My Biggest Pandemic Leadership Lessons – Four Years Later

It has been about four years since COVID-19 moved from virus to pandemic status. And those events changed how we view the world – and work – forever. At this four-year mark, I am looking at the biggest pandemic lessons I learned. After you read mine, I hope you will share your own in the comments section below.

While everyone was affected by the virus and its aftermath, I have had an interesting seat for the show. As the co-author of the 2018 book The Long-Distance Leader, we were asked lots about the impact and direction of remote work. We consulted with and coached leaders and teams from around the world. During and after the pandemic, we wrote two more books in our Long-Distance Worklife series. And I led our team through the events too. I have continued to work with leaders and organizations through all those events. This certainly doesn’t mean I have all the answers, but perhaps a different perspective.

Realizing we were at the four-year anniversary of shutdowns and more, I took time to reflect. I found three specific pandemic lessons and three more general ones. Here is what I have concluded, starting with the more specific.

Organizations and Work Will Never Be the Same

It’s not like work and organizational life was perfect before the shutdowns. Yet all through that time, people were yearning for a “return to normal.” Not all change is about homeostasis – getting things back to where they were. There are some who still yearn for things at work to get back to 2019. But that ship has sailed. Work looks and feels different now – even for those in roles that were always face-to-face.

Most would say work now feels more flexible, more purposeful, and with more possibilities. And the pandemic helped make that happen.

Connection is Powerful and Doesn’t Require Proximity

Isolation and loneliness were part and parcel of the pandemic experience for many. While we know that being physically together can aid in connection, it wasn’t always possible. Now we know we can (especially in the work context) build that connection at a distance.

Tools and technology have helped in this pursuit, but they aren’t the whole answer. The pandemic reminded us of the importance of interaction versus transaction. Reaching out intentionally and interactionally creates strong, healthy, and nurturing relationships – even at a distance.

We All Win When We Consider Mental Health

In a recent leadership workshop, the topic of mental health came up. Prior to the pandemic, I don’t recall that topic ever coming up in a group setting. Individual leaders might talk to me personally about challenges for themselves or their teams – but not in the open.

The societal scales tipped on mental health during the pandemic. It became increasingly ok for people to talk about their worries, stress, burnout, and anxiety. Taking the taboo and judgement out of these real issues is positive for all of us.

There is More Than One Right Answer

In a complex world, trying to find the one-size-fits-all best answer is futile. There are too many variables and unknowns to assume there is a right answer. The more productive approach is often to find the best answer for you among the options.

We learned this personally as we looked differently at our jobs, where we live, and our work/life balance during and post pandemic.

But organizations are learning this too. Some organizations are determining everyone needs to be in the office, some say none do. And there are as many variations in hybrid work models as there are days in a year.

The pandemic helped many realize that in complex situations, we are far better off looking for best, not right, answers.

Uncertainty is More Challenging Than the Change Itself

All due respect to President Roosevelt who said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” uncertainty is worse. The research concludes that uncertainty is worse than fear because it is open-ended. We never know when it will end.

During the pandemic, remember the moving target? “We’ll be back at work by Memorial Day.” Then Labor Day. Then the start of 2021. All those predictions sound silly now. But they were trying to close the uncertainty channel and give people the reassurance of a definitive end.

This is a truth we saw, but not everyone has learned from it. As leaders, helping people see past uncertainty helps them feel and perform better. The pandemic gave us clues and an example. But as leaders, we have much room to grow in this area.

Time to Think is Valuable

Time to think is valuable. And during the pandemic, many people felt they had more time to do it. There was more reflection, more re-prioritization, more focus on what is most important. This time manifested in many people changing jobs, changing their environments, looking for new hobbies, and a hundred other things.

The pandemic proved to us that time to think is valuable. The question is, will we remember that lesson? Will we as individuals continue to consider our goals and dreams? Will we think about creative solutions to our challenges? And as leaders, will we make the time to do this for ourselves and for our businesses?

If we remember and apply this lesson, it is one big gift the pandemic gave us.

Like many others, I lost a loved one to the virus. I know the pain and challenge this time brought. And yet when you look at the list, notice how many positive lessons we can find. I hope in your own reflection that a four-year perspective can help you find some positives in the pain. I also hope you are remembering and applying your lessons – and now perhaps mine too.

When we learn from and through challenging times, we emerge stronger, more resilient, and wiser.

I hope that for you. And I hope you add one of your pandemic lessons in the comments below. That will make this post more valuable for all of us.