The week that was - April 10
Theodora Lau
American Banker Top 20 Most Influential Women in Fintech | 3x Book Author | Coming Soon: Banking on Artificial Intelligence (2025) | Founder — Unconventional Ventures | Podcast — One Vision | Public Speaker | Top Voice
Meghan Biro shared a message in her newsletter this week: “The new normal is that nothing’s normal.”
The words were simple - yet profound. And it sums up what many of us have been going through around the world. Families are being torn apart by an invisible virus, with their loved ones isolated during their final moments. Children are told to stay at home - away from their friends and school. Parents are struggling to navigate the fine balance between work and homeschooling. Essential workers are risking their lives to keep us safe and to keep the world running. Families are hosting virtual Seders for one of the most sacred holidays in Jewish religion. Faced with restaurant closures, farmers are dumping gallons of milk and leaving crops rotting in the fields, while hungry families line up for over a mile in Los Angeles to wait for free groceries from the food pantry. Banks are struggling to cope with the overwhelming demand from small businesses, trying to survive.
NONE of this is normal.
The virus has laid bare the inequalities of our society - the digital divide that has segregated us - the profit over purpose mentality that prioritizes growth at all cost, with little regard to the well-being of ordinary people - and the diminishing social safety nets that have left the most vulnerable citizens with nowhere to turn to for help.
As a society, we have lost our bearings - and along with it - a part of our soul.
Human lives are rendered to mere statistics.
Our world is at a standstill. The silence is deafening.
But this is not how the story ends.
Despite the darkness that has descended upon us, there is a glimmer of hope. #HeroesOfCovid19 and #LookForTheHelpers tell countless stories about people and companies donating essential supplies to those in need, helping small businesses and workers who are struggling, or just simply supporting each other. Organizations are stepping up and doing what is right for their customers and their employees. Random acts of kindness are showing us how we can persevere - and rebuild.
As Arlan Hamilton said in our last One Vision podcast (available via iTunes and Spotify), even the smallest action matters.
Easter is a time of hope - of renewal. Look for the helpers.
Stay healthy. Stay safe.
Coaching employees and brands to be unstoppable on social media | Employee Advocacy Futurist | Career Coach | Speaker
4 年Thank you Theodora. Reflecting on where we are and what we can do to help and give back in our own ways is very important. Nothing is too little, and together our actions create a tidal wave of goodness. Be safe my friend! #inspiration
We’ll get back to a new social good, a social better.
Leadership Mentor, Community Coach, Technology Consultant, Business Development, Speaker, Trainer, Connector
4 年Well said. I will suggest - The helpers have always been there, it is our previous distractions that have shielded them from our vision. The glimmer comes from a candle that is always lit, our vision has just been blinded by artificial lights. Composers have long recognized the value of deafening silence - the period between the notes - as a means to heighten anticipation of the melody to come. I refer to this as a period of reminder, of refreshing, of resetting... our mourning reminds us to love more and deeper... our staying at home reduces the pollution so the skies are becoming clearer... our "lack of all" is resetting our expectations and desires to the importance of what we really have: each other. And as painful as this time is - we must remember there is a melody to come. What song will you be singing?