LETTER FROM THE CEO, SPENCER JACOBSON

​

Dear friends of Guided,

 

I hope you all are safe and healthy. I am writing this update to give you all a sense of how Guided is responding to COVID-19, what we're hearing from business leaders and to share some personal reflections.

 

tl;dr (too long; didn’t read)

Effective immediately we are providing FREE executive coaching for 30 days for C-Suite Executives and People leaders/managers within organizations of 50 people or more. We know that leaders tend to put their personal wellbeing last in times of crisis and that actually doesn’t result in good outcomes for their teams or organizations. If you or someone you know would benefit from this - they can sign up here or contact me directly at spencer@guided.co. 

 

We are also looking to gift coaching to any of the emergency response organizations - so if you are connected to any relevant organizations. Please put me in touch directly.

​

​

​

Challenges for employers

So far I am seeing about a 50/50 split in terms of business reaction when it comes to investing in coaching. Half of the leaders I speak with see the immediate need to support their people now more than ever. Some companies that have never considered coaching before are jumping in. The other half of leaders I speak with are pulling back on investing, pretty much on everything. 

 

We’re seeing that the current environment is presenting a number of immediate challenges related to business and employee productivity. I won’t go into too much detail as I’m sure many of you are already painfully aware. Note: I am happy to discuss any of these offline in more detail.

• People are working from home that have never worked from home before. Productivity is being severely challenged with lack of routines, lack of focus, isolation, loneliness, and time management issues

• Massive volatility, uncertainty, fear and rapid change are causing huge stress and anxiety for already under equipped managers

• For most businesses - lack of manager/leadership skills is already one of the primary issues employers face. Now more than ever an employee's main interactions are with their manager who may not have the tools to support their direct reports

 

Guided capacity in COVID-19 environment

For Guided there are actually quite a few factors working for us:

1. Coaching is especially useful in times of uncertainty, volatility, fear and rapid change

2. Our coaching product has always been virtual and our capacity to deliver has not been impacted in the slightest

3. Our core team has always been remote so we are fully operational as well

 

COVID-19 free coaching offer

Ultimately the purpose of Guided is to create more love and connection on the planet. So we are choosing to show up in service. In times of massive fear and uncertainty we know that great leadership coaching is HUGELY needed because it can help people make effective decisions from a clear, proactive and centered place vs reactivity, fear and confusion. The decisions that leaders make ripple throughout and beyond their organizations - into their teams, their team’s families, their customers and the economy.

 

Therefore we are offering executive coaching as our gift for 3 months for up to 3 leaders at each organization that takes us up on it. 

 

It’s worth mentioning that we also offer a number of workshops and training related to relevant issues: leading remote teams, self-management and time management, resiliency, leading in times of change.

 

Some personal reflections

A part of me is deeply grateful for the virus because it is illuminating one fact that we as humans very often fail to see or understand: we are all connected. 

 

I wrote this post recently that I’ll share here because it sums up many of my thoughts on the virus: 

 

Truth and Lies

COVID-19 is showing us the truth and lies of our society. ⁠⠀

⁠⠀

• Truth: The virus is spreading the way it is because the human race is connected as one organism on planet earth. Separation is a lie. Whether we like it or not we are interdependent beings. ⁠⠀

• Truth: At the end of the day our health and relationships is all we have. COVID-19 is challenging both of these as we get sick and isolate ourselves from the people we care about. ⁠⠀⁠⠀

• Truth: Living in a system where healthcare is not a universal human right (in the US) is creating a *disaster.* This is not a political comment. This is a statement of humanity and rationality. ⁠⠀

⁠⠀

My wish is that this virus will help us *value* our interdependence and let go of the lie of 'rugged individualism'. I hope it will help us take action on the truth that we are all connected. When I hurt you, I am hurting myself. ⁠

​

I am you. You are me. We are one.⁠

​

​

​