What do you do when the world stands still? Insights from Deb Boelkes

This is the first installment in what we hope will be a series of blog posts from role model Heartfelt Leaders. The intent of this series is to enable you to lead with love and assuredness in this season of coronavirus uncertainty. We hope you will be inspired to “keep calm and carry on”, and to the best of your ability, help others do the same.

Within this series, we have asked Heartfelt Leaders (some of the same role models featured in our books, The WOW Factor Workplace and Heartfelt Leadership), to respond to the two questions Deb addresses below.  Read on.

Question #1: As of now, how has the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the various work, community, and travel-related restrictions being set in place impacted your life, personally and professionally?

Deb’s Answer:  In case you are wondering why you haven’t heard much from me for a while, I’ll explain. I’ve been heads down for the past year, writing and publishing the two books Dr. Mark and I set about researching some years back on the topic of Heartfelt Leadership.   

The good news is that our first book, The WOW Factor Workplace: How to Create a Best Place to Work Culture, was published–without a hitch–in December, 2019.

Now, I’ll share my “coronavirus impact story” in timeline fashion so you can see just how much has transpired in the short time since then.  

December 10: We held a very successful book launch event at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort’s Sunrise Café in Florida, the very place where one of the WOW factor workplace stories (found in chapter 3) took place. The event was magical and we’ve have some great reviews posted by readers on Amazon in the three months since.

As soon as The WOW Factor Workplace was launched, I set about putting the finishing touching on its sequel, Heartfelt Leadership. We scheduled the release for April 21, 2020.

December 31: Pneumonia of an unknown cause was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) - China Office.

January 2: Wanting an equally successful launch for Heartfelt Leadership, I kicked off 2020 doing all the necessary things to publish a book and conduct a national roll-out. Little did I know that what was happening in China, half way around the world, would have any bearing on these efforts.   

January 4: The WHO responded to a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan.

January 12: China made genome sequencing of novel coronavirus publically available.

Throughout January, I finalized the print-ready version of the book, received print bids from alternative print houses, selected the print house, approved the sample proof, prepared the kindle version with Amazon, scheduled recording sessions for the audiobook, etc.

January 21: The first coronavirus case in the US was confirmed in Washington State (the patient had returned to the US from Wuhan, China on January 15).

January 30: The WHO International Health Regulations Emergency Committee declared a public health emergency of international concern.

February 2: The US State Department issued a Level 4 Travel Advisory (Do Not Travel) for China.

February 5: Wanting to hold the official book launch for Heartfelt Leadership in another of the many WOW factor workplaces featured in both books, I contacted heartfelt leader Garry Ridge, Chairman and CEO of the WD-40 Company. Garry generously agreed to host our official launch event on April 28th in WD-40’s Sydney Cantina, a charming and homey, down under style gathering place at their headquarters in San Diego. 

Meanwhile, I planned two additional launch events. One would take place in Newport Beach, California (where I lived most of my life), the other on Amelia Island in Florida (where I now live).  Most of February was spent in party planning mode, securing venues, building guest lists, contacting caterers, and sending “save the date” announcements to hundreds of invitees.

February 27: Although I had, by now, begun to detect a sense of fear taking hold in workplaces in the Pacific Northwest, I contacted Garry Ridge in San Diego to confirm the final plans for that event.  Everything was a go.

February 28: I prepared to send out my monthly Riser’s Edge newsletter for distribution on Monday, March 2. Thinking I was actually getting ahead of the game, I made this last minute update to my newsletter’s Best-ever boss Tip of the Month: “Tell team members ‘Don’t come to work if you don’t feel well’ … In times like these, Heartfelt Leaders will win hearts and minds by giving everyone the option to work from home, if it's feasible to do so.” 

February 29: Seattle and King County, WA confirmed the first coronavirus-related death in the US.

March 1: A man in his 70s became the second to die from the coronavirus in King County, WA. Two “presumptive positive” cases of corona virus were identified in Florida. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a public health emergency.

Meanwhile, I designed the first draft of the various invitations for each launch event.

March 5: I sent Garry Ridge the final draft of the San Diego launch invitation for his approval. I asked Garry if WD-40 was taking travel or meeting precautions and offered to cancel or reschedule this event for another time “when life gets back to normal and people aren't so fearful.”  He left the decision up to me. I continued to move ahead with launch plans.

March 9: 13 Florida residents had been diagnosed as positive. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a State of Emergency for COVID-19.

Although life where I lived still seemed to be business as usual, some I knew were now cancelling air travel plans.  I cancelled a trip to Europe scheduled for May.  

March 10:  Google asked North American employees to work from home.

I decided to cancel all launch events. Garry Ridge agreed and offered to reschedule later in the year. 

March 11: The WHO publicly characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic.

I sent emails to launch guests notifying them that the events had been cancelled. All but one agreed this was a good call.

March 13: The President of the United States declared the COVID-19 outbreak a national emergency.

March 15: As I write this, every community organization to which I belong has now cancelled all activities through the end of April, possibly longer. All area churches have cancelled services for the foreseeable future. My 88 year-old parents, who live independently in a senior community, have been instructed to self-isolate. All community facilities will be closed for the foreseeable future. At least we are still allowed to visit my parents, provide we maintain social distance.

Today we took advantage of the lovely Florida spring weather. The flowers are blooming, the birds are singing, the sun is shining, people are strolling and riding bikes through the neighborhood. We took a walk on the beach this afternoon. More families than usual were doing the same. That’s the beauty of it.

Heartfelt Leadership: How to Capture the Top Spot and Keep on Soaring has now been published ahead of schedule.

• An autographed copy of the paperback version is available now at https://www.businessworldrising.com/heartfelt-leadership.
• The Kindle version is available now at http://bit.ly/HeartfeltLeadership.
• The audiobook will be available in a month or two.

I hope you will tell your friends.

Stay safe.