A flyer hung in the corridor of my hometown library. In that beat of my life, the library was a space I spent much of my time. The flyer advertised a walk event to support people affected by mental illness. I had been recently hospitalized for my mental health and had not been well enough to go back to school yet. I was one of those people.
The people in this meeting have all been chronically unhoused typically living outside for eight to nine years with significant addiction or mental illness. They are among the hardest to help, and that's exactly who the Village has targeted since it opened two years ago. "Once you've forgotten how to work, forgotten how to engage with other people, forgotten how to solve human problems, forgotten how to manage finances, it takes a lot of work to restore some of those abilities," says Joseph Grenny, a co-founder of The Other Side Village.
Wouldn't it be great if there was something like this for grieving parents who feel like they're drowning? Well, there is, and it starts with you. Once you've been through what you've been through, you're as much of an "expert" on how to cope with your grief as I am. You've learned so much and now it's time for the final lesson: paying it forward and helping other bereaved parents navigate the long road ahead of them. Who knows this rocky terrain better than you?
When Ilona suddenly lost her husband to suicide six years ago, she was heading the customs department of a medium-sized company. Distracting herself with work helped her to bring a sense of normality back into her life, she recalls. Ilona quickly realized that she wouldn't be able to cope with her loss alone so she sought help. A neighbor told her about a support group in Berlin. There, she met Patricia, who's been the group's volunteer leader for over 10 years.
Work is filled with contradictions and disruptions these days, and the uncertainty can make the workplace feel like a constant emergency. As a result, people are stressed, pessimistic, and pulling back from their organizations-but they're not disconnecting from each other. Our new research shows that, even under tremendous pressure, employees are "quiet connecting": helping each other regardless of what's happening at the company level. Organizations would do well to recognize and strengthen these organic bonds because they can serve as a powerful counterforce.