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The Gifts of the Pandemic | Stronger Through Customer Experience Elevation

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together." Those are the words of civil rights leader Desmond Tutu.
This is the final post in a series titled The Gifts of the Pandemic.
For me, one of the most significant benefits of this unwanted crisis has been a recommitment to the human experience. By that, I mean, leaders have demonstrated more compassion and respect for their employees' needs. Team members have made sacrifices for one another and exceeded customer expectations.
For more about human experience elevation, please pick-up or gift a copy of my book Stronger Through Adversity, which provides more than 20 pandemic forged lessons from 140 plus leaders like the CEOs and Presidents of Target, Verizon, Kohl's, Microsoft, and Marriott. To elevate the experience of those fighting COVID-19, I'm donating a portion of the book's proceeds to the international nonprofit Direct Relief, which provides food and supplies to those on the frontline.

The Gifts of the Pandemic | Stronger Through Gratitude

It’s easy to remember a time when someone failed to acknowledge our contribution. However, it’s almost impossible to know how often people walked away from interacting with us feeling underappreciated. Based on my experience this last year, I’ve noticed leaders expressing gratitude more frequently to their team members. Michelle Gass, CEO of Kohl’s, exemplifies this unintended benefit of the pandemic.
Michelle told me one of her top priorities during COVID-19 has been to “consistently express my tremendous gratitude and thanks to our 100,000 associates. In every message, I’ve been very intentional about saying thank you. Sometimes it was in recognition for people who are on the front lines in our e-commerce fulfillment centers. Other times gratitude would be expressed for those who made curbside pick-up possible."
To learn more about the role of gratitude in crisis, please pick-up or gift a copy of my book Stronger Through Adversity, which provides more than 20 pandemic forged lessons from 140 plus leaders like the CEOs and Presidents of Target, Verizon, Microsoft, and Marriott. As an expression of my gratitude, I’m donating a portion of the book’s proceeds to the international nonprofit Direct Relief, which provides food and supplies to those on the frontline. 

The Gifts of the Pandemic | Stronger Through Purpose

The indoor roller coaster ride, Space Mountain, at Disney World lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds, plummeting riders into darkness and a heart-pounding adventure. Now imagine you strap into your Space Mountain ride, and it lasts more than two and 1/2 minutes. Imagine you're still going for two and ½ hours, and you have no idea when the ride will end. Such is the state of disequilibrium most of us have experienced during the pandemic.
This is the fifth post in my series titled The Gifts of the Pandemic.
Keeping with our Space Mountain example, you've likely struggled to manage the speed of change needed to navigate the continual twists and turns of the pandemic. You probably had few options to slow or stop this ride. So where do you turn?
For more about the gift of purpose, I hope you'll pick-up or gift a copy of my book Stronger Through Adversity, which provides more than 20 pandemic forged lessons from 140 plus leaders like the CEOs and Presidents of Target, Verizon, Kohl's, Microsoft, and Marriott. My purpose is to "serve those who serve well," so I'm donating a portion of the book's proceeds to the international nonprofit Direct Relief, which provides food and supplies to those on the frontline.
I'd like to invite you to join my guests and me for LinkedIn Live conversations every Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. 
 

The Gifts of the Pandemic | Stronger Through Adaptivity

This is the fourth post in my series titled The Gifts of the Pandemic.
So far in this series, we've looked at pandemic gifts or teachable moments that include:
Learning
Humility
Empathy
Upcoming installments will focus on:
Clarity of Values
Gratitude
Human Experience Elevation
I realize the title of this series can be a bit jarring. How can the pandemic provide "gifts?"
When it comes to adaptivity, the pandemic forced many companies to pivot or perish. 
For more about adaptivity and "pivoting with purpose," I hope you'll pick-up or gift a copy of my book Stronger Through Adversity, which provides more than 20 pandemic forged lessons from 140 plus leaders like the CEOs and Presidents of Target, Verizon, Kohl's, Microsoft, and Marriott. When you purchase the book, you're helping those who are fighting the pandemic since a portion of the book's proceeds is donated to the international nonprofit Direct Relief, which provides food and supplies to those on the frontlines.

The Gifts of the Pandemic | Stronger Through Empathy

For me, empathy is best exemplified by neuroscientific research, which shows when we observe the pain of others, it activates the same neural pathways as when we experience pain ourselves. We are hardwired to “feel into” the pain of others, which is the translation of the German root from which the word empathy evolved. Empathy is the gift of feeling into the emotions of others.
For more about empathy and compassion, I hope you will pick up or gift a copy of my book Stronger Through Adversity, which provides more than 20 pandemic forged lessons from 140 plus leaders like the CEOs and Presidents of Target, Verizon, Kohl's, Microsoft, and Marriott. Out of empathy for those fighting the pandemic, I’m donating a portion of the book’s proceeds to the international nonprofit Direct Relief, which provides food and supplies to those on the frontline.
 

The Gifts of the Pandemic | Stronger Through Humility & Vulnerability

Let’s face it, most of us care a lot about what others think of us (especially if we are leaders in business, community, or family). We project “the best of” ourselves in public and reserve “the rest of” ourselves for private. That approach leads to 70 percent of people feeling what researchers Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes label an “imposter syndrome.” Social media amplifies this syndrome, since most people tend to share the “highlight” reel of their life and not the “lowlight” events.
Let’s jump to the pandemic and how it made it harder to hide our blemishes, shortcomings, and limitations. For example, we saw leaders communicating from their bedroom not the boardroom. We knew our dogs, spouses, and children would wander into our videoconferences, and we went on camera having cut our own hair. As a result of our vulnerability, many of us spent less time managing our image. We acknowledged our fears, errors, and humanity, and operated more from our hearts and less from our heads.
For more about Stronger Through Adversity, visit https://www.josephmichelli.com/stronger-through-adversity/

The Gifts of the Pandemic | Stronger Through Learning

Here's a question for you, if you could, would you go back to the way it was before COVID-19? Let's imagine you could flip a switch that would re-instate your life and your business to how it was in November of 2019? Before you decide, let's also assume you didn't lose your business, you experienced no family member's death, and remained in relatively good health.
Given those parameters, would you flip the switch? For me, the answer is a resounding NO!
For more about Stronger Through Adversity, visit https://www.josephmichelli.com/stronger-through-adversity/. 

Three Ways to Lead with Light

In 1650, the English Theologian Thomas Fuller wrote that often-quoted line, “The darkest hour is just before the dawn.” Quite frankly these days I’m just trying to get through the darkness of our time. 
For me, when it's darkest, when I am horrified by nightly death tolls, or righteousness that prompts inexplicable violence, I look for light on the horizon. Sometimes it’s hard to see more than flickers, but I know the light is there and waiting for me find it.
Today I'm discussing three sources that have proven illuminating to me.
 

Happy New Year!

Whew 2020 is over! On behalf of our team, I wish you a safe and prosperous 2021. Next week I will resume our video series Stronger Through Adversity, based on the book I released last month, but for now I’ll simply share words of hope written by Anne Frank. She noted: ”What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven’t even happened yet.” I’m looking forward to those “best days of life - yet to come.” How about you?

Stronger Through Adversity Spotlight on David Hudson

Throughout December, I’ve been sharing a few excerpts from Stronger Through Adversity to provide stories and lessons on resilience and hope. I had lots of stories to choose from, thanks to the wisdom shared by over 140 leaders like the CEOs and Presidents of Target, Verizon, Microsoft, Marriott, and Mercedes-Benz. Today I’ll excerpt a section which features David Hudson, Commissioner and National Commander of The Salvation Army.
If you would like to learn more about the book Stronger Through Adversity, please visit strongerthroughadversity.com or buy it now wherever you get your books. Also, I’d be honored if you’d join me for my live interview series on Thursdays at 12:30 p.m. Eastern and simulcast on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.