There are no answers to COVID-19, just better questions
Fight, Fright or Flight … remember we are one big Family.
At the top of a mountain or in deep despair, we crave and are drawn to leadership.
DK’s Quick Quiz: What should we expect from ourselves?
We are all outside our comfort zone so need to be diligent with our decisions. Although, some are doing far better than others. After all, knowledge can be power.
Some of us are in better positions than others in this situation. Perhaps a decision should be made to protect the ordinary investor, for example short selling stocks at the moment should be illegal. This is a rather disorderly market to say the least, however very sophisticated investors would be taking advantage of this as we speak. We all make decisions differently, especially during times like this.
If we focus on leadership again for a second should we have closed borders in January? That would have been expensive but in hindsight, maybe it would’ve been cheaper. With all problems, there is opportunity.
My own mantra is to do a Sanity Check (watch this space) in all situations, especially the most challenging. The bottom line is that no one knows what to do right now, let alone in an ordinarily challenging situation. But if you can ask brilliant questions, opportunities and solutions always appear. If we had considered the impact on hotels and the hit on tourism, there are several things that could have been done to reduce the impact of this situation.
‘We’ could have hired all major hotel rooms at a 50% discount. This could have housed all of our returning Australians for 2 weeks, even as a starting point. We could have encouraged domestic travel and grounded less Qantas planes, offering more incentives to the tourism industry. The industry wouldn’t be decimated as it looks to be now. We could have encouraged domestic travel in Australia and kept pubs, restaurants, delivery services, schools, offices and vital services ahead of the rest of the world? Even yesterday, our borders weren’t secure as a cruise ship birthed with known cases of COVID-19.
The former Prime Minister, John Howard, banned guns and paid for a buy back immediately upon the tragic events at Port Arthur. That minute, Not Next Tuesday.
In a world where we measure the cost of everything, how do we value the things we don’t pay for? As for my week, I have spoken to more than 30 people, clients and friends helping them through their business and personal issues — providing them with a much appreciated Sanity Check. There are opportunities, risks and ways to better manage this situation. This is my Sanity Check. Looking at the fundamentals of your business, your costs, and your revenues the government through incentives, utility companies and banks are all responding.
How do you manage to calmly respond and make the best decisions to manage you, your business and look after your family? It is vital we focus on this.
What else are we seeing? In the US, there is a surge of gun sales. What does this tell us about emotion and sentiment? Do we need a Sanity Check here?
No country is immune from basic human behaviour. What drives us in uncertain times?
Fight, Fright and Flight. Or do we become more human?
Remember we, as individuals, can do far more than leaders can ever accomplish. Be the best human you can be.
This quote tile made my heart warm and is why I will always be an optimist. I believe it. Do you?
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