is the pandemic over

Politics And Leadership

A buddy shared
that the government
isn’t worried about bird flu
or COVID or Candida auris
or any of the other health issues
floating around.

Why should we be worried?

Government leaders
and heads of government agencies
are concerned most
about being re-elected
and/or keeping their jobs.

That is their number one goal.

Protecting the average person
including the average small business owner
is secondary…at best.

And voters don’t want
to hear about pandemics
or wearing masks
or taking other precautions.

So leaders,
intent on being re-elected,
aren’t going to talk about it.

We have to make our own decisions
for ourselves
and for our businesses.

The government
will advise doing the bare minimum.

Do that bare minimum.
But also consider
doing more.

Because the government
won’t bail out
our small business a$$es
if employees or customers
sue us into the ground.

Protect yourself.

Call To Confirm Attendance

A buddy of mine
is getting married this year.

She sent out the invitations.

Only 10% of the guests
RSVPed by the deadline.

That isn’t an unexpected result.

When I hosted events
before COVID,
I had to call
most of the invited guests
to confirm they were attending.

Now, we’re dealing
with people with COVID brain.
They can’t remember sh*t.

So not only do we have to
call to confirm they plan
to attend events
but we also have to
call to remind them
to attend them.

Factor that into
your planning.

Bird Flu And Running A Business

Bird flu is spreading
between cows, birds, cats, dogs.

It is only a matter of time
before it spreads
from human to human.

Business builders in
food, pet, medical
and other directly impacted industries
have a sh*tload of changes
to possibly implement.

The rest of us
should already be prepared.

As bird flu is airborne,
we simply continue to implement
the same strategy
we’re using with COVID
and the many other viruses circulating.

We supply masks and hand sanitizer
to employees
and perhaps to customers.

We ensure we have
online and other virtual options
available,
if at all possible.

We prepare to pivot
to working from home
and to working with fewer employees
if that is needed.

We are building businesses
in the age of pandemics
– multiple pandemics.

Dealing with situations
like the spread of bird flu
is part of our jobs now
as business builders.

It is time
to do that job.

The Future Is Disability

With multiple pandemics
on the go
and several new ones
on the horizon
paired with very few mitigations
being in place,
a prudent business builder
plans for disability.

Ours.
Our employees’.
Our customers’.

What does this mean?

It means giving customers
a shop from home option.

It means providing masks
and hand sanitizer
to employees and customers
to decrease the odds
of being sued
when those employees and customers
become permanently ill.

It means installing systems
that make our businesses
easier to run
if we become permanently ill.

It means researching
the needs and requirements
of permanently ill people
and doing all we can
now
to ensure our businesses serve them
as customers, employees, owners
as best as possible.

(I’m not part of this group…yet.
I don’t have any insider tips
on how to do this.
I’m doing my research like you are.)

Don’t wait
until it is a requirement
to do this.

Plan for a world
of disabled people now.

Measles In The Mix

In the past,
I’ve advised you
and other business builders
to make
masks and hand sanitizer
freely available to employees.

It is simply the right thing
to do
for you,
your employees
and your business.

If you’re looking at it
from a purely financial perspective,
one benefit of
providing masks and hand sanitizer
is
it will greatly decrease
the odds of your business
getting sued into the ground
because someone became seriously ill
while on your premises.

And providing masks and hand sanitizer
is fairly inexpensive to do.

But, but employees won’t wear the masks,
you say.

If employees don’t wear the masks,
hey, the price of supplying them with masks
decreases even more.

But make them available
and be visible about this.

Post signs
in employee areas.

Place the masks and disinfectant
in plain view.

Because,
with measles spreading today
like…well…measles,
in addition to COVID
and Monkeypox and Candida Auris
and other sh*t
continuing to circulate,
providing masks and disinfectant
has gone from a recommendation
to a MUST-DO
if you want your business to survive
long term.

This infectious sh*t
isn’t going away.

Protect your employees
and protect your business.

Supply masks
and hand sanitizer.

Make It Easier For Partners

Getting any tasks done
right now,
with the multiple pandemics
happening,
is challenging.

People are taking time off
for illness.
Or, often worse,
they’re working while ill.

There’s low energy
and brains are fuzzy.

So if I want something done
and I’m feeling great,
I make it as easy
as possible
for the other person
to complete the task.

I clear the working space,
for example.
I provide all the information
they’d need
in one easy document.
I list the tasks
that need to be completed.
I do as much as possible
myself.

And that increases
the probability
tasks will be completed.

Make assigned tasks
as easy as possible
for your partners
to complete.

Advice Is Early

When I talk here
about things like
the pandemic
or climate change
or shifts in the workforce,
I am almost always
early
with any advice
I give.

This is intentional.

Because making changes
in our businesses
takes time,
especially if we want
to make them
in the most resource efficient way.

There is no point
advising you
to prepare
for something
and giving you
no time to prepare.

The best advice
is advice
given early.

Don’t expect
events
to immediately occur.

COVID, Brain Damage And Business Building

COVID causes brain damage.
EVERY bout, no symptoms, mild, severe,
damages our brain.

If you haven’t noticed it,
well…that’s not great.

I HAVE noticed it.
I’ve had COVID
at least twice
and I suffered brain damage
after each bout.

The brain damage
was, thankfully, slight.
My writing ‘voice’ had changed.
My tempo, choice of words,
pace had shifted.

I added a couple steps
to my process after that.
I read a before-COVID-written story
and then the about-to-be-edited story
and I ensure the writing is consistent.

Consider putting processes
in place
to deal with your hopefully slight
after COVID
brain damage
also.

And if you’re saying to yourself
that you don’t need this,
that you won’t or don’t
suffer from brain damage,
then I suspect you REALLY need it.

That’s not a happy realization
but accepting that will help you
to not only cope
but also achieve the success
you want for yourself.

Is It Working For You?

A buddy was telling me
she has been constantly sick
for the past six months or so.

I asked her
if that was working well for her.

She looked at me
as though I’d lost my mind
and said
no, it wasn’t working well
for her
at all.

I then asked her
what she’s changing.

She said she wasn’t changing
anything.

I shrugged
and told her
she will continue
being ill
until something changes.
And the only something
she is in control of
is herself.

We might think
that’s obvious.

But I know
there’s at least one business situation
I’ve been tolerating
that I haven’t tried to change.
And I should try something,
anything to do that.

We all have one
of those.

If a situation isn’t working
for you,
change something.

The issue won’t fix itself.

Ill Employees Finding New Jobs

When I told my business building buddy
his employees
were likely truly ill
and not faking it,
he pointed out
how one of his employees
found another job
while she was supposedly ill.

I asked him
if that new job
was remote.
Was she working from home?

Yep,
it WAS a remote job.

Because, of course, it was.
The employee likely
HAD to get a new job.
She likely couldn’t return
to her old job
and the office
and the daily commute.

Happy healthy employees
don’t find new jobs
while they’re off work
and ill.

If your employees
are finding new jobs
while they’re off work,
they likely can’t do
their old jobs.

Either communicate
that you’re open
to changing existing jobs
to accommodate changes in circumstances
or wish ill employees the best
when they land new jobs elsewhere.