My letter to you

Dear 2020,

Today is the 30th December 2020 and I wanted to write this letter to you before the year closes out and we welcome in your successor 2021.

In January 2020 I welcomed you as I reflected on some of the horrible events 2019 had brought us. 50 people killed in mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March. 157 people killed on board a Boeing 737 Max bound for Nairobi in March. Protests in Hong Kong for democratic change started in June and continued for 6 months. 22 people killed on the volcanic island Whakaari / White Island in New Zealand when it erupted in December. Australia saw bushfires like nothing seen before. Starting in September, the bushfire season burned an estimated 47 million acres of land, destroyed over 2,500 buildings and killed 34 people. It was estimated that we also lost close to half a billion animals.

Whilst it wasn't all doom and gloom, those are some of the events that stuck in my mind.

So, I naively welcomed the new decade you led.

Then in the first of your months, we received the announcement that a deadly coronavirus had emerged in Wuhan, China. As I write this letter, 1.8 million people have died and there are 81.4 million confirmed cases.

You brought devastation but also massive change and accelerated what was already on its way.

As I wish you good riddance, I have mixed feelings as I have some good reflections on the year accompanied by massive frustrations. Let me share some of that with you 2020.

Work

At the end of 2019, I was engaged to conduct organisational change management on a significant project for a very large organisation in Australia. On 22nd January I met with the project sponsor and the rest of the project team in Canberra. It was the first physical face-to-face meeting, and it was also to be the last.

The entire assignment has been delivered virtually with great success and awesome stakeholder feedback.

I also delivered virtual leadership workshops for a number of organisations and presented at more conferences and events this year than ever before.

I am now in talks with organisations outside of Australia about delivering virtual programs of work for them in 2021 having demonstrated it can be done with great outcomes.

So, 2020 thank-you for that.

Books

The additional time you availed me with due to lockdown enabled me to publish three books this year.

I published Unleash The Resiliator Within – Resilience: A Handbook for Individuals; Unleash The Resiliator Within – Resilience: A Handbook for Leaders; and finally managed to complete the revised edition of Balanced Diversity: A Portfolio Approach to Organizational Change

So, 2020 thank-you for that.

Resilience

I was talking, writing, presenting on the subject of resilience in the workplace well before you foisted COVID-19 upon us.

All of a sudden it became a word overused, misused, abused and lost its true meaning.

Resilience is about being able to bounce forward as a result of a challenge, setback or adversity – not just bounce back. If we just keep bouncing back, we make no progress.

A resilient workforce is one employed by an organisation truly committed to looking after both their mental and physical well-being 

Research tells us that your pandemic could result in a 50% increase in behavioural health conditions – both mental illness and addictions.

Yet, despite studies telling us that there is a return on investment in mental health initiatives in the workplace of $2.3 for every $1 spent and for every $1 put into scaled up treatment for common mental disorders there is a return of $4, there is little is being done to address the situation.

The majority of organisations are paying lip service to the situation and if they are investing they are doing so with point solutions. Resilience and mental wellbeing in the workplace need a holistic approach. It comprises an ever-evolving ecosystem of interventions and support mechanisms.

It is far more than mindful Mondays and yoga on Friday.

If the organisation is not working fearlessly to remove the stigma of mental health at work, all the other investments are simply a waste of time and money 

So, 2020 you have just made it worse and many are not listening. 

Leadership

I said at the start of your year, that 2020 would not create leaders – it would see them emerge. 

And so, it did.

Throughout the year tomes have been written about leadership traits needed to lead us through this year and beyond.

I sincerely hope, 2020, that what you revealed as necessary in our leaders will be carried forward and built on regardless of what your successor presents us with.

I hope organisations demand, but more so employees demand, leaders who lead with empathy and compassion, are honest and transparent, operate with trust, respect and integrity, support and empower, inspire and motivate every individual to be the best they can be.

So, 2020, you uncovered the essence of true leadership which so many had just chosen to ignore. I hope 2021 does something to make sure they listen.

Wrap

It will soon be a wrap.

Whilst none of us want to experience what you brought us ever again, I hope we all take time to reflect on what we have learned during this time and build a better future as a result.

We learnt how to adapt and be agile.

We became digitally transformed.

We revealed what true leadership looks like.

We recognised the need for empathy and compassion.

We talked endlessly about resilience in the face of constant, unprecedented and uncertain change, but did little about it.

2020? Before you go, can you have a word in 2021’s ear about that last point and ask 2021 to have a word with me before f**king it all up like you did?

Thanks.

Yours, Karen