“And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed.”
– Maya Angelou
Current events always create interruptions in our day-to-day world, but during the past few weeks these interruptions have been disruptions. Most recently is this week’s massacre of children in Uvalde, which trails only a few short weeks from the execution in the supermarket in Buffalo.
There is no need for commentary about how the frequency of such events is insane. The point is, however, that these events are deeply felt by us and our people in ways that can affect our behavior in the workplace.
Leaders know that life throws various wrenches into our lives and that we adapt accordingly. The COVID-19 pandemic is the obvious example of an external disruption that rocked our world. We adapted and progressed despite it.
In the case of mass shootings, however, it’s harder because there isn’t any obvious action to take. What we can do is to take a pause and let our co-workers experience our compassion and support.
It is not without irony that we celebrate Memorial Day this weekend, commemorating the lives of millions of veterans who lost their lives defending our country.
The loss of life that occurs in senseless mass shootings isn’t memorialized in the same way, but it still deserves our attention and reflection.
Allow your compassion to reveal itself to your employees. When we express own vulnerabilities in such situations, it reminds our staff that we are human too. And that’s always a good thing.
