Post-Pandemic Hangover?

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions

Post-Pandemic Hangover?

Long-time colleague and friend, Tom Lemanski of Leadership Breakthroughs, recently wrote an article and was happy to allow us to share some of it with our readers.

The question is, Are You Now More Risk Adverse?  The answer is, how could you not be affected by what has gone on over the past few years?  People everywhere have experienced endless uncertainty, fear and doubt over the recent past.  We are all on a seemingly endless roller coaster.  Here are some of the symptoms that point out this fact:

• The Great Resignation
• Decline in Work Ethic
• Quiet Quitting (i.e., disengagement)
• Reversed Work/Life Balance (stronger value for family and personal time)
• Decline in Social Skills
• Social Injustice Anxiety
• Covid Brain
• Increased Risk Aversion

That’s a lot of symptoms.  For the sake of brevity, our friend Tom focused on just one… Are You Now More Risk Averse?  To deal with this issue it is best to:

• Admit that it has happened to you
• Realize it has also happened to those you lead
• Utilize your awareness to seek ways to regain your mojo and encourage others to do the same

As Warren Buffet has been quoted to say “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”  To overcome our Pandemic Hangover, the symptom of Risk Aversion, consider swapping the word “greed” in favor of “assertive.”  So… Be Assertive when others are fearful.”

So, the leadership challenge is, how will you help your followers to first discover and then let go of their fears in favor of being more assertive in the face of lingering fear?  It’s all about the power of positivity vs. negativity.

Have a Great Week!
Jerry