Sheltering in place for over a month has been . . . weird, let’s say. A lot of people are now working exclusively from home. Travel is limited. Routine activities like grocery runs are potentially hazardous to health. COVID-19 stats in the news are frightening. After reflecting on all of this today, I realized that one thing is helping me cope: bidirectional relationships.

I’m reaching out to more people. Others are reaching out to me. Each of us listens to what the other has to say about our experiences navigating the pandemic. What lessons have we learned—good and bad? What information do I have that they may find helpful? And vice versa? What do we think about the state of the world—and what do we believe about the future? To be supportive and convey that I care about what they’re going through, I always end by asking if there’s anything I can do to help them.

These conversations usually energize me. This is partly because of the social interaction, but beyond that I also enjoy feeling that I helped someone and at the same time invested in the relationship.

A good friend recently shared this analogy: “Relationships are like bank accounts. If you make withdrawals but never make deposits, your account will become overdrawn, and eventually it will be closed.”  

Are you investing in your relationships—or draining them dry?

Unemployment benefits claims figures for last week were released today: over five million claims were filed. In the last four weeks, more than 22 million claims have been filed. This is unprecedented.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve had conversations with six entrepreneurs who have furloughed or laid off staff. Each company’s situation was different, but they had one thing in common: the pandemic had put immense pressure on them and a difficult decision had to be made in order to survive.

Each entrepreneur told me how difficult the decision was and how gut-wrenching their conversations with their employees were. They shared some of their thoughts leading up to those meetings, how they were personally affected, and how they broke the news. All of them explained the company’s situation, explained how they came to their decision, and treated their exiting team members as fairly as reasonably possible (depending on the resources available). In short, they treated them like people.

Entrepreneurs are optimistic and see lots of opportunity in the world. But regardless of how optimistic we are, we can’t capitalize on opportunity by ourselves. It’s a team effort and the team is composed of people (not numbers). Nevertheless, to keep their companies afloat in turbulent times, entrepreneurs must sometimes let people go.

Today, almost all entrepreneurs are being forced to deal with uncertainty and immense challenges. I think it’s important to keep in mind that we’re all people—not statistics or numbers. This mindset won’t change what must be done, but it could affect how it’s done. Treating people fairly and with dignity during tough times helps them. Being let go (or having their hours or pay reduced) will still be painful, but they will be able to maintain their dignity and feel like a human being.

Next time you have to make a tough call, imagine yourself in the other person’s seat before you proceed.

What lessons have you learned while carrying out difficult decisions?