Leading in Times of Trauma

The unspeakable happens: A beloved leader dies; a fire leaves dozens homeless; terrorists kill thousands.

Traumatic events cause incalculable pain for victims and all who care about them—pain that spills into the workplace and overwhelms employees. As a leader, you can’t eliminate the suffering. But you can ease the collective anguish and confusion.

How? By demonstrating your own compassion and unleashing a company-wide compassionate response. When you help people make sense of terrible events and support one another, you enhance their capacity to heal and strengthen bonds among colleagues and with the organization. Bolstered by these bonds, your company can adapt, even excel, during difficult times.

The Idea in Practice

Find Meaning Amid Chaos

Create an environment where people can freely express emotions and explore questions such as “Why did this happen? How will we cope?” No longer forced to suppress their feelings at work, they can refocus on work—which itself can be healing.

• Openly express your own feelings. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s public display of grief after the September 11th New York terrorist attacks enabled a citywide expression of anguish—and strengthened people’s resolve.

• Be present—physically and emotionally. The CEO of a research firm that lost a senior executive to a heart attack delivered the news to each management team member individually—at their homes. As he quietly sat with them, he embodied the company’s caring and helped them begin processing the tragedy.

• Communicate company values—to remind people about their work’s larger purpose as they grapple with a trauma.

Example: 

When Newsweek’s editor Maynard Parker fell terminally ill, the editor-in-chief immediately re-emphasized the company’s—and Parker’s—commitment to community and world-class reporting. Employees honored Parker’s values by doing their best work, while sharing their sorrow over his leukemia. Newsweek then emerged as a leader in coverage of a major news event.

Inspire Action Amid Agony

Create an environment where people can alleviate their own and others’ suffering. You’ll unleash companywide compassion and healing.

• Model behaviors you’d like others to demonstrate. When a fire destroyed the University of Michigan’s student housing, the dean interrupted an important speech with reassuring remarks—and wrote a personal check. His actions catalyzed campus-wide relief efforts.

• Use your influence to reallocate needed resources. When a hospital employee’s husband suffered kidney failure and was awaiting a transplant, the billing-department manager gave her a pager and organized a team to shoulder her work at a moment’s notice.

• Use existing systems to mobilize resources. After two Macy’s stores suffered severe earthquake damage, managers used the payroll system to deliver cash to employees who had lost homes and needed shelter, and the human resources system to place them in other stores.

• Support bottom-up compassion. In organizations that inspire compassion, initiatives bubble from the bottom and top. When a Michigan hospital’s employees donated $18,000+ worth of their vacation time to the Red Cross after the September terrorist attacks, the company matched the amount.