When the storm hits
I almost drowned once. No, I wasn’t caught by a rip tide. I didn’t lose my bearings and drift out to sea. And a helicopter didn’t rescue nor did David Hasselhoff.
I’m speaking metaphorically.
I served in the leadership of an organization that went through a terrible ordeal—a conflict I’ve never seen the likes of elsewhere.
And it almost killed me.
Drowning—metaphorical or not—isn’t a pleasant experience.
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]The thing is, however, that once you escape it and survive it, it re-calibrates your expectations. [/inlinetweet]
Recalibrating expectations
That heated conversation in a meeting? We can get past that.
The difficulty planning logistics for a conference? We can muddle through.
A challenging author? No worries.
When you’ve survived extensive exposure to a near-toxic environment, just about everything else becomes manageable.
As one former infantry officer put it, “Did anyone die?” If no one died; it’s a good day.
When you emerge after the crisis it’ll take you some time to find your feet again, but you will.
Jeff Gissing 