The Reis Group

Their energy and optimism reminded me that despite the pain and chaos of the past year, there are nonetheless many reasons to feel grateful, particularly for the health, safety, and job stability of our team. The nationwide innovation that has occurred by collaborating across sectors to develop multiple COVID-19 vaccines is truly inspiring and has shone a light on what is possible when we find ways to work together in our collective best interests. The personal toll of pandemic loss and confinement has also focused new attention on the importance of behavioral and mental health, including the expansion of telehealth. As the path forward becomes clearer every day, we are hopeful of getting vaccines before the fall, seeing those new babies, attending those weddings, and enjoying a renewed sense of well-being.

As the pandemic continues to threaten the health and economy of our nation, and social injustice issues still occupy center stage, it’s more important than ever to amplify the strengths of every organization’s leadership and to position the C-Suite as thought leaders to establish a credible and strong voice in the current climate, and bolster the relevancy of the organization and its issues. Establishing yourself as a thought leader will enable you to do four key things: build credibility for you and your organization, expand your network, develop your professional skillset, and create new opportunities for collaboration. While it’s fun to look at pictures and life updates on various social platforms, utilizing social media, particularly LinkedIn and Twitter, can help establish you as a thought leader and build your credibility and following. Finding opportunities to share your knowledge via speaking engagements at professional meetings, conferences, or local universities can further highlight your expertise on a particular topic or issue and build your presentation skill-set.

Whether you’ve been working in health, public health, media, or public relations, or you’re In our work, it’s important to gather story numbers and impressions and to tally both original pieces and syndications in order to accurately report results and continually refine future media strategy. Proofreading, essentially what I did for the five-thousand-line spreadsheet, involves using the tools available (particularly Office’s spell check, find, and sort functions) while also buckling in for thoughtful reviewing and re-reviewing. In the next seven months, the “COVID story” will surely develop and progress, and as it does, we can find hope in remembering what we can control as well as embracing the sure-to-come helpful new information and developments to keep us safe and pursue the return to our pre-pandemic lives.

To help our own staff practice self-care, take time to nurture their mental health, and figure out their new life, we immediately activated our annual summer hours program several months early: Everyone takes a day off from work every other Friday. Key client concerns shifted instantly and strongly to anything and everything COVID: safety and personal protective equipment, clinician burnout, the surge in telehealth and teletherapy, the incredible impact of the social determinants of health, the no-visitor rules at care facilities, constantly changing care guidelines, patients forgoing care, postponed surgeries We released five engaging film shorts that shared powerful stories of people who have transformed their health and well-being through small steps, and highlighting topics that were particularly relevant in the new environment: stress relief, building community, finding meaning and purpose. There was the Harris Poll, Politico/Harvard poll, CNN poll, Quinnipiac University poll, Fox News poll, Kaiser Family Foundation Tracking, USA Today/IPSOS poll, and more.