By Sabeeta Bidasie Singh

Have you ever seen a flock of birds in flight? They always fly together and in the same direction. There can be a great lesson for us to learn from the flight of birds as we look for a way out of this pandemic. I don’t believe in the future, our greatest worth will be measured in dollars, but I do believe that working together in a collaborative manner will be an asset that delivers positive returns. As we move out of the “Information Era” the year 2020 pushed us hard and fast into the “Age of Imagination”. In the midst of the pandemic, we were called to be more creative and show imagination in getting our jobs done and maintaining a sense of normalcy despite the global disruptions. Our greatest worth is in our minds. In order to stay relevant we must work together in a post COVID-19 world. 

We grow in the direction where we ask questions, so we should be having conversations which lift people. We need to spend time understanding the new levels of intelligence that will help us find a way through this pandemic. We must stop competing with each other and focus on collaborating to develop lifelong skills. These skills can provide solutions in a scalable way to reach the masses. A major part of these solutions can be found in the way learning transforms. I believe there needs to be a fundamental shift in how we educate the masses to ensure that lifelong learning, employability skills and synergies can be harnessed. And our goal should be taking everyone along in the growing process.

COVID-19 has changed the way we lived and worked, in the face of these changes we must need to find different jobs, have different levels of training for employability skills and we need to find different solutions. In order to do this we must have a significant shift in our education and training programs so that can support collaboration.

There are three pillars that we need to propel growth into 2021:

• Conversational Intelligence – In a collaborative world, conversational intelligence is one way to ensure that everyone understands what is going on so they can be fully engaged. This removes fear and replaces apprehension with confidence. When you communicate with intelligence you are able to get the results you want.

• Relational Intelligence – This is a broad term that represents social intelligence, dynamics between people, emotional intelligence and relational patterns. Relational intelligence fosters collaboration as it gives people the skills to become fully immersive and delivers high levels of functional performance. Relational intelligence is our human ability to create meaningful connections and establish trust with others.

• Narrative Intelligence – The power of storytelling cannot be overstated. In using narrative intelligence and storytelling in collaborations it becomes an interactive two-way relationship where meaning is formed. Great leaders display exceptionally strong narrative intelligence and are excellent communicators.

Human beings are social animals who thrive on social interactions. We are fortunate to live in a society in which our digital world encourages networking, collaborations and sharing. The advancement of technology delivered over the Internet has empowered everyone to work together despite geographic boundaries. We need to harness the transformative power of technology and the internet to create more collaborative workspaces that can yield positive outcomes on a social and economic level. The pandemic has shown us that despite a global lockdown technology enabled us to become a networked information economy.

You can follow Sabeeta on Twitter @Sabeeta1009.