Where Do You Want To Go Now?

Don’t Settle For Your Pre-COVID Normal

Sometimes it just feels easier to settle — especially when the pandemic and its impacts are wearing you down.

So many of us want to return to what was previously considered normal.

However, is what we once had the same as what we are returning to? I don’t believe so, and I don’t think that’s our genuine desire either. We want more as individuals and as a society. Many new, accelerated trends are here to stay post-pandemic.

The world was changing quickly when the pandemic first hit. The pandemic only accelerated the trends that will impact all aspects of our lives. Each sector of our economy will need to adapt to and embrace the new normal of virtual/digital life; hybrid and dual delivery of content, services, and products; reduced supply chain vulnerability; and rapid upskilling to new job opportunities.

The world is moving too quickly to deny how these trends change the way we work, play, and live our lives.

Lesson to Learn

Many important trends have been accelerated.

The use of digital and virtual tools has changed many sectors forever. Individuals and customers will seek and even demand the speed and ease of digital buying and delivery. Learners will seek both hybrid and virtual learning.

There is no going back to the world we once lived in before the pandemic.

Customers will want convenient digital purchasing and delivery of an increasing array of products and services. Supply chains will be shortened, diversified, and hardened. And, job seekers and employers will want rapid job upskilling to get and keep the best jobs available with the highest pay offered.

Everything we know about how we seek and receive what we most desire has changed considerably.

Those who know this and adapt quickly will be successful in our post-pandemic economy and world.

Answer for Me

My world has been turned upside down. What I once believed would only be delivered in person can mostly be offered in a new way most desired by MACNY- The Manufacturers Association members.

The world I now live in will take some getting used to, but it is better for me and those I serve.

We used to operate a 99% in-person events calendar of over 300 events a year. This last year, we offered nearly 500 virtual events. As we transition back, we will be offering about 600 mostly hybrid and virtual events. We will still provide close to 100 in-person-only events that will be of the highest quality.

We will tailor our service offerings based on how our members would like them — whether that be in-person, virtual, or both. My productivity will be double what it was before the pandemic — and so will MACNY’s.

Products, services, events, training, learning, and upskilling will be provided and occur more quickly than ever before in the 108-year history of MACNY.

That is the new normal, and my team and I will adapt and thrive in it.

Action

Begin now to prepare for your post-pandemic world.

What will you continue to do virtually?

What will become hybrid?

What in-person opportunities will you leverage?

Plan for and thrive in a hybrid and digital world.

You will be able to be more productive and better use your most precious resource — your time.

What meetings should remain virtual? What meetings should be shortened because they are virtual, or even eliminated?

What will you do in person going forward?

Guard your time and others’ time to get the most done in both an effective and efficient manner.

You have just learned during this pandemic what you must do in-person and what you can do virtually. Use those learnings to craft a better life for you, your team, and those you love.

Daily Habits

Plan your day deliberately.

What must you do in person? What can be done quickly virtually? What is of the highest value on your calendar today? Are you taking the time required to grow and prepare for the future?

It is coming more rapidly than you can even imagine.

Transformation and change must now be our constant commitment.

The pandemic has shown us what is possible when we must change. Use these new insights and skills to create a better life for you and those around you.

Do you want more insights?

To learn more about leadership, visit me at www.macny.org.

To get a copy of my book Present-Future Leader, go to www.amazon.com.