April 9, 2020

Hi Gang,

It’s happening – companies are starting to hire executives they have only met virtually. In fact, in a future edition, I’ll profile a CEO who just joined a 25-person company via video (he’s stuck in Boston, and the company is in San Francisco). If you anticipate making hires soon, or if you’re mid-stream and interviewing, these two new pieces will be helpful:

• Ensuring Assessment Quality in Virtual Interviews

• Executive Transitions and Onboarding in a Crisis

On a personal note, I find move in and of various mood stages… Is it REALLY that HARD to remember to TURN OFF THE FREAKIN’ LIGHTS when you leave a room!??! For example. So this video on the five stages of COVID-19 isolation totally cracked me up today (thanks, Bill!). And also relevant: How to keep quarantine from ruining your marriage.

In Case You Missed It

Here are a few ideas covered in previous issues for keeping your team connected.

• 6 Games You Can Play On Zoom For Long-Distance Fun – My team is trying this today… I’ll report back

• Online Learning: Companies are tapping into their own internal experts to host online learning sessions (i.e. CMOs teaching a class on the science of COVID-19; heads of statistics teaching Stats 101). Virtual happy hours for those learning a language (i.e. must speak Spanish/Italian/French).

• Enlist Teachers: Depending on your market, some teachers are not working full days and kids are learning entirely online. Some companies have enlisted and compensated teachers to host courses for parents on how to home-school kids, the best ways to work with online learning platforms, etc.

• Fantasy Leagues: I’m in a Top Chef All-Stars Fantasy League, and it’s been fun to have a reason to tune into a show at a specific time (like the good old days!). You can also create a Watch Party on Facebook so that people can watch and make comments in real-time. Others are in Fantasy Stock Leagues (way more depressing). Have you heard of other leagues?

Food Fight – send me yours!

Today’s winner is…. Eric Dube, CEO of Retrophin!

Chef’s comments: This is my tortilla soup with dried ancho, guajillo and arbol chiles, a lime crema, avocado and fresh tortilla chips (yes, the chips are homemade)

Overheard

“Everyday I put off showering because I’m gonna exercise first, but then I never exercise, so then I never shower, and now we’re in a real pickle”

A Little Levity

This is the closest you’ll get to an international flight any time soon. (I’ve done a damn good job of watching stupid movies over a glass of wine, though.)

Be well (and please… PLEASE turn off the lights when you leave the room),

Jackie