Points of Leverage– COVID-19 Edition

C-lever Points of Leverage (POL) has been on hiatus since last August when many things changed for me, inside and out. POL is being reactivated with the intention of supporting you during these chaotic times.

Advice I’m paying attention to – 

From Verne Harnish

Assign Someone In Your Company to Track Aid – $2 Trillion US Economic Rescue Package passed the Senate – and other countries are sponsoring similar rescue packages.  Assign someone in your company the accountability to gather, track, and help employees and companies get all the aid to which you’re entitled.

 

Create Covid-19 Expense Line – Consider adding an expense line item called COVID-19 and dump off all expenses in there including your staff and personal time spent dealing with a crisis – this 30-second video by Ron Lovett, author of Outrageous Empowerment, will explain why it will make it easier to apply for government assistance if and when it comes available.

 

From the HBS Entrepreneur Center:

Effect of the Coronavirus on the Venture & Technology Ecosystem – An analysis looking at the impact of the virus on various industries and sectors.

How I’m responding to This Situation –

Stopping Selling – We’ve stopped promoting anything and everything that someone has to pay for.  It just feels tone-deaf in the current situation.  (Obviously, this isn’t true for all products and services and has to be considered on a case by case basis.)

 

Start Giving – Professionally, we are giving away a huge chunk of our content as a give back to our community.  (Almost everyone is).    Personally, I’m going through my home and giving away to my neighbors anything that will help them; extra workout equipment, outgrown games and movies and books.  Whatever will make their quarantine easier   Also, I’m sending money to people I know are directly affected, like William, the Ecuadorian server at my favorite restaurant and my cleaner who is no longer coming to my home to clean.

 

Responding to What’s Needed

Going Virtual, Not Viral – On 3/16, my team brainstormed what our clients are needing, on 3/17 we emailed clients and prospects inviting them to a FREE mini-course we called Going Virtual, Not Viral to be held 3/19, to share how they could be taking their business virtual.   In two days, we had 132 people sign up and 68 people attended Going Virtual, Not Virtual, live.   We collected the questions and resources offered by the community during the call and shared them back to everyone who signed up.

 

Stepping into Mindfulness – We created a new FREE 6 weeks course on mindfulness, targeting people who are just beginning to be curious about mindfulness meditation.  We started promoting it on 3/23 and as of midday on 3/26, we have 104 people signed up.

 

What I’m Leaning on for Leadership Inspiration – 

“Scary Times” Success Manual: How to Be a Leader When Times Get Tough – Wisdom from the guy who’s seen it all, Dan Sullivan at Strategic Coach.  He provides strategies to allow you to keep the focus on opportunities for growth and progress when the world around us gets more turbulent.

 

What 9/11 Taught Us About Leadership In a Crisis – Former Army General Stanley McChrystal and Chris Fussell remind us that “the greatest leaders emerge from the darkest moments”.

 

How to Be Leaderly in Utter Uncertainty – A good reminder of how to behave as a leader to plan, communicate, and model what we are wanting to have happen.

 

What I’m Watching for Fun and Inspiration – 

Hillary – When my Republican brother from Florida suggested I watch this, it got my attention.  Frankly, I haven’t been a Hillary fan.  I felt she was too opaque and I was just plain mad at her for losing.  This documentary turned me around on Hillary.  I have a new respect and admiration for her truly remarkable devotion to this country and her resilience in fighting for it.  The attribute of resilience in the face of defeat, over-whelming negativity and bad odds is something I think we can all get behind right now.

 

What the World Needs Now – If ever there were a time for the world to come together, this might be that invitation.  I found this video inspiring, touching and hopeful.

 

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist – In challenging times, sometimes we just need a happy, easy escape from it all.  This silly, funny TV show on NBC fits the bill.  It’s about a young, nerdy, female engineer working at a tech start-up who by accident was endowed with the superpower of hearing people’s feelings in song (and dance).  The actors, singers, dancers are all phenomenal and somehow this show can come off as endearing versus cheesy.  Hope you love it as much as we do.  (It’s a COVID-19 date night show for Ken and me).

 

What I’m reading –

Realization – This may not be for everyone and it’s doing more to help me work through and be with what’s happening now than anything I’ve ever read.  First of all, this is a channeled text, which means it is a narrative that is being spoken through the author by who he calls the Guides.  (And if that’s just too weird for you, and no judgment if it is, I get it, that’s cool.  You can stop here.)  Through a series of synchronistic coincidences, I attended a workshop by the author, Paul Selig, a few weeks ago.  It was enough for me to buy into what he and the Guides are saying about the nature of humanity and being human.   I know that’s not a very satisfying description and I’m still getting my head around what it’s saying.  And it’s helping me.

 

Why We Sleep – A client suggested I read this book because he has problems sleeping (as so many do).  I read it and since then have gifted it to 3-4 other people who have challenges with sleep.   Because sleep is SO important to the quality of life, I’d read quite a bit about such things before.   And this book is hands down the best resource on sleep that I’ve come across.   Well researched, well written.   There too much in the book to synthesize it all down but here’s what I will say 1) If you are taking Ambien, you’ve GOT to fucking STOP.  2) The single biggest factor impacting sleep quality is waking and going to bed at the same time each day.  3) Good sleep hygiene is surprisingly beneficial.

 

Energy Anatomy – This may also be too way out there for some of you.  This audiobook is spoken at a series of live workshops by the author.  It’s dated at this point, however, one of the things she talks about speaks directly to what is happening now – which is what it is about the energy of humanity that generates epidemics.   It’s a way of making sense of this craziness.

 

A quote that is supporting me–

“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.” THOMAS MERTON

 

I love you.   I believe in you.  You can do this.

Namaste!

 

If you liked this (or not), let me know and feel free to forward it to someone who might benefit.  They can subscribe to C-lever POL here.  If you’d have a thought or comment, I’d love to hear it!

Take care,

Alison

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Author Bio

Alison Whitmire

CEO and Executive Leadership Coach, Advisor and Consultant, “Deeply Committed, Helping CEOs See Clearer, Do More”

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