May 2021: It's a Small World
Once in awhile I take a moment and reflect on how differently work life can unfold these days. For example, yesterday I had to get up a little earlier for a 7am call... I brewed a stiff 3-shot latte, turned on my screen and signed in for a call with people in Boise, Sarajevo and Bangkok! Our worlds spanned 7am for me, 4pm for Sarajevo, and 9pm for Bangkok.
I finished with them, made some oatmeal, journaled a bit to prepare for the rest of my day, and signed on for a 9am call with someone in Germany. It was a great conversation. Though these international calls have become more typical for me, I still find the novelty of it enjoyable. I also feel challenged to keep learning about effective communication, connection, and collaboration under these conditions, whether someone is in Kuala Lumpur or Chicago.
This enlarged global perspective, fostered by these international clients and relationships, has also been deepened for me in the past year as we have collectively experienced COVID-19. I make it a point to regularly listen to the BBC Global News Podcast to make sure I don't get all my news through the tunnel vision of US politics. So today I am grieved by the worsening numbers of COVID cases in India and Brazil, even as my world here opens up incrementally more, especially after receiving my 2nd vaccine dose.
Bottom line: in a year where divisions have deepened and increased, I pray many of us have somehow grown in compassion in light of the shared trauma the world has gone through. One can hope.
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Onward and upward to my recommendations for this month!
🌎 Armchair Expert Interview with Erin Meyer on the Culture Map. I have used this interview with all of my international clients. Honestly, I can't recommend it enough. As the world continues to connect globally through technology, we need to advance in our cultural and relational understanding as well. This interview is a hoot but also gives GREAT nuts and bolts about we often misunderstand each other. Don't skip this one.
❤️ Who We Are Now. This is an interactive piece with evocative photos, quotes and brief reflections from a wide swath of Americans. Outstanding, poignant, thought-provoking words on how people are processing what they've learned during the pandemic. I recommend it highly.
🎧 Bessel van der Kolk: Our Bodies Keep Score (podcast interview). I mentioned here in February 2020 that I was reading Bessel Van der Kolk's powerful book, The Body Keeps the Score. It's a remarkable book, but also a bit of a heavy lift if you have plenty of other things on your plate (um, don't we all?!) So a second-best option would be to listen to this excellent interview of the author, where he applies his insights to what we are experiencing now.
🖥 What Is Your Organization’s Long-Term Remote Work Strategy? I've done a fair amount of reading on this and I've also taken a certificate course on remote work. I believe this article is a good summary of some of the dynamics at play. Before diving into the weeds of how all of this could and should happen, this article asks some of the bigger questions to reflect on first. I thought this article, Here’s What You Need to Know (and Ask) if Your Company’s Considering a Hybrid Work Setup, also provided a lot of helpful parameters.
📝 What Does It Mean to Be a Manager Today? Many of my conversations with senior leaders revolve around several unknowns:
- How flexible do I need to be with the stress of returning to the office?
- What do I do about expectations around the vaccine?
- How do I plan ahead when we are still entering such uncharted territory?
📺 What I am watching... I am more of a reader than a watcher, but a few things caught my attention this month.
- Hemingway. This is a film documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. As a forever former English major, I was excited to watch this. Plus having enjoyed past Burns and Novick docs on the National Parks, the Roosevelts, Jackie Robinson, the Civil War, etc., my expectations were even higher and it did not disappoint. I binged it in 3 consecutive nights and was left with more questions than answers about the writer himself, his motivations, his mistakes, his genius. I immediately ordered his memoir A Moveable Feast to keep chewing on the questions. PS If you are not a subscriber to PBS, it's only $5/month, people! That's unlimited access to British Baking Show. What else do you need?!
- Derry Girls. I am late to this party but delighted in it all nonetheless. It didn't hurt that I had some extra time on my hands after my 2nd COVID vax left me on the couch with zero energy. I am now counting the days till Season Three comes out...
- WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn. I'm not sure if this is a story about a tech supernova that blew up, or a cult. It's a trip, regardless.
