I thought I’d share some of my quarantine’s observations. What are yours?

We usually have time to look forward and concentrate on ourselves, we have time to also look inward and around us, and I have been trying, not succeeding most of the time, too much news, not moving enough and I still haven’t read all the books I say I could read, or all the classes I could take right now. I’m sharing what’s been on my mind in general. Here is few observations:

1.    Front line workers are not the ones we most respect in our societies except may be doctors, delivery drivers, grocery store workers, genitors, hospital personnel including cooks, nurses, and cleaning personnel are holding the world together. ‘’ We love to call people ‘’heroes’’ instead of giving them tools and environment they need to do their job safely’’ when this is over let’s do better. A living wage is not too much to give to people who hold the world in their hands.

2.    Leadership + expertise+ humanism+ vulnerability inspire confidence, trust, comfort and safety. Our provincial Primier, the epidemiologist and their crisis team have got our back, and we believe them when they say they do. We can follow their recommendations because they inspire trust. Observe and learn, if you don’t have that in your leadership team, now it’s time to train, coach, mentor or start recruiting. Also if Dr Arruda can explain flattening the curve in a way a 5 years old can understand, any leader or executive can explain their product, process, strategy, and purpose, to a trusted employee.

3.    Entrepreneurship drives our economy, innovation and create job, what this pandemic has brought to the surface is how little protection the entrepreneurs have, no safety net, and yet as a society we rely on them for the future. Small businesses are our bread and butter, there should be a way to make sure when the tree shakes, they still stand with strong roots.

4.    Healthy and safety of employees, financial, personal, material, working conditions, flexibility, and respect of employees should always be at the centre of every company. The reputation of some companies will be made or undone by how well they show up for their employees during this crisis. Dear human resources professionals, this is your moment to actually do your thing and shine.

5.    There is no longer ‘’us’’ versus ‘’them’’ when we get past this and get to the new normal and there is an urge for identity politics, discrimination based on any flavor of the month, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, family status, sexual orientation, origin, accent.. Remember this moment and how this virus attacking the same thing we all are ‘’ a living, breathing human being’’.

6.    Working from home or working remotely was always a possibility, the technology was there, some jobs are fit for it and now every manager who said it was impossible is doing it. On the flip side, employee who thought they could manage working like this all the time are also learning the limits of what it offers. We are all learning as we go, when we get on the other side, rethinking the workplace will be at the centre.

That all I have, let’s stay safe, flatten this curve so that we can have an opportunity to shake our partners and clients hands, remember when we could do that? So that we can give our parents and grandparents hugs like real hugs, not put their groceries at the porch, or just see them by face time. More so let’s stay safe and isolate for our frontline workers, they also have families, yet they are caring for ours for us.