My week started on Saturday, with an email saying I needed to be in a conference call on swine flu on Sunday at 11 a.m. That was a problem -- because I was ushering at church on Sunday. It worked only because I got off the call when it was time to collect the offering, did the plate thing, and then hurried back to the call.
I stood outside the church with my cell phone, listening to a discussion of my company's response to the swine flu situation while watching families walk into the church on a spectacular if rather windy spring day. I'm listening to a report on illnesses and deaths in Mexico while watching mothers and fathers with little girls in Sunday dresses and little boys trying to pretend they weren't in dress slacks and shirts. It was a mental and emotional disconnect.
So I became part of the preparedness and response team. You learn a lot about people in a crisis, and the people I'm working with are incredible. Sunday was a 10-hour work day. Monday went a little longer -- I was drafting communication documents at 10 Monday night. Tuesday was intense but more like a normal day -- I got home on time and even got my hair cut. If you want to see a little bit of what we've been up do, you can read this story in the St. Louis Business Journal or see this section of my company's web site that my web and intranet teams put together. You can't believe what great people I have on my team.
So, not much time for reading or writing (my own writing, that is). On Saturday, I finished Tony Dungy's Quiet Strength and am now reading something that I won't disclose the name or author of. It falls into the serial Christian chick lit category (and yes, I have the category right). I bought it to see what this genre was all about. The writing is actually decent; the plot is tedious (at least for a non-chick); the characters stop just shy of stereotyped. As I read, I can see dozens of ways to make it better.
But right now, it is pure escapsim, and it's something like therapy when you're trying to deal with a situation like swine flu.
1 comment:
Hi Glynn,
I don't know if you remember me but my name is Kimberly Kendle. I met you and members of the Monsanto team at PRSA. I am writing because I too, am part of my company's pandemic prepardness and response team here at Centene. I wanted to touch base with you to share best practices and get some advice on this topic, considering that I am a team of one as manager of internal/employee communications. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. I can be reached at kkendle@centene.com
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