Was a devastating pandemic not on your 2020 bingo card last year? It wasn't for anyone, but so many people were left scrambling on how to navigate a crisis without a playbook.
One year later, three St. Albert women in leadership reflected on the challenges they faced, and how they were able to adapt, cope and move forward.
On March 10, the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon celebrating women in leadership during the week of International Women's Day.
Rosanna Fischer, co-owner and vice-president of the property management company KDM Management, Shawna Randolph of Shawna Randolph Communications, and Angie Hampshire, print sales manager at the St. Albert Gazette, spoke to about 60 people about their own experiences dealing with challenges in the last year while in positions of leadership.
Act with compassion
"Businesses in the world over have navigated unchartered territories and they're trying to find their footing. We've been no different," Fischer said.
All of a sudden, the condominium management company had to communicate what the pandemic meant with owners in hundreds of buildings, with clients, contractors and industry partners. Staff were afraid and struggling with their mental health with all the uncertainty, she said.
"I phoned people weekly, but as the weeks progressed, it got more difficult, but even more important. So we banded together and divided and conquered with our management team," she said.
The company formed a task force to address core human resource challenges and how it affected other areas of the business, she said. Safety regulations to prevent the spread of COVID-19, like Plexiglas barriers and disinfectant, were implemented to keep employees safe and productive, she said.
The company ensured their staff remained employed with no reductions in salary. The company was adaptable to staff needs, including those who had children or were immunocompromised. The company brought in food trucks, ordered in lunch for staff from restaurants, and did virtual bingos that everyone played at their desks.
Taking a compassionate approach to each challenge made them stronger as a team, she said.
"I put my fears aside and felt an overwhelming responsibility to my family, my friends, my staff and my community. How's everybody doing? How's everybody feeling? What mental health issues am I noticing? How do I make the mundane exciting?"
Reconnect
Along with her role managing the advertising department at the Gazette, Hampshire volunteers as the team lead for distress and crisis calls with the Soul Sisters Memorial Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to educating and fundraising for suicide awareness and mental illness awareness.
"Never would I have predicted that in March of 2020, and moving forward, those two worlds would collide and blend together quite like they have in the last year," Hampshire said.
Everyone in the sales department suddenly had to work in silos inside their own homes, worried about the world and their own families, all while "hearing and feeling every loss the businesses in our community were going through," she said. Check-ins happened at the beginning, but it was difficult to keep them consistent.
"So we began changing the context of our weekly sales meetings. They became a safe place for discussion," she said.
Team members started asking with intention and sincerity about how everyone was really doing. They shared their COVID-19 fears, baby announcements, anger, new pets, loss of loved ones, and tears, "a lot of tears."
"So check in on your team, and if you're a team of one, check in on you," she said. "Step away from your laptops, your phones, your computers. Remember to take that intentional breath, get outside, try to sleep and most importantly, try and find something to smile about. It's time to reconnect with people."
Create and adapt
Randolph, who is also a former TV news journalist, shared a different perspective of overcoming challenges over the past year. Last spring, Randolph had to quickly adjust the media consultation services she provided to a virtual world, which came with its own challenges.
"I don't know how many times I said, 'Oh, sorry!' – either the sound wasn't working on a media interview I was playing as an example, or I was delayed sharing my screen, or I was muted," she said.
"You're not in the room, you're not able to read the room and have that eye contact and really connect with the people when you're doing a presentation."
Despite this, Randolph said having to pivot her business made her a better leader in the field. She said she knew she wanted to do something to brighten up people's lives during the pandemic, and decided to reach out to others to help make her vision possible.
In early January, she launched an online TV talk show called Talk Time with Sean & Shawna with Great West Newspapers. Every week, the panel of hosts discuss topics and subjects to not only entertain viewers, but help them "live a healthier life, physically, mentally and financially."
Through these challenges, she said she has learned how to adapt and overcome.
"As a leader in any field, someone needs to easily adapt, keep their chin up when things seem quite down and scary, because it really was. Persevere, don't be afraid to ask for help. Be humble. Again, the worst someone could say is no. You'd be surprised at how many say yes."
