What Do You Do When the World Stands Still – Three Months In? Insights and Words of Wisdom from Author and Co-Founder of Heartfelt Leadership, Deb Boelkes

Question #1: As of now, how have the evolving coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions impacted your life, personally and professionally?

Since I do virtually all my writing from my home office, that aspect of my work life hasn’t changed much. In fact, I’ve actually had more time to write articles and begin my third book.

The rest of my professional life has turned upside down. Every engagement scheduled through the end of the summer was cancelled, including all the book launch events for my second book, Heartfelt Leadership. Engagements scheduled for the fall will now be virtual rather than in-person.

I’ve also postponed some of the face-to-face interviews I had scheduled with the female CEOs I plan to highlight in my third book, Women on Top: What’s Keeping You from Executive Leadership? Regardless, I’m still targeting an early 2021 publication date for that book.

From a personal life perspective, it’s been extremely difficult for my parents, who are in their 80s and live just down the road in a senior community. They’ve been under complete lockdown since mid-March. We’ve not been able to visit them at all. The hardest part was when my mom fell and broke her hip a few weeks ago. The paramedics took her to the hospital in an ambulance, but none of us, not even my dad, could be with her before, during, or after her hip surgery. It was a very difficult time for all of us, but most especially for my mom who was completely alone and isolated through it all, without any loved ones around her.

Question #2: What heartfelt words of wisdom do you have to share with leaders and aspiring leaders?

1. Hold fast to the Serenity Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
2. Accept the fact that life is a marathon, not a sprint.
3. Keep a sense of humor. For example, I don’t relish wearing a mask in public, so rather than use a surgical-type mask, I wear a red bandana, cowboy style. Last time I went into my bank, I told my banker that the next time I come in, I would also wear a cowboy hat, boots, and blue jeans. You might as well have a fun with it!
4. Appreciate the little things in life and vow to never again take the most important things, like family, friends, and our freedom, for granted.