Looking to past travels to help guide this new future

If I’m honest, when I first heard about COVID-19 back in January I dismissed it because I didn’t think it would affect us in Ireland but, clearly, I was wrong. I remember receiving the email from my boss late one Friday evening in March telling us that due to the new social distancing laws, all staff would have to cease selling for two weeks. I also remember the initial feeling of fear. It took me back to how I felt when I had made the decision to go travelling. I remember the hardest step was the first one out the door, it was the moment that required the most change.

On my travels, I was fortunate to meet many people from all around the world. In some respects, the only thing we had in common was a love of adventure, but then that was all we needed to become part of our own team. We were always willing to talk to new people, something everyone does when travelling the world, and looking back I know this was a huge foundation for my future career in sales. This is something that has always reassured and empowered me. As the initial days of COVID-19 unfolded, I felt a familiar sense of reassurance in work.  SalesSense was updating us with key facts and figures that were affecting the business and the nation, and I was reassured knowing that I was part of a company that was committed to protecting the health, safety, and well-being of its staff.

As the pandemic developed,  I wondered about the mid-term effects of isolation. I remembered the time I had spent working on farms in the outback in Australia, and recalled how total isolation felt when I had no car, no phone coverage, and had to walk five hours to the nearest town. My experience was all about quickly adapting and learning to become a family with the 15 strangers that the universe had thrown together. The biggest lesson I learned was how fast you can adapt if you better accept your circumstances. The lockdown created new virtual team teams in SalesSense and accepting that this would be the new normal allowed me to quickly embrace the change. The company introduced a new bi-weekly gamification on Kahoot, and I was all in. The quiz brought everyone together and formed new connections in our teams. We all raised eyebrows at the sudden overperformance of the Technology team, who clearly had the whole thing rigged!

The next development was when we were asked for volunteers for “What’s Your Story?”, a feature article in which we were invited to share our journeys on the intranet. Looking to my past travels and the memories triggered by my experiences in lockdown, I knew I would be putting my hand up at this opportunity. When the article was published the feedback was amazing. I met so many colleagues who thanked me for sharing the highs and lows of my own personal journey, and it inspired me to write this piece on LinkedIn.

I am always looking to the future, but every now and then, I find value in looking back at my journey. It is my inspiration for the next step.