De-icing an Airbus A320 at Boston Logan Airport.

Since the beginning of October, I have been traveling again for business to assist a healthcare system through its bankruptcy filing and asset sales process. I think it is important to acknowledge that this travel was an ‘exception’ based on the needs of our client and the nature of our work - it required special permission from my employer’s leadership, and was done on a 100% voluntary basis. All that said, traveling again to serve clients in their darkest hours during our most vulnerable times has taught me many lessons that will hopefully live on after the COVID pandemic.

As a bit of background, I am a restructuring professional and my job is to lead teams to advise clients as they face financial hardship, structural issues with their businesses and potential insolvency. I would say that most of the executive teams of our clients have little-to-no experience facing this type of crisis. So unfortunately, they are facing an unknown crisis…within an unknown crisis and they are looking for quick guidance to navigate everything from day-to-day decisions, liquidity management, employee communication, and external stakeholder demands, to create a semblance of structure to enable prudent decision-making for the benefit of all involved.

Zoom is an enhancement, not a replacement: There has been much talk and speculation that collaboration tools like Zoom will be the ‘new normal’ and that remote work is here to stay. That may be true for some industries and some jobs, but for my job, Zoom enhances my work, but it will never replace the essence of what I do. Both from an internal teaming standpoint and a client advisory lens, Zoom tries to replicate in-person interaction, but ends up creating a false sense of presence, fails to capture critical body language, often distorts the messaging, and enables very robotic habits that dilute productivity. On the flipside, I will say that when trying to solve a defined problem, the ability to get on a platform like Zoom, share an analysis and discuss the very issue at-hand, Zoom is a phenomenal tool that fills a void, which drives efficiency and clarity.
Trust is earned in-person, not by-screen: Trust, that virtue by which all great intentions are gained or lost, is important in all types of work, but none more so than in work where the very livelihood of thousands of employees rests on each critical decision made (or not made). But, trust is also essential within teams - we are relying on people we’ve never met, never actually seen, nor sat and talked with face-to-face. The trust I speak of is not about deception, it is about truth, comfort and reliance. Being able to physically sit with your team (at least 6 feet apart) and discuss critical issues, key items to get done, and answer questions establishes and bridges that gap to establish trust far better than any high-def camera or 5G cellular connection could ever dream of.
Physical presence enables you to see when people truly understand what you are saying, but it also allows you a window into situations that require more discussion. It is so easy to end a Zoom call because you have another one scheduled right after, or because you don’t want to hold everybody up. But, there is so much to be gained when someone can pull you aside and say, “you know what, I’m really not comfortable with what we just discussed” or “I really didn’t understand the implications of the decision we are contemplating here, can you explain it in further detail?”. It is those moments, as small or large as they may be, which creates trust and comfort during times of great stress. And we don’t ever acknowledge the tremendous value of those types of ‘little situations’ until we are no longer afforded them.
But business travel during COVID also creates another need for trust that is not something many of us are used to - you rely on your colleagues to tell you that they were with someone that just tested positive for COVID and therefore, it is best that they not travel for the next 14 days. You rely on them to tell you that they were at a bachelor party and it is best not to put the team at-risk by coming back to the client site the next week. But when you build connections with people, it bridges the mindset of "better safe than sorry”, which has become so critical during COVID.
Business travel is an addiction: I am a business travel addict. Admitting the problem is the first step to recovery. As someone that averaged ~200 nights of business travel a year pre-COVID, I can tell you that going from that torrent pace to 0 nights was excruciating painful - that was not ‘tapering’ that was quitting ‘cold turkey’. Traveling for work is a ‘double-edge sword’ - one one hand, it creates this huge issue between balancing your work and personal life, but on the other hand, it creates a sense of energy and an elevated purpose that sitting in front of a camera all day never can replicate. As I have told many people, 200 nights per year on the road was not a good path, but neither is 0. I think business travel during COVID has created a better equilibrium for someone like myself that needs a healthy dose of ‘on-the-go’ work, but also needs to slow down a bit to find better balance. I know I am not the only addict out there and I hold great empathy for those who are struggling as I was, sitting at home in front of a camera every. single. day.
Personal accountability for your lifestyle habits, prioritization of well-being and acknowledgement of mental health disorders are more important than ever: Business travel during COVID has definitely created habits to enhance personal well-being - whether that’s being more vigilant when it comes to not putting yourself in situations where the chance of contracting COVID is unnecessarily high, or acknowledging that things like sleep, hydration, and exercise are important to establishing a stronger immune system. Business travel during COVID has created a greater sense of ownership and responsibility that my behaviors can have a real (negative) impact on others. And that is one aspect in all of this that I hope becomes a lasting focus of personal accountability…pandemic or no pandemic.

People love to play ‘Monday Morning Quarterback’ now about all they would / could have done to curb the impact of COVID-19 in the United States, but one thing is indisputable - Americans that have pre-existing health conditions (most which are linked to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.) are more pre-disposed to dying from COVID. No policy could have changed the fact that living unhealthy lives pre-COVID made the impact of COVID worse - we eat too much, we drink too much, we are very sedentary, we don’t exercise enough and we don’t get enough sleep. Additionally, mental illness has been treated as a ‘taboo’ subject with connotations that link it to words like “crazy”, “psychopath”, “psycho”, etc. - which does nothing but isolate those who suffer from mental disorders and pushes them to internalize the symptoms, which prevents them from getting the treatment they need. It’s sad to think that it would take a pandemic for us to recognize mental disorders like any other disease process, but I do think a byproduct of being ‘couped up’ with people is making it harder to disguise these diseases. It’s time we give permission for these people to seek the help they need without demonizing them as monsters.
Perspective is worthy of a reset every now-and-then: Business travel during COVID has been challenging, but it has enabled many good things, including a reset on perspective. As people around the world, and those within our own communities, continue to struggle with the realities of COVID - whether that be challenges related to health, job security, or all the unknowns that exist as to ‘what’s next?’, being able to take a hands-on role in helping a company (and more importantly, its employees) through the struggles of a financial crisis has brought more meaning to my work. I found it very easy to get caught up in financial analyses, powerpoint decks, and status updates (all of which have their place), but it is so easy to lose sight of what your work really means. I am not a frontline healthcare worker who risks his / her life on a daily basis trying to save the lives of those with COVID, and this should not be interpreted without an acknowledgement for that distinction. However, COVID has, and will continue to put financial burdens on companies and their employees long after everybody is vaccinated. Having the ability to collaborate in-person with our team and see firsthand the positive impact that your work can have, has been a rewarding experience that could never truly be obtained through a camera. We all seek to find a true purpose and positive meaning in what we do and it is so easy to get lost in all the distractions that cloud the results of what we do - if COVID has any positive lasting effect on our world, my hope is that it brings a greater sense of purpose and recognition of how our individual actions and contributions affect our communities, it drives a greater appreciation for those who sacrifice their well-being on a daily basis for the benefit of others, and it instills a greater appreciation for living holistic lifestyles with increased focus on physical and mental health.

The best way to stay safe is to stay at home. Traveling for business as I have described was due to some very unique circumstances and the perspectives provided should not be interpreted that working from home is not valuable, nor that it is a barrier to creating value through your work. I have simply provided a handful of lessons that traveling during these challenging times has taught me that will hopefully enhance my ability to lead teams and serve clients in a more effective way going-forward, regardless of whether it is in-person or through the lens of a camera.