Over the past nine months I have learned to say, "We cannot hear you" / "Your microphone is not working" in four different languages.

My first instinct was to follow authority and try an injection of disinfectant to kill the virus. Then I tried to substitute long meetings on Zoom for travel, wearing a shirt, jacket and shorts. You know how that turned out. Having finished watching everything on Netflix, I am now on my third time through every episode of Friends. Nine months in and the dog glares at me. “See, this is why I chew shoes.” I tell my wife how nice it is to have someone around that I loved being quarantined with. She replies, “Must be nice.” So I stress eat, but the good part is I have a nice tan from the light in the refrigerator. At least I don’t have to dress up. Every few days I try on my jeans to see if they fit. They don’t, so back to pajamas and Fritos. At least I don’t have to agonize about giving Christmas presents for another few weeks, given that Santa must quarantine for 14 days after entering the country.

I stayed strong through contact with family, friends and neighbors, often via zoom as well as long walks and sessions with my trainer.  I also very much enjoyed participating in the undergraduate Certificate in International Management (CIM) capstone course.  It was gratifying to hear from one of the students, “I have thoroughly enjoyed the required courses, mostly because I find the content to be very applicable in the real world.  Overall, I believe this Certificate has allowed me to obtain a more global perspective on issues, whilst also teaching me methods of addressing the issues.

I want to put a different spin on the COVID pandemic. As a child, having lived through WWII in Europe, including the siege of Budapest, the contrast in human suffering is really quite striking. We should be grateful for all the support – both medical and economic - we are getting to make life tolerable. The pandemic also brings into focus the importance of leadership. And, most important, COVID is not a man-made disaster. During this Festive Season we should feel positive about all we have.

I've been learning many new things. For example, being in lockdown -- ie., 24/7 and no escape route -- with a teenage daughter who believes that breaking out into song at any time, anywhere in the house and at maximum volume is the definition of a good time has taught me the importance of the mute button. A very pleasant surprise was how the world of zoom made it in fact easier to see friends and family from all over the world, which definitley made things much more bearable. Finally, I learned about the power of the sweatpants. As a German, wearing sweatpants represents a bit of a leap of faith. I now own several pairs and I feel fine about it.

Working from home has not been without benefit, take the health of our family pet for instance. Our little dog is in peak physical shape due to the many walks she receives from family members taking breaks in between Zoom meetings. The dog walk for us has become the new coffee break or talk around the office water cooler!

It was after a long day of back to back Zoom calls in summer. Chris Carder had invited me to start up night. I needed a break so went on my front porch and Zommed in from my Phone. It was my first time Zooming on my iPhone. I assumed , it would have the same settings as my laptop, i.e automatic Video Camera off. As there were the usual hundreds of participants and I did not know better, I only saw the speaker. It was an engaging though long event. As the night wore on, I left the porch, went into my bedroom, had a shower and did the usual prepare for bed stuff, all the time having the phone with me. As the event ended on line, I remember being in bed, Night clothes on with the phone at my side. Scrolling though my emails later that night was an email from Chris "It was nice to see you last night".....I said to myself "SEE?". So I did a zoom call to myslef from my phone...and there I was seeing my self sitting on my bed... My video settign on the phone were Camera On. I did not eat for 3 days

We are once again training a Schulich team for the MBA Games this year. This always includes academics, athletics and spirit challenges. Since no team sports can be played this year, the host school developed a "movement challenge". The winning team is determined by the highest average kilometres per person either in daily running or walking. It ended December 4, and Schulich finished in first place for that event. Although as a coach, my kilometres didn't count, I did my best to keep up the daily running/walking. I found the regular exercise changed everything - I felt better physically, mentally and emotionally, and much stronger to keep going in spite of the challenges of the day.

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. Due to the COVID-19, we had to move everything online in March (about four weeks before the academic term ended). It was quite difficult for us (both faculty and students). Fortunately, Schulich has offered strong support and guidance to all students and instructors and we were able to successfully complete the term with smooth transition from in-person to online teaching. I am grateful for Schulich leadership in leading and guiding us through the changes and challenges. I am also thankful to my students for quickly adapting to the online teaching format and cooperating with me to complete the course successfully. I am so proud to be a member of Schulich. It has been a pleasure working at Schulich.

I've stayed strong by having a sense of gratitude: Even though the intensity of work can sometimes be overwhelming, I remain grateful that I STILL HAVE work. Even though I, as well as many others have suffered loss during this pandemic, I remain grateful that I STILL HAVE life.
I've also stayed strong by having a sense of perspective: At this time when many are under so much stress, my daily mantra now is satisfice not optimize.. there is a human cost of going for 100%. I have learnt to live with having many unread emails in my inbox at the end of the day
Most importantly, I've stayed strong by having a sense of humour. I remind myself that we're not cracking the atom here so don't take your self to seriously. Often at the end of the day, I sit back , kick my feet up and have a good ole laugh at myself.