I am honored to win the 2016 Community Media Rika Welch leadership award for community impact; a testimony to the Guests who shared their stories on MidLIFE Matters. In addition, an 2018 interview I did with Judith Altmann, a Holocaust Survivor, won an award. In 2020 and 2021 two other awards acknowledged the content of interviews dealing with Child Sex Trafficking in CT and Non-Profit leadership. In 2023 MidLIFE Matters won First Place for a Profile Talk Show.Coping with Confinement
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 11:40AM A NYT article by Nick Kanas (08/30/10) offers NASA tips for those 33 trapped Chilean miners, but I think they can be applied to any workplace. Research about helping people cope with being 'cooped up' include keeping them in touch with family and friends, anticipating displaced tension towards "outsiders" and supporting leaders. Also, tending to the needs of family members help the astronauts stay focused on their tasks and deal with confinement.
Listen to how successful leaders in extreme situations are described, based on decades-long research in the Antarctic: They ..."perform twin (sometimes conflicting roles): they assign tasks and monitor the emotional states of individuals." Similarly, my favored management theories endorse cultures that focus on achievement and support, vs. power and roles.
Honestly, we don't need a crisis or exotic work situation to know that people thrive when they have a good boss and some assurance their families are not suffering because of work demands. In this jobless economy, those may seem optional, but I don't think we are going to get out of this mess by ignoring basic human factors.
Regarding the miners, I hope they and their families get all possible support.
Reader Comments