Trauma

Colleagues,

MVP: We don’t know what traumas people are carrying, but we can assume that many people are carrying traumas.
 
In the past two weeks I have been asked by two different podcast hosts about how we work with people experiencing trauma. These discussions began more specifically with the shooting in Maine and the violence in Gaza, but I thought about the issue of trauma in a more generalized sense.
 
In this time, maybe we should just assume that everyone is experiencing some form of trauma.
 
Our role as leaders is to care for and serve the people we lead. Obviously, we cannot make everyone’s pain go away, but we can do one simple thing to make life incrementally better.
 
BE PRESENT.
 
When I am fully present (physically and mentally), I communicate that I value you. Feeling valued provides salve to people who are hurting.
 
I don’t need to give you advice, I don’t need to share my traumas, I just need to provide you with space. You may share, you may not. I may know your traumas, I may not. 
 
Either way, I have communicated I value you, and that is a gift.
 
You can listen to the 15-minute discussion I had with Kay Kolp on her podcast, Practical Intuition with Kay, on Apple and Spotify.
 
Today’s intention: Pause after each interaction today and wonder…

• Is that person experiencing trauma? 
• How would you know? 
• Do you need to know?
• How did your interaction improve their life?

Cheers!

Frederick