This week my Chief Executive Vistage groups got together in person for the first time in 15 months. Wow! It was so sweet. There were so many lovely side conversations before starting, during breaks and sometimes during the meeting as people reconnected or met for the first time.
The new Members who started during Zoom days had their first taste of all the interactions that happen in 3D. We started with a question: What will/have you reset due to the pandemic? The answers ranged from jokes about staying married, to savoring the sweet moments, to restructuring how the team will work going forward.
Through all of the pandemic, the challenges of leading were new and uncharted. Who had led a suddenly remote team? How do you keep your team safe from a virus we had not seen before? What do you do when COVID hits your factory? What if someone dies or one of their family members die?
And now, how do you get raw materials? How do you raise prices fast enough to cover the cost of containers from China? How do you hire new team members when they are getting multiple offers? How do you retain your team when they are getting hit up by recruiters?
This has been a time when being part of a peer group has been huge. Learning to be flexible and that it’s is okay to not have the answer, or to change your answer when your team expects you to know….it takes guts.
Friday, 4 group members got their tenure awards. Shaheed Shahabuddin for one year, Parker Morse for one year (8 months late), Avetis Anataplyan five years and Sevag Ajemian for 10 years. They are all in Vistage to become better leaders. I love the commitment. So think about what you have or will reset as a result of the pandemic. Don’t lose the opportunity to be happier and more effective in your work and your life.