Creating the Light

It’s been a long 8 months or so since the world first started talking about COVID-19, but we finally received some good news. AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer each announced encouraging results from their separate vaccine trials. Moderna is a company co-founded and Chaired by my former partner Noubar Afeyan of Flagship Pioneering. I remember one of my teammates at Flagship explaining messenger RNA to me on a napkin over a decade ago. Little did I know then, I was looking at a potential solution to a global pandemic. It’s an exciting achievement, and indeed, there may now be a light at the end of this dark tunnel we call COVID-19. However, it will be months before most of us are vaccinated, and with COVID-19 raging once again, many of us face a dark and uncertain winter until the vaccine arrives.

One term that’s being used more and more these days is COVID fatigue. And if you’re tired of hearing about all things COVID, then you know what the term is referring to. I am as tired of it as anyone. But I only need to look as far as my wife, who has been treating COVID-19 patients since it appeared in our area, to realize I have very little to complain about. Without a doubt, perspective can be a tricky thing. I know people and organizations are under tremendous stress and strain. It’s like we’ve run ten marathons and every time there seems to be a finish line, otherwise known as “normalcy”, it disappears, and we find ourselves at the starting line of another marathon. I summed it up for my Logi colleagues the other day in one of our global town hall meetings by bluntly stating, “It sucks.” But I also offered up some advice for navigating times of darkness which I thought I’d share here with you as well.

Be grateful. One of my mentors, Randy Jacops once told me the first thing he does in the morning is to think about what he is grateful for. Lately, I have been trying to do the same. It could be your health. Your family. Your faith. Your job. Whatever. Maybe it’s streaming video. Or as simple as your cat or dog or other pet. But there is something, probably numerous things, that you can start your day actively thinking about that can help you maintain your perspective. And perhaps, even your sanity. My grandparents used to talk about the Great Depression and World War II. Things were really bad then, and somehow, people got through it. We can get through this.

Choose to play back the positive rendition. In just about any situation, there is a positive and negative way to think about it. Like the old adage says, every cloud has a silver lining. I’m not suggesting you ignore the truth of the matter or stick your head in the sand. The positive rendition isn’t always a bright and shiny outcome. But if you take some time to think and honestly assess the situation, you can learn from it. That in and of itself is a positive. Focusing on the negative is easy. Being critical of yourself or others is easy. Choosing the positive takes a conscious decision to do so. And as I’ve said before, we are the choices that we make.

Embrace and lean on your team. Your team may be colleagues, friends or family. Most likely, it’s some combination of these people. Or, you may have multiple teams that each play a role in your life. Regardless, it’s time to leverage these relationships. Everyone is going through the pandemic. It affects everyone. It’s OK to ask for help. It’s OK to be vulnerable. And just as importantly, you should make sure your teammates know you understand they may need some help too. Seek out the quiet members of your team. I have had numerous conversations lately where I have been far more open with people than I used to be comfortable with. The result has been relief and empathy because they’ve been feeling the same things too. No one is alone with this. I understand it’s never easy to ask for help, especially at work. But if you need to, do it without hesitation.

Be kind to yourself. As I mentioned earlier, it’s easy to be critical of yourself. Most people I know who are driven to be successful are extremely competitive and tend to focus on what they don’t do well in order to improve. Don’t stop trying to improve. But cut yourself a little slack at the same time. You need you as much as anyone else does. So be good to you.

Serious times need serious humor. With everything else going on, it’s easy to forget to have fun. Don’t do that. Instead, prioritize it. Have fun at home. Have fun at work. Make someone laugh. Let yourself laugh. It’s good for you and your team. I recently went fishing with my cousin I hadn’t seen in a while. It was awesome to be out on the Atlantic, hanging out, fishing, laughing and being together. I caught a huge fish. One of the biggest I’ve ever caught. And recently I’ve started every meeting with a picture of my fish because, well, why not?

So, what’s the point? It’s this. We’re all tired of COVID. I don’t know how many marathons there are to run, but we’re going keep running. And if it’s too dark to see, you need to create a little light of your own to help us all make it through. Simply put, when we cannot find the light, we need to create it.

And what better way to start right now than by being grateful. 

Happy Thanksgiving!