As companies open back up more of their office doors and conferences start to return in real life there is an unexpected reality occurring.  A reluctance, unwillingness, and an avoidance of social interaction.  Despite an expected craving of adult interaction once lockdown was lifted, not everyone is joyously celebrating and embracing social activities.  Perhaps 18 months of being trained to avoid physical contact, unnecessary interactions, and exposure to strangers has retrained many of us.  The results are smaller energy reserves for social conversations, a reluctance for spontaneous interactions, and just more people opting out of the social commitments that used to consume our calendars.  But it’s ok. It is not all pointing to life as hermits… Those friends who matter, matter more than ever as I’m seeing everyone pull their close friends closer.  Those social moments that are intentional, deliberate, with a thought out group of people are appreciated.  It was too easy in the past to say yes to a plethora of social commitments and now embracing saying no to events you truly don’t want to be spending time at. Protecting your social time is important.  But as you lead teams with new hires, or you know people who have recently moved to your company or city…or even perhaps new neighbors on your street….those are who to take care of as those transitions are not easy.  I’ve been even more ruthless lately with the flood of invites expecting an rsvp. It’s ok to decline, delay, or just show up for a short time to any invite you receive.  And a final thought for those who run events, host social gatherings, or are organizing work events… just give everyone the space to join or not at their own pace.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

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