High Performance while sailing on the Ship O Fools

This week we have a guest post from a friend and fellow Social Sector Titan Eric James.  

Eric and I met in Liberia in 2004 when we were both working on humanitarian aid operations at the end of the civil war. Liberia at that time was a testing lab for the hardships and also joys of working on an international aid operation. The Liberia response was a weird mix of isolation from any normal environment and also intense togetherness with your work team. Over time, this loaded me up with stress that eventually resulted in burnout.  Part of that burnout was related to my team at the time. So it would have benefited me to know some of these mindsets, strategies and tactics back then! The article digs into these issues. 

Eric began his career in the 1990s with USAID. He was also a paratrooper and did a stint as a peacekeeper in Bosnia. After managing humanitarian relief programs in the field for more than a decade, Eric again elevated his game and launched Field Ready, an organization that is pioneering the use of local manufacturing by making supplies wherever they are needed.

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Along the way, he earned a PhD and became a lecturer at several universities, while authoring three books on international disaster response and development. He also holds two patents for clean drinking water devices.  In line with the Titan philosophy, Eric has also carved out the space for a personal life outside of work - family, friends and time to pursue other interests including sailing and traveling, having worked and visited 90 countries so far. 

High performance while sailing on the ship 0’ fools: Doing your best work on difficult Social Sector teams
Eric James    
                                                                            
Relief work is not like other professions. Aid workers must deal with challenges—difficult teams, time pressures, resource constraints, the reality that our work deals with human suffering—to a degree that few other fields even consider. When we face this specific challenge we need to find ways to do our best work and create consistent high performance for ourselves, and eventually for the team. We need this performance to deliver life-saving assistance to people hit by disasters and wars. 
 
A mentor of mine, the late surgeon aid worker and intellect, Dr. Giorgio Francia, would tell stories about difficult coworkers in one emergency after the next. “It’s like being on a ship far out to sea,” he would muse and then concluded laughing: “We’re on a ship of fools.” He worked for years in challenging places like Burundi and Iraq. At the time, I thought that was just an expression, but with a little looking around I learned that this expression was an allegory to which Wikipedia describes as a “deranged, frivolous, or oblivious passengers aboard a ship without a pilot, and seemingly ignorant of their own direction”—an image used by everyone from the painter Hieronymus Bosch to Michel Foucault and the Doors.
 
That was during my first NGO assignment, years ago in Burundi. Since then, I have been confronted with many difficult team setting. Over the years I’ve developed a set of approaches that help me increase my performance in these settings. 
 
Aid workers in the field
As a group, aid workers have a strong proclivity for action and are often proud to describe themselves as misfits and nomads. We have high expectations, sometimes try to meet impossible deadlines, and relish working in extreme situations. Stress and burnout often result. Stress comes in two forms: (1) traumatic stress following life-threatening or near-death experiences; and (2) cumulative stress stemming from prolonged exposure to emotional distress.
 
In time, this cumulative stress can lead to burnout, which is characterized by a range of behaviors such as reduced personal accomplishment (e.g., “I’m not doing enough”), emotional exhaustion and depersonalization that can lead to negative and cynical feelings toward others, especially those of different cultures such as local staff and beneficiaries.
 
Research carried out by Susan MacGregor and published in 2008 reveals that international aid workers are more prone to burnout than domestic first responders in the United States like firefighters and paramedics. There are a variety of reasons for this, including regular exposure to trauma and prolonged cultural disconnectedness. Even elements that are more easily addressed through good management (such as a lack of training and support, unrealistic expectations and simple overwork) were also cited in MacGregor’s research as leading to burnout.
 
The year that followed the 2010 earthquake in Haiti is a useful case study. The “emergency” phased out in the first months, but the pressures from high workloads, low functioning organizations and other stresses like cultural isolation and vicarious trauma heavily taxed aid workers. (Of course this was a fraction of what the victims of the earthquake themselves experienced.) People were stretched to the limit and some responded in ways outside their normal bounds. A former colleague of mine reflected recently on his time there, saying bluntly: “It just broke people.” And this situation is repeated in other emergencies where there has been acute and prolonged stress.
 
But it is not just in remote field offices that people are pushed to their limits. Even in home offices, dealing with difficult personalities on your team while handling tight deadlines and long hours is a common but very real challenge. This curtails creativity, productivity and organizational cohesion, among other things. In any work environment, a coworker may make an offensive joke, cultural mistake or simply raise the blood pressure of those around them through their behavior and approach to work. In these circumstances, people can act in strange and erratic ways. Some people may be withdrawn and passive, while others may act out in various ways such as yelling and other abusive conduct. The key is that there is a change from the person’s regular or baseline behavior.
 
Thriving in a difficult team environment 
Evidence—both practical and a growing body of research—suggests that there is no magic formula for creating high performance for yourself and others on a difficult team. However, there are fundamental practices that we as Social Sector workers can  learn and use. As noted in a 2013 study by Jane Drapkin on behalf Christian Aid, “There is no one-size-fits-all approach and the one key theme to effectively promoting well-being and resilience is first of all to identify the priority needs in each particular organization.” These aspects of good human resource management have been the focus of several organizations, notably People In Aid and the International Labor Organization initiative “Decent Work.” There is a growing list of good practices such as providing informative and practical orientations; a focus on workplace wellbeing (e.g., access to exercise equipment); and having counseling services available when needed.
 
Sufficient time away from work to recover—not just R&R for field staff but also adequate maternity leave—should be part of this as well. Yet many relief organizations do not provide a comprehensive set of these basic provisions. This matches the basic performance formula of stress+rest=growth. We get plenty of good and bad stress in these settings, and we need to balance that with rest in order to grow into our best performance. Although conditions have improved in the last decade or so, there are no NGOs on the Forbes list of the “100 Best Places to Work in 2017.” This is not just a side note; it should be seen as a call to action for our community.
 
Despite the unique challenges aid workers face, the biggest contributors to stress and burnout are more common issues, such as difficult bosses and bureaucratic obstacles. When these problems persist, good staff members go through a pattern involving frustration, trying different coping mechanisms, and, if remedies are not found, often, departure. As David Loquercio noted in 2005, although voluntary turnover brings benefits such as breaks between assignments and opportunities for professional growth, the costs can be high. Recruitment costs, loss of institutional memory, and low staff morale are just some of the consequences.
 
Making it work for you: three basic tools
The focus so far has been at the managerial level. But what can individuals do to enhance their performance in a tough team setting? Many say it is best to avoid negative coworkers and, if nothing else works, report them to the boss. But this really isn’t useful for the sort of situations most of us face.
 
(Think back to the ship-bound analogy above.) After all, sometimes negative comments are legitimate and effective managers and helpful coworkers will know when to listen and act on these. At times, it is best to be friendly but set limits. If it is someone else’s minor issue, the time wasted can detract from productive work. Long-term complaining and gossip saps energy and can lead to a downward spiral of negativity, so it is better to employ some basic tools.
 
The good thing is that you are no doubt already familiar with the basic tenets of dealing with stressed and burned-out coworkers. These include listening and being proactive. Above all, building trust based on an understanding of where colleagues are coming from in terms of their ethics and culture can make all the difference.
 
1 Have the right mindset
As with most things, prevention is the best step; defuse a situation before it happens. But if tension is building between difficult staff members, remember everyone has a choice about how to respond. Think about the choices available and focus on what you can influence directly. Advice from (the now defunct) People In Aid is helpful in this regard: “Identify each other’s motives, goals and agendas. Look for points where you can find mutual agreement. Begin with the less complicated issues. Select a solution that best meets the needs of both of you.”
 
In some instances, providing an alternative way of thinking about a problem can steer things onto the right path. Other times, the right and timely use of humor can do wonders. Simply being honest about a situation and open to hearing out the other person is vital. As People In Aid says: “Next time you encounter a human brick wall, don’t take a mental hammer to it. Instead, seek to understand why that wall was built in the first place.”
 
2 Practice empathic listening
In our work, emotions often run high, people do not feel understood, and, for a variety of reasons, there is low trust between people. These are the times to employ empathic listening. As explained by Stephen Covey, empathic listening involves reflecting what a person feels and says in your own words to their satisfaction so they feel listened to and understood.
 
This can be challenging. It can be hard to listen without thinking of what to say in reply and refrain from giving immediate advice. The first few times you will likely quickly slip. Instead, pause and try to empathize with what the person is saying and feeling. Then consider some things to say in reply so that you understand and the person talking feels listened to:
 
What I’m hearing is…
You seem…
You must have felt…
You feel…about…
So, if I am understanding you correctly you are saying…
 
3 Build trust
Having and extending trust can be difficult for people who work in inherently low trust environments where corruption and violent conflict are the norm. But think about it broadly and trust can be seen in everything from team building to working with beneficiaries, coordination, partnerships and donor relations.
 
When trust is low, everything from decision making to interaction and basic tasks moves at a slower pace and results in higher costs. Many mechanisms of financial control and regulatory compliance, logistical recording keeping, extensive monitoring and management “double-checking” exist largely because trust is low. Confidence in others can take a long time to establish and can be quickly lost when someone’s character or competence is called into question. Conversely, when trust is high everything moves faster, more efficiently and at lower costs.
 
Simple yet consistent actions (such as being honest and transparent and following through on promised actions) can build trust. Think about how many times you have heard people say “I’ll send you a follow up email” and then you never hear from them again. Or when people have failed to speak honestly in coordination meetings. Or dodged being held to account for tasks they were supposed to have completed. Or hid behind hierarchical structures rather than confront the reality of a financial situation.
 
All these things erode—and sometimes destroy—trust. But the ways to build trust are just as straightforward. Building trust involves showing respect, listening, following through and being honest and clear about expectations. It simply takes time and consistency. The results are worth it.

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Thanks for reading this guest post from Eric. If you like what you read, check out Field Ready and Eric’s books. 

Happy Trails.


 
 
 
 

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