What Culture are You Creating in Times of Covid19?

"Culture isn't just one aspect of the game, it is the game." - Louis V. Gerstner, Former CEO of IBM

 Many of us think of culture as something we create at work.

Well, in times of coronavirus, culture is something we create at home.

The ripple effects of Covid19 aren't a game ... they're a game-changer.

The culture we create matters because it either sets a tone of panic or of proactivity.

We might want to remember what Albert Schweitzer said:

"In influencing others, example is not the main thing, it is the only thing."

What example are we setting for the people around us?

What culture are we creating - at home and online?

Because whatever we’re modeling, people are following.

Are we modeling grace under pressure?

Are we modeling that as long as we still have each other, food, water, a roof over our head, our ingenuity (and the Internet!) ... we are not stuck at home, we are safe at home?

Are we modeling that we have a choice every day we wake up - to either complain about what's going wrong ... or to create, connect and contribute to how things can go right?

Are we modeling that we can be proactive and productive instead of passive?

Are we modeling that, when our business model and income have been disrupted, we can get resourceful and put a Plan B in place?

Are we showing the people around us they can trust us to step up and take responsibility for being the quality of leader, parent and partner they need us to be?

Someday we will look back at this time, and we will either be proud of the precedent we set - or we'll want a do-over.

The good news is, we can have a do-over right now.

We can create a "rising tide raising all involved" culture at home, online and in our community where everyone chooses to pull together - instead of allowing ourselves to be pulled apart.

Language is the lead domino of culture.

What will you model today - what example will you set - what will you say - so the people around you trust your leadership and respond in kind? What culture will you create?

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Sam Horn, CEO of the Intrigue Agency, is on a mission to help people create quality communications that add value for all involved. Her 3 TEDx talks and 9 books  (including Tongue Fu!, POP! and SOMEDAY is Not a Day in the Week) have been featured in NY Times, on NPR, and presented to Intel, NASA, Cisco, YPO, CapitalOne.