The Gremlins break down the various aspects of life that you must monitor to keep your life going in the direction you want to be.
You are a whole person. When you are in a high stress occupation, you are experiencing negative inputs all day every day.
And that’s not all. You come into the profession with all of your past. Any trauma that you’ve lived through and not worked through is lurking and waiting to be re-triggered in your daily life.
How can we talk about "that"?
The problem is, we don’t know how to talk about what’s going on with us in a constructive way.
In our current culture, it’s not common to be “real” with other people. Generally speaking, we suffer a culture of nice, rather than kind.
Nice is us telling each other little lies to protect each other’s feelings. Kind is us sharing the truth gently to honor the integrity of our relationships.
Typically you don’t want to share your struggles with other people. It is a powerful habit to just say “fine” when people ask how we are. In AA, F.I.N.E. means “F***ed up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional”. We put up a false self because it feels dangerous to be real. We risk rejection and judgment when we are bold enough to share our struggles.
However, when you work in a high stress occupation where you are dependent on your co-workers to be able to get the job done, like 9-1-1 communications, it becomes crucial to be able to share when things are not going well.
How do we do that?
One of the absolute bottom line requirements for this kind of honesty is to work in an environment that accepts people as human. A culture where:
- Mistakes are overcome-able incidents, not character traits.
- A non-judgmental and accepting attitude toward co-workers is expected and attained.
- Helping out a co-worker is simply part of the job.
Creating and maintaining such an environment is the task of every team member.
- Each one needs to learn to accept the other.
- Each one needs to make every effort to pull their own weight.
- Each one needs to be honest when they feel they are having to carry someone else’s slack.
- Each one needs to be honest when they need help.
These are learned skills, not supported by the culture at large.
Enter the Gremlins
The Gremlins are a shortcut to being able to talk about what you are going through.
When you are not well, it’s easier to say, “My Mojo is off today.”, than to go into a deep explanation of every ache and pain.
When you get into a funk and recognize that you are stuck in a blame cycle, it’s easy to say, “My Pointer is acting up.” Admitting that you have been giving your power away in playing the blame game is much more difficult.
Hard Conversations
In a safe environment, hard conversations become possible. The Gremlins are not just a way for us to monitor our own well-being. When a team is on a journey to individually live into their best selves together, The Gremlins can be a great tool to be able to be more honest and vulnerable without having to dive right into deep feelings.
I’d love to hear what you think. Send me an email or connect with me on social media.
