As we continue acknowledging what it means to be Back to School and its connection to being back to business, it is important to consider how often we mean back to business as usual. I have a different take that opens the conversation to what it means to be back to business unusually. Here’s why.

Since 2020 very little is as usual as you are sure to be experiencing. Before 2020 the idea of a hybrid work environment may have been true for some. Yet it became true for nearly all as organizations were faced with managing workers’ from home and then moving to splitting their time between office and home. Some brick and mortar businesses closed all together and their businesses are now being run from leaders’ and employees’ home offices.

Virtual meetings skyrocketed from 48% to 77% between 2020 and 2022. Recent research just one year later in 2023 suggests an increase of 66%.

I can only imagine what statistics will say about 2024 considering that at the start of 2018 4 billion people were on the internet. That number grew in 2019 to 4.39 billion people using the internet. And by the start of 2024 5.45 billion people were using the internet. That’s 67.1% of the world population.

While that number may not inform us just how many of those people contributed to the number of virtual meetings that take place, it does suggest that business is not as usual. For example, the people who make a business run well cover a very diverse range that historically may not have always been acknowledged. That lack of acknowledgement is also no longer usual.

Here is an example of what I’m talking about. We have a significant number of celebrations this month that include a range of diverse people in business among which are Breast Cancer Awareness, LGBTQ+ History and National Disability Employment Awareness.

In addition we are observing National Work and Family as well as Global Diversity Awareness. To those we also salute Employee Ownership, Emotional Intelligence, Emotional Wellness, and Financial Planning. The last three of which are particularly significant to what we address here at Triple Axel Executive Coaching for leaders. So this month we are taking into account all these celebrations as the month of Workforce Inclusivity.

Hi, I’m Byron Darden with another edition of Leading with Purpose on Purpose. As we continue our Back-to-School installment, we dive into the value of optimism when it comes to managing people, and how important it is for leaders to grow in their resilience by embracing opportunities and finding ways to continuously learn how to meet the ever-changing demands of leading organizations and developing the people within them. Enjoy!

I’d love to share my story in Lessons from Leadership, Skating, and Relentless Optimism