Reflections Staring Out A Plane Window

Are you ready for the next wave of change?

Have you considered moving, or building a new beachfront to meet this wave differently?

Change is constant. It’s reassuring in its consistency, like waves. Sometimes softly caressing a beach and sometimes crashing into it. A delightful, mesmerising rhythm that is as constant as it is different.

I’m back in the air – headed home. Staring out the window. Due to fly again tomorrow to Auckland and then back home Friday. I am thinking. Reflecting.

Here, high above the rolling sea of white billowing clouds the sky is a serene blue. It’s the same kind of magical different that it has always been. Inside the plane it’s a different kind of ‘same/different’ – the people are the same mixture of different – each with their own story, life path and destination. The stark contrast in the usual rub of travelling bodies, is the increasing number of them hiding their noses and mouths. From the steward-issued single-use paper covering, to the florescent home sewn, to the branded and styled. It’s an unsettling different.

“Fear driven or responsibility focused?” I wonder as I type. Humans are social. We read body cues. Half the message is covered. The news outlets and tabloids revel in peddling the hot currency of disaster and impending doom.  The new currency of attention and focus time skyrockets in parallel with the worldwide infection rate and death count. Pondering this I stare out the window as we descend into the clouds. Poetic really – knowing we are moving forward but barely able to even see the wing.

We will emerge through the cloud shortly. Likewise, as history generously shows, we will emerge victorious from the current crisis. “This too will pass”! Unlike my descent through the clouds (where I know I will see the windmills of home and the smiling faces of family) the shore front that we call business has been washed away in swathes. It’s different. Are you ready?

Are you ready for the next battering wave. Do you have some sort of a plan? Have you thought through possible scenarios? Are you looking for alternatives?

Here in NZ we have currently been spared the worst of the tidal wave impacts. Clarity of leadership and decisiveness has seen us spared the death toll many nations are enduring. It could still come. What would you do if it did? Do you have a plan or are you expecting someone else to take ownership and rescue you?

“This too will pass.” What thoughts have you given to the look of the new landscape of business – the opportunities as well as the frustrations and gaps that will be present when we emerge? In crisis, the temptation is to focus purely on survival. Remember, like my plane, we will emerge on the other side. Put some time, effort and energy into thinking of the new frontier and you are far more likely to live your current days with hope - and step into your future with courage and vision.

Here’s to your success