We Made It

We Made It

First of all, many thanks to you for being faithful readers in this space. We try to spotlight the best and brightest here and it has been a remarkable lineup in 2020 of great people doing great things.

There’s something about seeing that someone else has done something. It makes us believe that we can. It inspires us and shows us what is possible. I am grateful for all of our guest Q&A’s. I have learned a great deal from each of them. I hope you have.

When 2020 began, none of us could foresee what was just a few months out. An earth shattering pandemic that changed everything. The stock market sank precipitously. We all began to social distance. Some businesses closed. People changed their habits. In fact, most everything changed.

But here’s what didn’t change. We began to find a way forward. Entrepreneurs went to work and started building ventilators by the truckload. The smartest minds in the world were enlisted and they answered the call to create a vaccine to fight this enemy and hopefully vanquish it soon.

That’s what we do. It reminded me of stories I have read and heard about WWII. The United States found itself fighting formidable enemies on two fronts and the demands were enormous. We didn’t cave. We pulled together and started building planes and ships and taking care of each other. The world is thankful for the American Spirit that saved Europe and started the world’s greatest economic engine. We are still the beneficiaries of the concerted effort of those brave men and women who selflessly stepped into the gap and won the day.

Today, those gap fillers are front line medical people who stand in the face of death and sickness all day every day and yet show up again tomorrow, and the next day and the next. They are heroes, in every sense of the word.

Sometimes a crisis can be a mirror to show us exactly who we are. And, if what has happened this year is any indication, we are well. Our future is bright, as it has always been.

Here’s to a great 2021.

Love,

Jill

Forbes.com Contributor

It is a true privilege to be a columnist at Forbes. Forbes is a community of talented people with deep knowledge in their genre.

The women I know who have high-responsibility leadership positions are all risk takers.