Starting Out Post COVID

Sheri Lynn Fella

Most of us have heard the phrase, “start up” - new companies or ideas striving to take root and become established. We gather a lot of inspiration working with leaders at start ups. We can relate to the excitement and challenge they endure as they build their roots.

At Bloombase, we are long past the “start up” chapter, and are well into our “Start OUT” season. We have well established roots that have been harvested in our impact and thought leadership over the past 9 years, and now we are starting to share that impact intentionally and more broadly out into the world - hence “start out”.

Starting out in some ways is more thrilling and less harrowing than starting up… and still it has its own unique growth challenges. Staying firmly rooted in our values, ensuring our client impact remains sustainable, and finding new teammates who share our vision, values, and desires about the path forward. And now, figuring out how we want to start out post COVID.

Gratitude for our privilege and safety through the past year is certainly the foundation we will build from, and also vulnerability about our concerns and questions… the thing that every tomorrow brings - the unknown. And they only way we know how to start out at Bloombase, is the same way we have encouraged our client leaders and teams to start out - together.

This past weekend my team and I headed south to warm weather and the ocean with our fully vaccinated bodies and connection depraved hearts. I look forward to experiencing the return of time, energy, and care we made in each other and our team as the months ahead unfold for us. Investment is required for growth - so is intention. Without it we risk the potential that we will begin to wither or shrink, retreat in some way to old habits, depend on illusions of safety, or assume that it is someone else’s responsibility to “grow” us… like our employers, spouses, and churches.

I don’t believe anyone has the responsibility of growing me, except me. Can others help? Of course. To maximize my growth, do I need others as mirrors to help me with blind spots or limiting beliefs? Absolutely. And without my accountability, investment, and intention that help may not come or its return may not be realized. My growth is my most important work to do, and I don’t have to do it alone.

Investing in development personally, professionally, spiritually and experientially are all important and innovative ways to keep our brains learning and our mindsets open to new and novel ideas and approaches. As a team of leaders, we intentionally do not have an agenda for our team experience together. We have intention and intended outcomes. We also have values and ground rules to create the connection and safety we need to learn and grow together, and we trust that life will be our teacher… we trust the process of embracing the unknown.

With an open mindset, we can learn and grow all day every day by being aware of how we experience each other in a board room or client site, by the pool, on a deep sea adventure or cooking a meal together. Learning is not driven by content. Content supplements learning - it doesn’t drive it. We drive learning through intention and attention… no content can replace that.

So this weekend, our intended outcomes were to reconnect to our in person relationships, to learn from each other’s differences, and to learn how to support each other’s growth in the months ahead. This ROI will benefit each of us, our families, and our clients. Resetting with each other as we emerge into a post-COVID world is our most important work right now, and it our most important investment. And already that ROI is paying off.

We started this week with renewed energy and ideas, confirmation of our alignment on the path ahead, and gratitude that we get the opportunity to impact each other and every client we touch with positive intention and presence.

We tried to bring some sunshine along with our growth back to the midwest on Monday, and we did… it feels like we are glowing from inside out due to our connection and the internal boost that gave us. We wish the same for you as you embark on your own post-COVID journey, and we will continue to share how our journey unfolds as each Start Out chapter unfolds.