Leading ‘posttraumatic growth’ after a crisis
Coronavirus is casting a dark shadow on people’s jobs, physical health and mental wellbeing, but psychological studies of trauma offer us hope for a brighter future.
Many are now saying that the experience of living through coronavirus has more in common with wartime than living memories of prior economic crises. The last few months have undoubtedly been the most traumatic of many working lives.
Fortunately, social scientists have observed that after traumatic events people often bounce back with new perspectives, emerging from a crisis stronger than they went in. Psychotherapists call it ‘posttraumatic growth’. According to Richard G. Tedeschi, a professor of psychology emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Posttraumatic Growth usually happens naturally but leaders can also facilitate it - typically in five ways: “through education, emotional regulation, disclosure, narrative development, and service”
Education
COVID-19 and the associated market shutdown disrupted many of our core belief systems: that our political and economic institutions were robust; that our companies would ‘at worst’ have to face conventional financial (as opposed to public health) recessions ahead etc. Having a core belief system disrupted is extremely traumatic, as it can leave us feeling confused about what else in our lives is real or not real, reliable or not reliable. In order to get over the associated trauma and move into a growth mindset, we must educate ourselves on the underlying causes for disruption. Only once we understand our new reality can we lay the foundations for a new set of core beliefs to rebuild our lives upon.
As a leader, you can help accelerate the education of your people in relation to the trauma suffered by sharing detailed analysis of how coronavirus impacted your organisation on all fronts - and what you would do in event of a similar future shock. It may be that your organisation couldn’t stand a similar future shock - but that’s ok for the purposes of ‘education’ as the point here is not to tell people that everything will be fine, but rather to give them concrete assumptions to rebuild a worldview upon.
From a Yapster Social Leadership perspective, the Education phase of leading posttraumatic growth might include a video news post to all colleagues, followed by targeted further messages in small group yaps at each level of the organisational hierarchy sharing targeted further information appropriate to that level.
Emotional Regulation
It’s extremely difficult to absorb new information under stress, so it’s important to take control of any negative feelings (stress, anger, fear, guilt etc) in order to build a healthy new set of core beliefs about the world we’re operating in.
As a leader, it is worth considering what role you might be able to play in ensuring your post-crisis employees have the best tools available to them. Within Yapster, we recommend turning on specialist integrated Yapplications like Wellbee and/or possibly using our apps tab to direct colleagues to specialist consumer mindfulness resources such as Calm.
Disclosure - sharing struggles
Disclosure is the part of the process where we come to terms with what’s happened to us. Professor Tedeschi recommends leaders “start by speaking openly about your own struggles and how you are managing the uncertainty... then invite others to tell their stories and listen attentively.”
Help Your Team Develop a ‘Hero’s Narrative’
You may have heard of “The Hero’s Journey”, which is the narrative found in classic literature, pop culture, and even religious texts. According to entrepreneur Chris Myers, it resonates deeply with the human psyche to picture ourselves as “a protagonist who goes on an adventure, wins a decisive victory after a crisis, and then returns home transformed”.
To get your people on the path to posttraumatic growth, it’s important they’re able to see the COVID-19 crisis as merely part of their own (and your company’s collective) Hero’s Journey. After you’ve led them through the processes of Education, Emotional Regulation and Disclosure, make sure you take the time to acknowledge and celebrate team triumphs in the face of adversity. If you’re a Yapster organisation, this will hopefully already be happening naturally via your newsfeed and within location and team yaps.
Encourage Acts of Service
Finally, Professor Tedeschi advises that “People do better in the aftermath of trauma if they find work that benefits others”, which means that we as leaders should look hard for opportunities to do good, which energise our organisations and offer enduring meaning in life after coronavirus. A good example for people operating in the UK retail or hospitality might be to explore ways to support sector-relevant charities such as Only a Pavement Away or Retail TRUST whose services have become more important than ever since coronavirus.
I believe Professor Tedeschi’s framework for posttraumatic growth offers a solid basis for optimistic leadership through hard times. I am certainly hoping to hear tales of your own Hero’s Journey when COVID-19 is over.
