COVID-19 Staff Stories
This is a COVID-19 perspective of a recently divorced father of a 9 and 12-year-old, whose primary responsibility is to drive sales for of a US start up. I’ve been working from home for the past 3 ½ years so I did not need an acclimation period to the new work situation.
Both of my children had been virtually attending school. My son, who attends a private school because of time constraints due to his gymnastics schedule has elected to postpone classes until he can return to campus. He may have to take classes all summer.
My daughter visits my apartment Mon-Fri to attend class. In the beginning, she needed assistance logging on to Zoom. During this time, my patience was limited because I had my own Zoom meetings to attend and daily prospecting goals even with the pandemic affecting most businesses. I felt absolutely terrible after becoming frustrated with her when challenges occurred. I took for granted her aptitude for tablets and smart phones, but she had never seen Zoom before. Also, I needed to become accustomed to being interrupted for help, including times tables testing, a Jim Henson biography and preparing lunch. I had to apologize to her on multiple occasions and become more patient. Patience is not my strong suit. After 3 weeks, our relationship has grown even stronger. I know she won’t be my little girl for much longer so I am enjoying every moment.
My son on the other hand is extremely bored because he can’t go to school or train at his gym 6 days a week. He reads and works out a bit at home but spends most of his time playing Madden on his XBOX or tablet. He calls me almost every day at 4:00 to see if I am coming to the house. I feel selfish when I tell him I have to work until at least 5, after which I usually exercise for about an hour. I do throw the football with him after my workouts and play a game on the XBOX at least twice a week and again on the weekends. I do train in the morning once a week, but then I am exhausted by the time 5:00+ comes around. I may need to rethink this strategy as he is growing up fast as well.
I am my biggest critic. I never want to let anyone down, especially a close friend and I hate losing more than I enjoy winning. Although I feel the incredible support of Executive Management, I am constantly thinking that COVID-19 may prevent Methodify US from becoming a successful business unit. I am always asking myself, how I can drive sales or schedule calls without sounding tone deaf when connecting with prospects? Should I even try? How would I feel if I was on the other end of the voicemail, email or Linkedin communication? I’ve decided that the perfect message doesn’t exist. The truth is everyone needs a distraction from anxiety and that brands have never been known to make themselves readily available to vendors no matter how valuable the solution being presented can be for them.
Lastly, I really miss the competitive spirit and comradery of playing competitive soccer on Sundays. As a soon to be 48-year-old, I am on the 19 hole of my sports career. COVID-19 is definitely an obstacle for reliving the glory days just a few years longer.
I will always wrestle with my personal and professional demons but I have to remember that I can only control certain things including my attitude, desire to look and feel good, love for my children and passion for the solution I am selling.