Everybody's got plans... until they get hit. (Mike Tyson)
The crisis, reorganizations, removal of thousands of jobs has hit a lot of us hard during the last days and weeks. A living nightmare. Comparable to a fatal stroke in boxing or smashing judo throw! K.O. Ippon...! Faced down on the floor or on your back on the tatami. It’s not the falling down that’s hurts... it’s hitting the ground that is devastating! Seconds later the question arises: "Do I stay down or do I get up?" What gives you strength to get up again? Is it survival instinct? Ambition? Proudness? Shame? (Quickly stand up and slip away through the backdoor ...) Or is it … please just let me be… give me some time… During those seconds so many feelings get to you. Anger is the most common one. Look at me now with all my talents but no place or chance to show it anymore. All dressed up and no place to go. You feel hurt and betrayed. The oxygen disappeared out of the relationship and you sense this in the organisational or regional psychological dynamics. These are hard times to look for opportunities or to see through an appreciative eye. Where do you find the strength to regain confidence and look to the future in a positive way? And still… As a judo player I learned not to block a force stronger than my own. I learned to move along or to just let go… This letting go, this release, can provide freedom, new energy and creativity. How peculiar it may seem at this moment this crisis can also create new opportunities. Jobs will change and due to the different movements in the organisation or in the region there will be new experiments or a new challenges that otherwise never would end upon your path. From this perspective the K.O or the Ippon could mean new opportunities to represent your talent. This could be just that spark that’s needed to come together and to discuss what items we have to bring on the table from both sides. Of course this is not an easy process. There will be many loose ends and all will have to work top down and bottom up (politicians, organizations and social partners) to regain the broken trust. This starts with a correct handling of the appointments made or an agreed compromise for broken contracts. We have to rely on each other. That’s in my opinion an important part of the solution. Working on mutual trust, discover how we can be attractive again for one another.