Post-COVID-19 recovery requirements

The economy is opening up, cases are dropping, many are going back to their offices, travel restrictions are easing, and I have accepted in-person training and engagements.

As we brace for our entry into the post-COVID economy, there is a need to address entrepreneurs and leadership teams and equip them with the qualities they will need to bounce back from the crisis sooner than later. These are no rocket science principles but are fundamental towards business recovery.

1. Confidence

2020 and 2021 were difficult years. It may have taken a lot from you. But it would be best if you were careful not to project the same emotions you had in those two years into 2022. Be future focused rather than to be obsessed with the past.

2. Determination and strong will

Build up the desire to want to recover and succeed. When you want something bad enough, your actions sync with the desire and the batting average of getting it increases.

4.Laser-like focus

As the world opens up, there will be an avalanche of opportunities and activities that can distract you from your goals. Do not split your energy into distractions and activities that would not add value to your success goals.

5. Be adaptable and agile

The pandemic has upended the world and reset the business landscape. Do not be set in your old ways of thinking and doing things but adapt to the changing times.

6. Set up a system

The most productive people doing work from home (and enjoying the arrangement) during the lockdown are people who have built up a system. This routine enabled them to strategize their moves and activities intelligently even though they never left home. The same principle applies even if we go back to the physical offices or open up businesses as we journey into recovery and growth.

7. Work ethic

Pandemic or no pandemic, the same principle stands. We expend energy on activities that deliver the highest return on investments for our efforts. We still need to work hard, work right, work smart in the right direction and in the right way to get to our success goals.

8. Practice patience and impatience

Patience in results without taking shortcuts and compromising on values and ethics. Without patience, you will quit at the first sign of difficulty and set yourself up for failure.

Impatience in terms of action, you need to take the initiative to make things happen because competitors are moving. The world is changing, and change is accelerating.

Somebody says, “Good things come to those who wait, but only those who hustle even while waiting.”

9. Addiction to improvement

Be an improvement junkie. Strive to innovate and improve things, commit to constant improvement. If you are not improving constantly, you become like stagnant water. Opportunities never open up to people who remain where they are. But in the constant quest for improvement, the motion allows us to see opportunities we may top to do better and be better.

10. Take educated and calculated risks

The pandemic years may have caused stress and anxiety. It may have caused losses or stimulated an intense fear of loss. Whether in business or career, the unwillingness to take risks and initiate action would inhibit you from achieving success and progress.

11. Surround yourself with the right people

As the saying goes, you are the average of the five people you spend most of your time with. Get counsel and wise advice from trusted people who have the expertise and sincerity to help you succeed. Your peer group is important because it can either push you up immensely or pull you down greatly. The wrong group will reinforce all the habits that will set you up for failure. The right group of people will inspire you to be great just by watching their actions. You don’t need to leave behind your old group of friends but always be on the lookout for people who will help you improve and seek to spend the most time with them.

You and I have to be in a good fighting form. We need to prepare ourselves for the new reality that awaits us. A better future belongs to the ones that are better prepared for it, and the preparation begins now.

(Francis Kong will run his Level Up Leadership 2.0 Master Class Online on April 20, 21 and 22.  For inquiries and reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or and for more information, visit www.levelupleadership.ph)