During the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, uncertainty abounded. Families, individuals and businesses were entering uncharted waters and everyone was searching for reliable information. Looking back, what sticks out in my mind is how Utah business, community and government leaders ultimately came together to design a plan to move forward. As one of the individuals involved in this effort, I can tell you that several weeks felt like decades, and progress at times felt unbearably slow.
I recall a meeting where a participant reminded the group that in order to go fast, we must slow down, and in order to go far, we must go together. While this simple rule can seem somewhat counterintuitive, it taught our group two important lessons that can still be put into practice today. First, you cannot rush progress as doing so risks creating more problems in the long run by trying to race through the challenges to the finish line. Legendary Coach John Wooden said it best, “move quickly … but don’t be rushed.” Second, pretty much anything worth achieving requires a team of individuals working towards a common purpose together.
Today, we face new challenges, economic uncertainty punctuated by rising interest rates, persistent inflation, the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, and the continued war in Europe upending supply chains and shifting alliances.
While these issues concern me, I know they will not define us, as it just provides us another opportunity to rally and bring out the best in our community and our businesses. From our darkest times, we have seen the benefit of implementing “The Utah Way” – collaborating, innovating and building things together with the common goal of prosperity.
Let us unite and come together once again to overcome obstacles in the road ahead. This will ensure we travel safer and go further. Unity may not be in vogue in all quarters, but the Utah business community can lead by example through Chamber participation, community involvement, civic service, and the beautiful simplicity of reaching out to a neighbor in need.
We have created opportunity, a sense of economic safety, and amazing quality of life in this high-mountain desert. There is nothing we cannot achieve by bringing our best selves together and moving quickly toward a common goal. This is the recipe for going the distance in business and life.
