the group. There’s a good chance that someone is struggling with the same issue and maybe has even figured it out!

Give yourself and others extra grace.

We are all doing the very best we can with what we have.  There are external factors whether it’s working from home unexpectedly (with kids that are now schooling from home), dealing with illness in your house, or just the anxiety of walking the empty aisles for grocery stores, there is added pressure on everyone that didn’t exist last month.  Be gentle with yourself and be gentle with others as we work through this new reality. 

One of the few things we know for certain is that even while we are apart, we are ALL figuring out this new reality as we go along.

At our core, #TrendBreakers exists to share knowledge, best practices and enjoy the collective wisdom of this group.

That doesn't change with social distancing, quarantines, or economic upheaval.

If anything, this mission is even more important as we navigate everything that is going on.