Just Keep Connecting

“Just keep swimming!”

– Dory

There are countless “never give up” quotes I could have started this article with. From successful businesspeople to politicians to famous athletes to coaches etc. and so forth.

I instead opted for Dory.

I found myself feeling the weight of our current global situation and what it might mean for my business going forward. I am not alone in feeling that way. But a newfound and wise colleague of mine said with humor, “just keep swimming!” And she is absolutely right.

What exactly does “swimming” mean for you?

If you happen to find yourself in the fortunate position of trying to start or already running a business that has been helped by this pandemic (video conferencing, online exercise, telehealth, grocery delivery, etc.), well then you throw fuel on the fire. You up your security game, you amplify your marketing efforts, you hire more salespeople, you contract out for more delivery folks.

If you have been able to avoid layoffs with your current employer, then you hunker down and do all you can to continue to add value to your company in any way you can. You just hope the storm passes and you survive it.

If you find yourself on the wrong side of the pandemic, well, then your choices becomes tougher. Do you re-invest in your existing business, do you pivot your value proposition for a COVID-19 world, do you consider closing your doors for good?

But regardless of which category you fall into, one course of action should be certain: just keep connecting.

We are all acutely aware of just how deep we are in this thing together. Never before have we been more in something together. Which is both terrible…and yet, sort of amazing at the same.

Terrible for all the obvious reasons I do not need to go into here. Amazing in that never before have we all yearned for meaningful human connection at the same time. My youngest sister just had her first baby a few months before the curtains fell. When I asked her how she was feeling about it all, her comment to me was, “well, now the rest of the world knows what it feels like to be disconnected from society.”

Being a stay-at-home parent of a newborn will do that to you.

Which makes it critically important that you, now more than ever, go out of your way to strengthen your existing, rekindle old, and foster new connections. Do not overthink it, do not try to be overly strategic about it. Just do it.

Think of the people you care about or want to know better: friends, family (inner and outer circle), customers, investors, vendors, neighbors, old colleagues, current colleagues who you’re separated from, or even interesting people you just want to meet. Drop them an email, a text, a social network message, maybe even pick up the phone and call. If you do not know them, see if you know someone who can introduce you. Schedule a Zoom with someone who you have not seen in 20 years. Why not? You have nothing to lose.

And here’s the thing: with every connection you make, not only will that foster more connections, it will probably make you feel better. It doesn’t matter if you are introverted, extroverted, or somewhere in between. People want to hear from other people, they want to know what they are going through, what they are up to. Ideally it would not all be happening through a glass screen, but what are you going to do? That’s life, at least for the time being.

I participated in a webinar a few weeks back about how to stand out in the job market. This was a follow-up to an article I had written. What I neglected to mention in the article, but talked at length about in the webinar, was the importance of one’s personal network when it comes time to find a new job. This is not something you can conjure out of thin air. If it is not there when you need it, there is little you can do to rapidly build it without seeming needy or disingenuous.

The beauty of consistently striving to make connections is that you naturally and organically build your network over a long period of time. This is a good thing, regardless of your career choice, industry, or job function. Now is the perfect time to invest in that network. Every routine and every mode of operation has been disrupted. Many find themselves with new pockets of time available to them. And even if they do not (front-line health care workers, home-schooling parents, bankers frantically trying to get PPP money to their customers), they are for sure feeling disconnected.

Reach out.

It may not come easy to all. It requires energy. It requires a positive outlook amid a perpetually negative news cycle. Have a conversation, ask someone how they are doing, maybe enjoy an adult beverage in front of your respective screens at the same time. Your mind will expand, your world will seem a little brighter, and you just might take a little something with you that will pleasantly surprise you when you least expect it.

Just keep connecting…