Moving Forward

After a natural disaster damages a home or a community, there is an urge to rebuild, and to rebuild better. That sense of hope and opportunity is a powerful motivator for change.?

But how do we globally rebuild?everything?after COVID? The pandemic has exposed the underbelly of society. And not just in the United States, but also across the world.

• Heath
• Work
• Family
• Childcare
• Housing
• Food security
• Education
• Transportation
• Supply chains
• Commerce

There’s even a global drop in birth rates that will reverberate through societies for decades.?

I see it as an opportunity. We’ve already seen a societal shift in demands for gender and race equality. A shift in worker priority and demands for living wages has pushed us into a labor shortage. People who felt forced into a gig economy job are saying no. People who were working long hours at?low-paying hospitality jobs are saying no more.?

And while salaries are rising, we’re also losing women. Without reliable childcare, something that was hard to find prior to the pandemic, women can’t return to work. Now is the time to change this.?

It seems that overnight an entire industry – video conference - became mainstream. In addition to remote work it has created remote education (not so great) and telemedicine (actually great).??

People have re-examined their priorities. Families that did little more than pass in the hall have spent?actual time together. And yes, too much of a good thing can be too much.?

Remote work was, and is, great for some and as we have seen, not ideal for others. But the upside is we were able to test this on a massive scale.?

We’ve learned a lot about how modern society can function and what personal happiness can look like. Now it gets hard. We have to change. We are well past flipping a switch and returning to a pre-pandemic life.?Do we really even want to??We must move forward.?

This issue of Wise Words explores how society is looking at the new normal, the post-pandemic world, and what I see as our opportunity to build back better. What are your post-COVID plans both personally and professionally? I’d love to hear from you.?

Connect anytime you want to say?hello.?Contact me?with your 2021?questions and goals.