The first five months of 2021 have been a whirlwind. As I said in the Town Hall, we went from 0 to 100 miles per hour in a shorter time than I have ever seen in business. Any business. I told Andy that I can’t tell if this performance is because we have finally learned the importance of sales energy, is driven by pent up demand from the pandemic or the inability of some competitors to ride out the storm. The answer is likely all of the above.
Trying to explain the first 5 months of the year does not diminish the incredible effort everyone is making daily. And I don’t want to bury what I think is an important lesson as we see light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. Everyone suffered last year. Some more than others, but this week’s high school graduation for my middle child Julia reminded my family how much we have all experienced over the past 15 months and most of it was bad. Despite the tragedies and hardship, I am also convinced that the stress and pressure we all felt during the pandemic made us better and stronger.
Because I believe pressure in all its forms puts us into seeking mode. Pressure opens our minds and hearts to new things, to new ideas and processes. It makes us open to answers we might not otherwise be willing to hear. Those answers may be slightly different across business lines, but I see a renewed energy across the company and globe. I see so many people aggressively looking for ways to change more lives and companies as we come out of this crisis. I see so many looking for better ways to support our recruiters in our mission. Perhaps we are even open to the idea that controlling our own professional destiny through more aggressive outreach to candidates and clients is prudent insurance against outside events out of our control. We might even be open to the idea that collective success provides security in troubled times and the chance to expand our recruiting platform and leave our competitors further behind.
Thank you for your hard work. We continue to be grateful for each other and for the opportunities this wonderful industry provides us and our families. There is much work ahead in so many ways across the globe (and I know that each region of the world is at a different stage of recovery), but now is the time to remember what we learned, to apply it in the future, and to remind ourselves that we deserve the professional success we are seeing so far in 2021.
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