Sometimes solutions don’t have to be complicated. Sometimes it’s just about being curious. It’s that simple! Take wellbeing, DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion), quiet quitting etc. If everyone was a little more curious these would be resolved. And to the sceptics who will label me as naïve I say, hear me out!
We all know Iran is in turmoil currently. News channels were all over it a few months ago, now the silence is deafening. Myanmar had a political coup close to 2 years ago. Now we don’t hear anything about it. Yet these countries are still in turmoil, there are people protesting and putting their lives on the line. Or take countries who share a border with Russia, who worry about invasion. Or take South Korea who regularly sees nuclear tests from its North neighbour. The list goes on.
Now think of your colleagues who have friends, family, people they care about in these countries. The safety and wellbeing of their loved ones at home is their primary concern so they are most likely feeling anxious and isolated. The same is true about First Nations colleagues who constantly face racism in Australia.
The simple gesture of asking your colleague if their loved ones are ok makes them feel seen, valued and therefore makes a world of difference. If you show further interest in what their country/ their mob/ their nation is going through, your impact on this colleague’s wellbeing, motivation to come to work and feeling of being valued for who they are, will grow exponentially.
It really doesn’t take much effort from us and yet it makes all the difference.
Here are a few habits that I find help if you want to get better at looking after your colleagues, including them, motivating them and making them want to stay:
1) Follow alternative news sources or non-traditional news. Traditional Australian and most Western media focus on a narrow field of news so look for other sources of information, or at least when these sources talk about events take notice.
2) If your colleague comes from a Country (state or in the First Nations sense of the word) you read/ hear about, ask your colleague about it. I would urge you to ask questions that are non-judgemental - approach it from a learning perspective.
3) Continue asking your colleagues about their Country/ their Culture/ their practices.
If we all start doing this and if leaders model this, the wave of change will be fast and impactful. Why? Because we will all be educating each other on our worlds, our backgrounds, our worries, what we care about etc. and that is the fastest way to address bias and to show we value our colleagues.
Malala Yousafzai is famous for her speech at the UN in which she said: “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” Why don’t we start applying this principle and live the change we want to see?
It’s that simple!
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