Imagine you are on the leadership team of any large organization in this country. A tornado has torn through a city where the majority of your employees live. Or a wildfire has leveled the homes of people who work for you. Perhaps some other unforeseen tragedy has both individually and collectively rocked large swaths of your workforce. What measures would your organization take in such a situation? Hire counselors to help your team members grieve, talk about it, and start to plan what comes next? Reach out personally to particularly hard-hit employees to offer support or ask what might help? Consider allocating funds or other resources that show your solidarity with your people through a difficult time?

Consider this: The parents who work for you are currently living through a crisis. And they have been for five months. It is by no means over, nor is it showing any signs of resolving. In fact, ask any parent and they will tell you their deepest fear is that this crisis will be with us for many, many months with no relief in sight. Meanwhile, these same parents are being asked to work and lead as if nothing has changed on the home front.