Overcoming my 2021 crisis

I love to see people’s reactions when I say I’m in sourcing. 

“That’s boring!” 

“I bet you have no issues to deal with.”

And the sarcasm continues. Following 2020, there were factors that contributed to the global supply chain crisis. Long story short, factories were closing because of new COVID policies but the demand for items were increasing. 

Looking back on my posts, it occurred to me that I had not posted anything since the end of 2020. Makes sense in hindsight. 2021 was a rough year for me: personally and professionally. If I could pick one year to do over again in my life, it would be 2021. But you don’t get do-overs. You have to pick up whatever pieces you have left and move forward. You have to know how to recognize and learn from your mistakes so you don’t repeat them again. 

It is painful. But it would be even more painful to cut through an open wound. 

LISTEN 

Professionally, I was tasked with leading an SAP implementation for my function for our site. We were supposed to backfill my position but it didn’t work so well. I ended up doing two full-time jobs. Personally, I was invincible. I can take care of my family and even grow it. My husband disagreed. 

Or at least that’s how I saw it in the midst of things. He didn’t really disagree but he saw a reality that consumed me beyond belief. I could barely keep up with being present with my current loved ones since I was working 60+ hours per week. I heard him saying I was incapable and it triggered a lot of heartache, unnecessary at times. 

If I had I only listened to what he was saying or trying to understand what he saw, I would’ve realized how unbalanced my life was. Unbalanced because the weight of work held me down. 

SEE 

I needed to open my eyes. It’s not easy to stop in your day to see what you’re doing or not doing. But if I had only stepped out of my self (so to speak), I would’ve seen my actions. 

I would’ve seen myself working on my laptop during playtime in my daughters room. I would’ve seen myself choosing to do some laundry versus sitting and watching a 20 min show with my husband. I would’ve seen myself talk to people with an attitude who was only trying to be hospitable. 

When things are tough, which they constantly can be in todays supply chain World, I tend to stop and do a sanity check. How is my behavior? Where are my priorities? This helps me correct my behavior before it harms myself or others around me. 

SPEAK UP 

This one was probably my biggest lesson from 2021. I even put it in my employee review. Pre-2022 Tima would take it all on. Extra project, sure! Ballet practice, of course. Favorite home cooked meal, priority.  That new supplier line down issue, who else? 

But now I ask for help. It scarred my ego the first few times I had to stop and say “I can’t do this right now” or “if it’s needed, what can I stop working on?”  Personally, reaching out to my husband for support and even five year old daughter was a test of my humility. 

There are only so many hours in the day so why aren’t we more keen on how it’s spent? 

I can’t turn back time. I can only make the best of time I have. It’s definitely hard to listen to feedback when the sound of a category 5 hurricane is escalating beside you. 

It’s hard to see who you have become or who you are hurting when there are thousands of assignments piling up on your desk. 

Just when you think you’ve become a superhuman superhero, it’s definitely hard to stop and say “I need help.” 

The global supply chain crisis is here to stay for at least another two years. My family won’t wait on the sidelines much longer so balancing my life is even more important now than ever. 

It’s critical for me to listen to them, see myself and speak up. A line down costs a company thousands of dollars or even millions, depending on how or where the backlog is. But the cost of losing what matters most to you is incalculable. Prevent yourself from getting to that point. 

My Editorial on this Pandemic

I have been silent these past few weeks. At first, I think it was denial. The feeling of waking up every day, seeking to find my old norm outside my bedroom door.

I realize, now,  I’m torn with the what our world is going through and how I can or should react. We share statistics and pretty graphs on tv. Heck- I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a little excited seeing those charts, bringing me back to my simulation undergrad courses. 

But each red dot is a person. A mother. A father. A daughter son or sister. A grandparent or uncle. A friend. A lover. A human. 

More and more you see ads with the tag line ‘we’re all in this together’ and I bet that only a small percentage of the nation feels that way. 

How about the percentage that has to drop their children at daycare each morning? Or the percentage who got laid off with no money in their savings? Or the physicians, nurses, pharmacists, truckers and grocers on the front-line? Together we stood after our last national turmoil. How can we stand now? 

What is the answer? Can we just stop? Should we? How will those families put food on the table? How will the ill be treated? 

This is bigger than any national emergency I had ever hoped to witness. But being a mother, the sheer thought of this country stopping, even for a day scares me. How will I feed my daughter tomorrow? Care for her if she runs a fever?

We must do our part in social distancing. Only go out for necessities and only buy the necessary. And keep those who provide those necessities safe and healthy. 

I have come to learn a few things this week. 

1. Be grateful for what you have, as it can be taken from you in seconds. 
2. Be empathic to those who are in worser conditions than you. 
3. Be a leader who drives optimism during a time of fear. 

I cried last weekend when the reality hit me. I worked so hard from 7-3 each day that I didn’t have time to stop and think about the situation until Friday. But I cried mainly at whether or not I can do the above three things successfully. 

Our world is ever changing and we do not know what tomorrow or next week week will bring. All I know is how I need to be now to enjoy each moment I have and get through the day. 

There is a light on the other side of this and a story to told. With stories, there are lessons to be learned. Our nation is an ecosystem, run by humans to generate valuable resources to keep the humans happy, safe and healthy. When a virus hits, it compromises the integrity of the ecosystem and starts to break down each resource one by one. 

This virus will break us if we let it. We must be mindful. We must recognize we are unique as a nation and we must be use the resources we have to remind us how we got here. And how we will remain here to tell the story. 

Everyone has an opinion.  This is mine. No opinion is wrong. Just use your mind: Before you speak or leave the house, ask yourself - is it worth compromising my system? My surroundings? My family and friends. 

Everyone has the same fear but some choose not to show it. Everyone is susceptible but some are more so than others. Let us be selfless by being selfish. Take care of yourself first and those around you. Then the world will operate the way it was intended to. 

It has to, right? Well, I will at least pretend that it will, in the name of leadership, for the sake of my loved ones.