Few days back, my manager, a senior colleague and I were randomly discussing how this one tiny virus has turned the world upside down. This creature has been making us dance to its tunes ever since it originated in the small town of Wuhan, in China, in 2019! March 2020 was when India entered into a lockdown state because of this virus. Things changed dramatically. Life was came to a standstill for a long time. Gradually people accepted the reality, started bouncing back and living with ‘the new normal’!
Then arrived year 2021 — a year full of hope, positivity and resilience. Things began returning to normalcy, the economy started recovering and people even began returning to office. Travel resumed as before too. Things were looking quite fine.
But, no! This smart virus had something else planned for us. It struck again!
As we enter into a second wave of COVID spread, this virus has really proven its mettle again and again (pun Intended). As on April 15, 2021, India is witnessing around two lakh cases a day. Overall, there are around 13.5 crore cases and close to 30 lakh deaths have been reported across the globe till date! True, in the current scenario, COVID has a negative connotation, but if one observes this creature closely, there are many lessons to learn as well. There are plenty of articles written and discussed on the lessons learned from COVID, but nobody talks about the learnings from this virus itself.
So, here I state my personal five learnings from this virus:
Agility
Corona has taught us what it really means to be agile. The way it transfers from one person to another and one place to another, it is the epitome of speed and swift. And it is multiplying at an extraordinary pace.
We should adapt this behaviour in our personal and professional lives as well. Taking immediate action and moving fast will help us achieve great results.
Corona surely is getting the ‘significantly outperformed’ rating this year for its brilliant performance! Are we?
Resilience and strong perseverance
Corona showcases strong resilience. The world has been trying hard since December 2019 to stop this tiny creature but in vain. It only bounces back with renewed vigour, growing in strength. Vaccines have failed to stop him from creating havoc.
If we are able to follow in Corona’s footsteps and exhibit strong resilience and perseverance, no setbacks or failures will stop us from achieving goals. They will only see us bouncing back stronger than ever before!
Courage
Look at the immense courage this fearless and carefree creature has. This insane virus is not afraid of anything that the world is doing to stop it. Its courage is taking it from one level to the other. Its sheer courage has given him all the success it wanted so far.
Let’s adapt a similar courageous mindset and take bold steps in life. After all, courageous decisions lead to BIG and positive changes.
Ability to make transformational changes
There was a survey launched to check who drove the digital transformation in a company — the CEO, CIO/ CDO or COVID?
An overwhelming 99 per cent of the people state COVID as the reason for digital transformation in their companies. That is the power of corona. It has driven transformational changes in organisations.
We should all try and be like corona and drive transformational changes in our respective areas of work.
Global leadership
COVID made its presence felt in Dec 2019, in China. Then it gradually spread from to other countries and by early 2020 almost the whole world was affected by this virus. It changed its shape and form from one country to another and adapted so well to the conditions of the new country. It indeed projected a truly global persona!
Here’s hoping that these bad times fade away soon, and we experience happiness, prosperity and tranquillity across the world!
Disclaimer: This is an article written in humour and does not represent the views of any specific organisation or family. These views and opinions are entirely the author’s personal.
The author Vivek Saha is currently part of the Group HR of Aditya Birla Group, driving leadership development and culture change initiatives across the Group. In the past, he has worked with varied sectors, such as media and entertainment, as well as manufacturing, with companies such as Godrej & Boyce and Network 18.
