Perspective matters.

Right?

And it does help to take a look at where we are seeing things from.

Increased Hope

With renewed waves of the pandemic, the one thing that is presented to us constantly is the statistics. The majority of the official sources emphasize the number of people infected and the number of fatalities. These are figures that are interpreted to warn. The result has been a lot of fear.

Contrast that with the change of perspective from a friend who has been releasing a commentary on the daily statistics every day, focusing on the number of recoveries as opposed to fatalities and the effect has been increased hope.

The approach has been to look at the good that is happening as the fight continues.

More and more social media influencers are taking this approach as it is clearly helping people to have more hope for winning. We need all hands on deck.

Perspective does matter…especially in a pandemic.

Being Thankful

There is plenty of criticism going about and it can become toxic to the point of causing paralysis. Plenty of blame need has been given to anyone deemed worthy of getting it in this period.

First responders have not been spared the onslaught and that can be hard. One doctor wrote about how hard it is to go to work every day against a background of unfair criticism while risking his life on the job.

Now we all need to point out things that are not going well that need rectifying. However, doing so while discouraging the very people we need is like shooting ourselves in the foot.

Recently I got my covid19 test results a day late. The officer responsible was all apologetic about the delay and explained that the system was overwhelmed with people coming for voluntary testing. I accepted that apology and thanked him for the important work that he and his friends were doing in serving the nation.

You could almost hear a pin drop through that call before he thanked me for that. Let us just think about that. It could have been worse. I was just thankful that I got to know my status and could move on (it was negative). The suspense of waiting for the results was not pleasant but just thankful that it was not an extra day!

Perspective matters…especially in a pandemic.

Enter The Leader

So here is the take away for the leader during this time.

First, the perspective you hold will make or break your team and its ability to fight for the long haul.

Secondly, there are plenty of reasons to be thankful no matter how bad it may be. Find those reasons and verbalize them to the team.

You will add fuel for the long journey by simply working on as well as communicating the right perspective.

Sunganani L. Manjolo