“We Also Want to Save Each Other”

We often talk about how trauma shows up for individuals, in our coaching – but we seldom talk about how it shows up in organizations.

In my recent podcast, Bob Faw, organizational consultant and Positive Change agent, talks about the fact that organizations go through trauma as well.

For example, when the Red Cross laid off a few hundred people in 2003 because “the demand for blood dropped dramatically due to technological advances.”  You can’t really blame anybody for that.

Bob proposed a different framing on the metrics of success: instead of “hitting the numbers” of blood donations, which is difficult in this new reality, Bob suggests:

“We should make sure that our heart is in everything we’re doing, and that we’re not just saving lives with the blood products – we also want to save each other.”

Wow. Saving each other.

I’m just sitting with that idea…

What would that look like?

As Bob suggests, what employees need is to make this a normalized conversation – where it’s ok to discuss it, and to talk about the impact on themselves. Training people to listen compassionately, with empathy – serves his desire to normalize this and to make this a prized skill in organizations.

Bob’s rendering also offers an inspiring call to action, to adopt this as a mission: “We’re not just saving lives with the blood products, we also want to save each other.”

It’s a mission that places care for one another at the center of the work.

There’s something quietly radical in that invitation.

Watch the 3 min. clip here, or grab your coffee to watch the 30 min. video.