I am seeing optimism. Optimism about a waning pandemic and the prospect of some normalcy in our future. I don’t have a crystal ball so I can’t tell you exactly when that normalcy arrives or frankly, exactly what it will look like. But, with the spring flowers this year I see people come out from under this pandemic.

I know we’re not quite there yet.  I do think, though, about how each of us would gauge what we have learned from the past year.

I know I’ve learned a lot about myself. Turns out I really like a Saturday night Netflix movie with the family, right after dinner called in from a favorite restaurant. (Oh yes, with a glass of wine – but that was not a COVID revelation). I’ve reminded myself that to be productive, I need to maintain structure – get up and get ready as if I were actually heading out the door to work instead of up the hallway to my son’s room (known now as my office). I’ve learned that I like my desk neat. Frankly, that one was a shocker. (I hope my partners aren’t reading this blog).

I’ve learned that networking and connecting really can happen anywhere. I distinctly remember the last Tribal meeting we had in person in Ben’s office. It was March 12. Trust me, we had an agenda but that agenda literally flew out the window (of the windowless conference room). Our conversation turned to our pivot. We saw a crisis ahead of us, of course, without any real anticipation of its breadth and depth. But we knew that we needed to keep our family connecting. Gotham Zoom meetings were born on March 12. And you all played right along. We couldn’t have created this bond and pandemic networking experience without your flexibility and commitment. Thank you all for playing.

If you had to identify one thing that you have learned about yourself looking back on the last year, what would that be?