What. A. Year.
12 months ago today, most leaders were wondering about the financial future of their businesses, while learning to work from home and live without the normal routines of everyday life. And then one year ago today, George Floyd was murdered under a knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Within days the city was burning.
While on vacation last week, I pondered the question: How am I different as a leader after the events of the past year?
A lot has changed since the final breakfast of spring 2020.
This Friday is the final Good Leadership Breakfast of the spring series in 2021. I plan to ask the “how are you different as a leader?” question to our speaker, Megan Remark. It’s a relevant question because Megan is the President and CEO of the level one trauma hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, Regions Hospital. While 81% of all managerial workers in America were working from home during the pandemic, people who work in hospitals had to live through the crisis every day.
“Covid-fatigue is a real thing in hospitals,” Megan shared with me in our pre-breakfast interview. “We’re all accustomed to how FEMA goes into disaster-relief mode after a natural disaster, but we’ve been living and working at that intensity level for more than a year. It’s not sustainable, that kind of pressure changes a person.”
Start Memorial Day weekend early with a Good Leadership Breakfast. You are invited to join us for another virtual breakfast – it’s this Friday at 9 AM central time. Megan Remark and I will be joyfully seated at the same table (we’re both fully vaccinated) in a TV studio. I’ve decided to wear the same bright yellow jacket as I did one year ago, as we produced the breakfast in our offices, with just an iPhone. What. A. Year.