COMMUNITY
Innovation in Action GIRL SCOUTS OF CITRUS LEAPS OUTSIDE THE FAMILIAR DURING COVID-19 CRISIS By Maryann Barry
[UNPRECEDENTED.] The adjective we use to capture and frame a unique point in time or new experience. A perfect word to mark a timeframe or event that, by its very nature, will shape and inform, if not define, our next steps as organizations or communities — and in the case of COVID-19, test our mettle as leaders. I have faced many challenges and navigated plenty of uncharted waters in my more than 30 years in not-for-profit executive leadership. However, I am not sure any experience in my life could have fully prepared me for the roller coaster of heart-wrenching decisions and quick pivots that would begin on, of all days, my birthday, March 12, which I happen to serendipitously share with the Girl Scouts organization. It was to be a day of celebration with local dignitaries and community partners as the Girl Scouts of Citrus Council ceremoniously broke ground for our Women’s History and Cultural Center and marked 108 years of Girl Scouting in America. We modified the event to align with emerging recommended practices for limited gatherings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and we carried forward. However, with information changing quite literally hour to hour, by evening I had arrived at the difficult decision to close our offices and suspend all events and activities pending further notice. I have no doubt every business, church, school and government leader at some point experienced that same unprecedented, visceral moment of realization that the worst of the storm was yet to come. Like many of my peers, I was intent on trying to do more than simply manage the operational disruptions and service delivery shifts that would be required to simply “get through.” There was no greater impetus or time to leap outside the familiar and, as we teach 30 | JULY/AUGUST 2020 | i4Biz.com
LIKE MANY OF MY PEERS, I WAS INTENT ON TRYING TO DO MORE THAN SIMPLY MANAGE THE OPERATIONAL DISRUPTIONS AND SERVICE DELIVERY SHIFTS THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO SIMPLY GET THROUGH. — Maryann Barry
