Every summer there’s hundreds of bushfires in Australia and a few of them make the news. But every now and then, they make the news in a big way. And that’s how it has been this year. We mustn’t forget people lost property and people lost loved ones in what has been an horrendous start to the year. Our hearts go out to those people and our thanks go out to those who fought fires on the frontline and those who offered support behind the frontline, as well as those who kindly donated to recovery and future resilience.
Unfortunately, the standard sort of bushfires towards the end of last year were labelled as “catastrophic” and “unprecedented”, which had the media painting themselves into a corner. By the time we had fires that actually were catastrophic, there were no more superlatives left in the tank (apocalyptic had been bandied about for months). So the media, particularly the 24-hour rolling coverage kind, were forced to keep focusing on how monumentally, fantastically, apocalyptically, supercalifragilistically devastating the fires were. Making it worse was the saturation of coverage. Never before have catastrophic bushfires in Australia been broadcast on 24-hour newschannels and wall-to-wall social media.
That bombardment of devastating news and images of grief and disaster went into every home in Australia for an extended period and into many homes overseas as well. The tourism industry is now paying the price for that bad PR and Australian workplaces are paying the price for the emotional toll the fires have taken on workers over their Christmas/New Year break. I don’t even want to think about the impact on young children, who are already being made to feel anxious about their future.
This week, I talked about the impact of the New Year Bushfires with a workplace wellness and leadership expert, Linda Ray, who is CEO and Founder of NeuroCapability. Linda said part of the problem was that workers normally took a break and recharged over the Christmas period but that break was negated this time by overwhelming sadness and grief. She suggested the following tips for team leaders:
- Checking in with others
- Talking about the issue
- Labelling emotions
- Balancing with positives
- Monitoring without being consumed
- Donating or offering support
One of the most interesting points from the discussion is the need to counterbalance negative memories with positive memories. When we recall memories, we experience the emotions associated with those memories all over again. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is what can result from having only bad memories and emotions to recall. Linda explained that focusing on, and recalling, positive stories can balance those memories and emotions. Positive stories that emerge from the disaster are things like:
- Impressive stories of courage;
- Proof that people do care
- Donations being made from around the world
- Messages of support
- People just wanting to help
In addition to letting people talk and express their emotions, leaders can encourage discussion and recall of those positives. Not only did Celeste Barber raise a lot of money with her online donation campaign, her success provides an amazing example of a positive story we can take into 2020. And we encourage donations to the many appeals set up to help those so badly impacted by the fires. First and foremost, those people need our support. And, by showing our support, we are looking after our own wellbeing in the process.
Click here to watch the full interview
NOTE: If you want to make a donation to the fire services, specific funds, support charities, or wildlife organisations, this link covers a wide variety of options and includes links to donate: