I’m determined to stay positive through these challenging days, and find ways to learn and grow, so we emerge from the coronavirus stronger.

Lots of things have struck me about individual, community and businesses’ responses to the emergent crisis. We’ve seen:

Businesses leveraging strength and expertise:

  • Healthcare and medical devices companies working around the clock to make and ship more coronavirus test kits; discover treatments and vaccines; and even donating Intellectual Property so anyone can make ventilators. And then there are the supermarkets, where do I start, they have been outstanding.

Phenomenal creativity and innovation to solve problems:

  • Car manufactures making breathing aids to keep patients out of intensive care; distillers making hand sanitiser; businesses using their 3D printers to make PPE; and the raft of people and organisations who are doing online broadcasts of school classes, baking, PE and crafts to keep kids inspired while off school.

Heart-warming acts of generosity:

  • Courier companies doing errands for the elderly and vulnerable self-isolating; free postal delivery of postcards to ‘hello and thinking of you’; mobile phone providers giving handsets and credit to elderly; and a seeming endless list of donations to support frontline workers – everything from PPE and bean bags (for HCPs rest in hospitals), to free transport and even accommodation.

And solidarity:

  • From crowd funding to ‘Feed the Heroes’, to the small army of individual volunteers delivering food and medicines to those cocooning at home.

It feels like corporate values and behaviours (the practical application of values) have evolved, and for the better. Yes, we are seeing the familiar: Innovation, Agility, Courage, Bravery, Passion, Commitment, Integrity, Respect, Teamwork, Accountability, etc. But we’re also seeing Community, Citizenship, Kindness, Generosity, Compassion, Collaboration and Partnership emerging as equally important.  Now, like never before, it feels like we are really in it together.

I hope the concept of ‘in it together’ lasts long into the future.

Wouldn’t the world be a much better place, wouldn’t businesses proposer, wouldn’t we emerge stronger, if we can carry these more human values and behaviours forward.

For my party, I’m adding ‘Community’ to my company values. Only now I realise that it is really important to me and can see its power.  From now on, I’m going to be constantly looking for ways to add value in all the communities I operate in … where I live and work, with colleagues, and with clients.

I’d encourage you all to reflect on your values. What’s important to you and your business? Is it time for a refresh? Time to elevate the values that have brought out the best in us, and our businesses, in a time of crisis and build them into our ways of working going forward?