Whew. What a week.
How are you?
On Monday, I wrote a completely different story to share today. But the world around us has changed a lot since Monday.
That specific story doesn’t feel relevant right now, but the theme is still at the front of my mind. It was about leaders who know how to take the temperature of a room, understand the emotions of their audience, and meet people where they are. It was about leading from a place of empathy, not ego.
And we definitely need that kind of leadership right now.
As concerns about the spread of coronavirus have ramped up this week, my coping strategy has been voracious media consumption — even more than usual. I wouldn’t say it has helped my feeling of general anxiety, but I have been noting the bright spots of leadership amid a sea of confusion.
This is not a time for business as usual. This is a time to be heart-forward, people-first, decisive, and thorough. If you’re wondering how to operate your business next week, or whether your marketing calendar should continue unchanged, I don’t have answers for you. But I do have inspiration from leaders who are setting a model for empathetic leadership in a time of crisis.
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Jim Ryan, President of the University of Virginia
A lot of universities have announced major closings this week, and my alma mater UVA was one of them. President Ryan released a message asking students not to return from spring break, and giving the University community detailed instructions for the path forward. But what struck me the most was his guiding moral message for everyone in his orbit:
I cannot pretend, obviously, that this is how I hoped this semester would unfold. No one can. But I eagerly await the ingenuity, compassion, and kindness that this common challenge will surely unlock within our community. If there were ever a time to be both great and good, this is surely it.
I’m taking that charge seriously, even though it wasn’t directed at me. I have returned to this message repeatedly over the past few days as I make decisions for my family and my business: How can I do good? Is this decision helping me be good to others?
It’s simple, but it’s powerful.
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Company leaders who are freely sharing their decisions and resources
I have admired Basecamp’s founders for years, so I wasn’t surprised to see them leading the way with transparent, helpful information this week. Co-founder Jason Fried announced two impressive moves:
—He has a book about remote work, “REMOTE: No Office Required.” To help people who are newly thrown into remote work, he is refunding the purchase price for anyone who buys it “for the foreseeable future.”
—Basecamp is giving all of its employees today and Monday off in order to make an emergency preparedness plan, figure out child care, etc.
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Individual marketers who are sharing their questions and thought process
All of a sudden, the usual marketing messages fall flat. How do we continue our work without being callous or tone-deaf? I appreciate hearing from other marketers who are wrestling with these questions. Natasha Wahid, a content marketer who lives in Vancouver, shared her thought process on LinkedIn yesterday:
My job is to create content that ultimately helps to sell our product. But in this moment, I am struggling. Struggling to find the line between doing my job and acknowledging that maybe my job doesn’t matter a whole lot right now.
I want so badly to give the community something useful. Something that acknowledges this insanity, this state of anxiety, and also acknowledges that in the midst of the insanity, we have to keep going.
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People who are finding ways to lift up their community
I loved this idea from writer Anna Solomon:
Canceled going out for my birthday dinner tonight but bought a gift certificate from the restaurant for a future date. Someone suggested this to me as a way to support our hurting local businesses and so I’m passing it on…
— Anna Solomon (@SolomonAnna) March 12, 2020
I’m still working through the best way to operate right now as an empathetic and caring human. I don’t always know what decisions are right. I didn’t even know if I should send this email today. For now, I’ll keep following the models above and trying my best to do good, especially when that means putting others’ safety, needs and feelings before my own.
Have you seen inspiring leadership this week? I’d really like to hear about it.
P.S. If you’re trying to lead your extended family right now and you’re hitting a wall, I found this article from Anne Helen Petersen helpful: How Millennials Are Talking To Their Boomer Relatives About The Coronavirus
And the question I Googled first when I heard schools are likely to close for the next 2 weeks: When Is Frozen 2 Coming to Disney+? (Can anyone pull any strings here?)
