HAVE YOUR CUSTOMERS been unusually irritable lately? Are people taking forever to respond to emails? Are friends and colleagues making surprising life changes? Have you lost focus during important conversations?
All these behaviors, different as they may be, are responses to the overwhelming circumstances people are facing as we move into the third year of the pandemic. Nearly everyone has lost someone or something—a job, a relationship, their peace of mind. Any hopes for a clear, definitive end to the pandemic have been dashed. We are post-emergency, but still in crisis.
Leaders aren’t therapists and shouldn’t try to be. But people are coping with collective grief and trauma on a global scale, which means leaders have to learn and exercise new skills. You can take steps to foster healthy coping mechanisms and…
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Harvard Business Review Special Issues (Digital) - 1 Issue, Spring 2024