Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1259453
20 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2020 we are coming together without competition, but with a desire for all of us to succeed in keeping our employees healthy, safe, and em- ployed. While we are learning more about coronavirus every day and following the news very closely, we are also implementing innovations that will have benefits long be- yond this crisis as we take the opportunity to learn from something so unprecedented. As crisis often does, this is bringing out the best in us as leaders, employees, innovators, and creators. There are so many stories of how the indus- try is coming together. A company in Illinois is making free circuit boards for respirators, and a company in Wisconsin is bringing together workers from other states to build ventilators. These stories, along with so many others, in- spire me as problem solving takes on global importance, and engineers do what they do best—fix the things that are broken. Out of something catastrophic, we are striving to find the good, the possible, and the best way for- ward for all of us. Our job as leaders in the industry has be- come enhanced and much more critical. We are communicating with our teams by balanc- ing the realism of the situation with the opti- mism of what innovation we may find in this crisis. We can explain to our staff that what we envisioned six months ago is no longer pos- sible, but perhaps this crisis is opening us to opportunities that did not exist before. We are being tested as leaders, but we are also given a unique opportunity to change our processes not to go back to the way things have always been. By being transparent and helping our teams to understand the situation facing us, we offer them the chance to take on leadership roles themselves, enhancing the work all of us do in problem solving. We don't have all the answers. But by work- ing together on this enormous, worldwide problem that touches us all, we are leveraging the talents we already have, providing clear communication, hiring good people, listening to them and encouraging them and then get- ting out of their way. Only time will tell if we are making the right decisions, but I am optimistic. It is in our na- ture to take things apart and put them back to- gether in a better way; now, we're doing it on a grander scale with the safety and health of our staff paramount. For additional COVID-19 updates and to see how your peers are providing support, visit ipc.org/coronavirus. And, as always, feel free to reach out to me personally for any issues, concerns, or solutions you may have. PCB007 Dr. John Mitchell is president and CEO of IPC. To read past columns or contact him, click here.