April 11 is World Breathing Day. Some of you might be asking, "Why do we need to have a World Breathing Day? We all breathe, right?" - yes, you breathe. But do you breathe to merely survive? Or do you breathe to thrive? I know what I want to do: I want to bring to thrive. In this video, I want to show you a breathing technique called the Box Breath.

There is no doubt that recent times have been tumultuous and challenging. Disruption has become a very real and very tangible concept to all of us, and yet times of crisis create a great opportunity for those who are prepared. As this storm subsides and a new era dawns, smart leaders recognize that now is the time to gear up for what comes next.

In my new book "The New Now" I help audiences unpack some of the key trends that we've seen accelerate since the outset of the pandemic. 

The housing and construction industry is booming right now, but we know that there are still some common issues such as quality control and compliance hat need to be considered. How will you ensure that your tradespeople are doing the job properly? If we can learn the tools of self-mastery, we can better practice the art of influence with others - because the effect we have on others is the most valuable currency we have.

If there is one word we’ve heard with great frequency in recent months, it would be ‘unprecedented’. While so much of what we’ve all experienced in 2020 is the definition of extraordinary, it’s important to remember that many businesses have faced existential threats and crises over the years - only to emerge stronger resulting from the experience.

From IBM to Converse, Lego and event Apple, there is much we can learn from businesses that have emerged from acutely difficult times and bounced back strongly.

Pauline Nguyen has worked alongside the technology industry through her coaching and facilitation and noticed that many technology organisations are talking about innovation - and yet so many are doing things in the same old way. Even after considering a different approach they inevitably revert back to the same default behaviours as before. So how is your business approaching change? Is your organisation reinventing itself through these challenging time? Now is the time to make change an opportunity to do better.

It's not new news that the finance and banking Industries are under some pressure during these times. Assisting our community and our families is a big job that puts pressure on our system and our people. We all understand this, but one thing I've learned in these recent times is that crisis does not change people, crisis reveals them. How we deal with a crisis is a reflection on how we deal with life.

On the back of the pandemic, we have seen the financial services sector fare better than most others however it has also gone through a significant disruption to its workforce. Most financial services companies sent their employees home to work. They then faced challenges with employees not being able to access information and files on-premises as well as employees being unable to collaborate effectively, not being face to face.

A Netflix hit was released recently called 'The Social Dilemma'. In this tech documentary, Tristan Harris explores the ways in which the Tech Giants control the world through the use of AI and algorithms. He calls it the Attention Economy and notes that 'If you don't pay for the product, you are the product".

The Banking and Finance sector has been extremely innovative over the last decade - the shift to digital and online, the growth of Fintech and an increased focus on the customer - but never has it moved so fast as it did in the last two weeks of March 2020.

When Covid came, we all had to very quickly change the way we worked, the way we communicated, how we socialised, even what we did for leisure.

COVID-19 has sparked massive changes in banking and finance, not least because of the deep recession impacting the economy.

Among the changes that have been witnessed in finance, the so-called responsible lending laws have been relaxed to make it easier for a borrower to get a loan. In addition, around $35 billion has been withdrawn from superannuation accounts as the government has encouraged people to pull out cash from their superannuation savings to cover the costs of being unemployed or working fewer hours during the COVID-19 recession.

In these challenging times the need to adjust and recode your leadership to meet the unique demands placed on our organisations by the fallout of Covid-19 is the new relaity that all leaders must learn to overcome.

With the uncertainty of the COVID-19 virus growing, Keith Ferrazzi is coaching the executive teams of the world's largest organizations virtually. Companies like Delta, GM, & Verizon have pivoted from traditional avenues of engagement and into the virtual world to keep up. You can too.

Harness the energy, spirit and passion of rockstars to overcome any challenge.

When we are under pressure we often think very differently. How to harness the problem-solving skills in your team. How to minimise fear and raise our ability to think creatively. The brain can’t hold two different opposing thoughts at the same time.

As the world moves into an unprecedented time of crisis management the role of Artificial Intelligence has become extremely important. As organisations restructure their organisational structures, send their employees home to work, avoid human to human interactions, minimise their expenditure and try to innovate their way out of the crisis we will see the use of AI increasing as a means to enable each of these factors.

COVID-19 is an example of an entirely predictable disaster. Serious, novel pathogens emerge regularly. None of this minimises or plays down the effects of the current pandemic but it does illustrate that this should be an occurrence that that precisely no one finds surprising. Not only was it bound to happen sometime, evolution tells us it is certain to happen again, too, So how do we lead our teams in times of change and massive disruption?

Crises are rarely convenient and they’re never fun. As the world confronts the single biggest disruption in living memory, how we and our organizations navigate the coming months will be critical. 

We have been living in an era of disruption and rapid change for some time, but never before have we faced changes as rapid and drastic as those caused by the Coronavirus. Suddenly, everything is different. Over the next few months organisations and businesses will face big challenges. To meet them, they will have to find new and better ways of doing things. More than ever before, your people need to be equipped with the skills they need to be innovative, so they can be constantly coming up with better ways of doing things.

Amongst all the chaos, panic, fear and confusion of the Corona virus, I believe there's never been a more exciting time now in business and in life. We always talk about innovation and evolution and becoming the change, but we often leave it a little bit too late because we operate with a business as usual mindset.