Stronger Through Adversity | Set Safety Supreme

Thank you for joining me for this series titled Stronger Through Adversity. The book by the same name is based on conversations I’ve had with more than 140 global leaders as they navigate through COVID-19.

In Stronger Through Adversity, I wrote, “The more things change, the more they stay the same or so it would seem from reading Marcus Tullius Cicero’s writings.”

As you’ll recall, Cicero was a Roman statesman and orator who lived from 106 – 43 BC. Not only did Cicero’s ideas impact the Roman empire, but they resurfaced at the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century. One of Cicero’s maxims has remained keenly relevant for those leading during the pandemic. The idea behind the maxim resurfaced again and again during my conversations and interviews. Cicero observed “Salus populi suprema lex,” which translates from the Latin to mean “Let the (good) or safety of the people be the highest law.”

In conversations with leaders throughout the pandemic, it became clear that customer and employee safety (something that typically operates in the background of a business) jumped to supreme importance. Leaders shared with me many specific decisions they made to protect customers and team members – even when those decisions resulted in substantial short and mid-range costs and losses.

Many leaders talked about re-evaluating employment itself. They previously viewed jobs only in a positive light. However, almost overnight, they began to see them as posing a risk to the lives of their team members.

Stronger Through Adversity is full of examples of how leaders acted on behalf of team members and customers, consistent with Cicero’s maxim that safety should be the highest law, but let’s bring this discussion back to you.

How has your behavior aligned with Cicero’s maxim? What are the short and mid-range costs to your business of setting safety supreme? What are some of your most challenging tradeoffs?

I’d love to talk to you about your efforts to set safety supreme and maybe even share how some of my clients have mitigated costs while maximizing safety. Please reach out to me and we will find time for a conversation.

If you would like to learn more about Stronger Through Adversity and get your special signed 40% off pre-order offer, head to strongerthroughadversity.com.

Until next time, may you be Stronger Through Adversity by setting safety supreme.