A Letter from the CEO
I requested that the below letter be sent to me to confirm its authenticity. So much has been said about opening up our economy again and when to do so. These are uncertain times and there are varying degrees to which COVID-19 has impacted individuals, families, neighbors, communities, governments, and businesses. It's times like these that leadership is put to the test and a wrong decision truly can be the difference between life and death.
I am not the author of the below letter and have not been authorized to share its contents. However, I have taken necessary steps to make the letter anonymous. I felt compelled to share the letter publicly because I believe it embodies the thoughtfulness, humanity, and genuine concern for others that makes leaders great.
To the author, I do not know you personally, but applaud you for your stewardship to your employees and stakeholders and look forward to seeing the new heights to which your organization will ascend in the future!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: _____________
Sent on behalf of __________, CEO
By my assessment, the wind is changing direction. This crisis that has been our focus as a country for the last six weeks, to me, seems to be moving in a new direction. Orders to stay at home and instruction on washing your hands are slowing and increasingly we hear news of “re-opening”, expiration of stay at home orders ([your state]), and curves of new cases being flattened in some areas. This evolution is both good and bad.
The good:
- We are all excited to return to life as we knew it before COVID – 19. For me that means celebrating birthdays not on Zoom, meeting my college buddies. . .or sitting in my favorite pizza place. . . It even means getting on a plane so I can meet face to face with _________’s partners. I know each of you have thought about one or a dozen things you would love to do once again. The idea that we can start in that direction is very appealing.
- It is also good that we are seeing reports of civil authorities making plans for returning to work and regular life – it is vital that we have an organized and well thought out way to make it happen. It cannot be like flipping a switch.
- The other good news is that the reduction in new cases means we are making a real difference through our efforts to social distance. You see it in Italy and China. You see it in New York, California and cities around the country.
The bad:
You are likely now asking: “what is bad about talk of reopening”? As I have throughout this health emergency, I will share my perspective.
- Talk of lifting restrictions and back to normal abandons the Stockdale Paradox. . .In this case, the ‘brutal facts’ are that we have not beaten COVID – 19, we do not have highly effective treatments, we do not have a vaccine, and while the growth of cases is slowing, it is still growing, and people are still dying at alarming rates.
- Further, as you listen to those who are truly experts in this field, when we do re-open it needs to be slow, measured and based on data about the spread of this virus.
- In other words, while we can start talking about re-opening, much of what we want to return to is not going to happen quickly.
- For me, the bad is getting our hopes up too soon that normal is right around the corner.
We have been fortunate to gain access to an early drafting of well-structured ‘return to work/normal’ plan for an area. They describe a process that plays out in multiple phases over many, many weeks. Collectively, this means we should continue our unwavering confidence that we will overcome this. We are seeing signs already. However, we should assess those brutal facts and realize that a return to normal will be a slow and controlled process. We will open up in phases, where a phase will be measured in weeks or months, and where we might have to go backwards if new cases start increasing. For us at _________, this means we will continue to view every decision we make through the lens of the safety and engagement of our teammates and the ability to deliver for our customers. We have been really fortunate to this point and been able to achieve those goals with most of our people working from home and many safety precautions for those who can’t.
_________ leaders have been hard at work, drawing up plans for moving back toward life like it was in 2019. And those plans will be driven by our two goals and the facts and advice of the health experts. We will communicate with you well in advance of any changes in how and where we work. My hope is that your experience to date has been just that. And we plan to continue.
If you are in a role that can be described as support/office/SG&A/non-frontline, and you are working from home today, you should expect that to continue until further notice. If you are in a frontline role, changes to those jobs will occur only when it is safe and that is likely to be many weeks away.
We should all celebrate. We CAN beat this virus; we have shown it. And we should acknowledge that much of the fight is still ahead of us. As anxious as we might be to return to the things that we have not been able to do for many weeks, facts and data must guide our decisions. In my eyes, it is not worth risking the life of anyone at _________ to move too fast.
Be safe,
A Really Good CEO Who Cares About People
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------