I was 5 months pregnant with my 3rd child as I saw the world collapse in front of my eyes. I called the nanny who wanted to know if she should pick up the kids from school and I said yes and then I departed home to be with my family.
My husband was busy getting supplies from his company and sending them to NYC.
Fast forward to October 2023, my son was rounding up supplies from his military resources and arranging to get them to medics he knew in Israel.
These events; many in the past and more to come in the future are ones to reflect that the balance between peace and crisis is very delicate.
Today is a day of remembrance, but also a sign for the earth, our nation, your business, your families and yourself to realize that awareness of crisis & risk is a constant; yet awareness is not enough.
Taking these historical moments not as a warning of doom and gloom; these should be sources of inspiration for heightening our awareness of what is looming in our daily life and work and to seek paths of reducing risk.
Yet time and time again, I see leaders delay exploring the risks that they’re already aware of, but take no action. Worse yet, the ignore what they don’t know and then claim ignorance when they rear their ugly head.
Why is that?
I’d prefer to meet each one of you during a time of peace and prosperity and assess your systems & human dynamics risks in the organization to prevent history from repeating itself.
Remember, you are in control of the future with the awareness that action is needed now to prevent a crisis, not thrive in one.
Look at the image again and reflect on your perspective. Could it have been prevented? Maybe not. Could we have been better prepared? Probably and we did with unity of our country in the face of disaster.
When my husband and I were watching TV watching the world around us collapse, we were grateful we were safe. We averted our own crisis. While we don’t live scared, we live prepared for what the unknown comes our way.
If you are in a situation as the leader of an entity and are aware their are issues that could collapse your domain, what would it take to simply have an assessment and glean insights and the courage to take action to prevent a collapse?
I leave you with that parting thought not to scare you, but to remind you, you don’t have to do this alone.
It’s now 8:47 am and the world forever changed over the next few hours.
Let us all now take a moment of silence to remember those who are no longer with us.
Let us remember our pride as Americans.
Let us take these sorrowful memories and have the courage to live with awareness and action!
-Deb