This has been a year unlike any other in most of our lifetimes.

The global healthcare pandemic has tragically resulted in many lives lost and much suffering. It has created significant economic disruption for businesses and individuals. The social unrest across the country, while positively raising awareness, has also contributed to an unsettling environment creating even more uncertainty, stress and new obstacles across all aspects of life. Natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires continue to add to the mix.

For business leaders, the individual and cumulative effect of these events present many challenges as we determine how best to continue to serve our customers, engage our employees, facilitate necessary change, and position our businesses for the future. It would be understandable to get caught up in all the negatives. To focus only on the short term. To be reactionary rather than purposeful and strategic. In a challenging year like 2020, how we respond can make all the difference in the world. When faced with multiple crises and great uncertainty, it is actually an opportunity to accelerate change at an individual, company and industry level.

There are ways to use a crisis as fuel to accelerate business growth and innovation. Challenging times can help us get laser focused on what is important and what is not. When focused on mission and purpose, and armed with the right perspectives, one can quickly eliminate meetings, initiatives, and projects that are not mission critical. The long term effects of this can and should build muscle memory and operational fortitude in order to keep this level of focus even when the crisis goes away. That can create lasting and impactful positive change.

The same holds true at an individual level. Facing into crises is a perfect time for personal reflection and much like on the business side, a time to create clarity of purpose as well. While we may feel the need to just get through each day, there is no better time to take stock in why we are doing what we do and how we spend our time, energy and capital – both professionally and personally. No matter the industry, finding purpose is important. For those of us fortunate enough to be in the business of helping provide mobility and independence, that is not a challenging task. What we do inherently has meaning and purpose. But the test during trying times is to make sure that we use it as a guide for the clarity and purposeful decision making that is so badly needed when surrounded by chaos and negativity. One will rarely go wrong when basing all energy and effort on fulfilling the mission and purpose that brought so many of us into this space in the first place.

Many individuals and companies have risen to meet the circumstances brought on by 2020. I certainly don’t have all the answers and Numotion as a company does not either. But I wanted to share a small glimpse into how we are responding and transforming through the events of 2020 with clarity and purpose and how we are growing stronger as a team and, in my opinion, as an industry.

The following are 4 specific responses that have guided the decision making at Numotion as we have navigated through this challenging year:

1) Being Truly Essential to our Customers
2) Relentlessly Pursuing a Caring Culture and Unlocking Employee Engagement
3) Courageously and Openly Embracing Diversity & Inclusion
4) Adapting and Accelerating Through a Crisis to Profoundly Transform and Grow
 

   Responding with Clarity and Purpose to the Events of 2020