Pivot

This is my last article for 2020 due to the end of year holiday season and I was reflecting on this past year, one word came to mind.

Pivot.

Like everyone else in the United States, 2020 has not been the year we could have predicted a year ago.

Murder hornets were supposed to be the big threat, not a virus.

Some of us have been fortunate and remained virus free this year.  But I bet you know of someone who was not as fortunate.

On Saturday morning December 19th, one of the pastors at my church, Lewis King and his wife Joy were handing out baskets of food and gifts for families that they serve in their urban ministry program when Lewis got word that his Dad had passed away.

Both Lewis’s parents were diagnosed with Covid-19 this year and being elderly and black, they were a high risk.

I have had co-workers at the radio stations I work for come down with the virus and so far, all are recovering.

Last week I visited one of my advertising partners to renew their advertising with WOWO radio.  We limited our time together, kept socially distanced, stayed masked up and did a few things before our meeting via email so we could shorten our usual meeting time to a fraction of the time.  But here’s what caught my attention.

On one of the white boards, was a list of staff members who had tested positive for Covid-19 this year.  All were back to work but two who were still quarantining but should be back to work.

Their story and the stories of the improvising our radio stations have done this year have been repeated over and over and over.

Whatever our plans were a year ago for 2020, we had to pivot, didn’t we…

A shocking number of businesses have closed, just as a shocking number of deaths have been attributed to Covid-19.

The pivoting to working from home has had mixed success.  Tracy on my sales team adapted and has had her best year ever.  A couple of others are learning new ways that are out of their comfort zone but when you pivot so you can move forward you have a much better chance of success.  Better than grumbling about the situation and wishing we could go back to the way it was and being stuck.

A business usually has plenty of surprises pop up that create situations and opportunities to pivot even without a pandemic.

As we all prepare for 2021, I urge you to adopt the attitude that I try and live by:

Don’t get stuck in the past, learn from it and move forward.

And a few more closing thoughts…

Be thankful, for the many blessings big and small.

Be reflective, of the lessons we have learned and will continue to learn.

Be hopeful, there are multiple reasons for hope as we see advances happening at lightening speed.

Be prayerful, Christmas, the birth of Jesus is the reason I celebrate this time of year and I hope you do too.

Be optimistic, 2021 is a fresh start and while the flipping of the calendar doesn’t erase our current situation, each day after day after day is a journey past this crazy 2020 year we have been living through.

And finally, once again I invite you to connect with me and my team to help you pivot to a prosperous 2021.