How can you serve others during difficult times?

๐™’๐™šโ€™๐™ง๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™š๐™ญ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™–๐™ค๐™ง๐™™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ง๐™ฎ ๐™ข๐™ค๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ข๐™š - ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฎ - ๐™ฌ๐™๐™š๐™ง๐™š ๐™จ๐™š๐™ง๐™ซ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ง, ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ข๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™จ๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฉ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ก๐™ค๐™ค๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™˜๐™ค๐™ก๐™ก๐™š๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™จ๐™™๐™ค๐™ข ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™˜๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™–๐™ก ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™›๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š.โฃ

How to lead others through crisis or a global pandemic

With so many changes, daily updates and news-feeds whizzing by, it can be a lot to process. As community leaders there are a few ways we can show up and serve others with love, empathy and compassion. โฃ

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๐™Ž๐™๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™ข๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ + ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง๐™˜๐™š๐™จ โฃ

Whatever is available to you and could meet the needs and be of support to your team or a loved one, share it. Being open in your sharing will also help to prevent the โ€˜what ifโ€™ and โ€˜worst-caseโ€™ scenarios running through someoneโ€™s mind which often leads to panic and fear. โฃ

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๐˜ผ๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š ๐™‡๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ โฃ

Be able to listen without judgement and withholding the urge to fix things ASAP. Allowing someone to feel heard and held in a safe space is powerful. Of course, you can re-group at the end or at a following call to address the concerns - but just know that you wonโ€™t and you canโ€™t expect yourself to solve every problem or concern.โฃ

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๐˜ฝ๐™š ๐™– ๐™˜๐™๐™š๐™š๐™ง๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™™๐™š๐™ง โฃ

This does not mean you need to sugarcoat things, hide the realities or avoid what is going on in the world. But, itโ€™s important to be the light in the middle of a tunnel. This is a wonderful opportunity to look at the changes we want to see in the future, how we can co-create the solutions together and build inner resilience of your team or in each individual you speak with. โฃ

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๐™๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™–๐™ก๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™๐™๐™ฎ๐™ฉ๐™๐™ข๐™จ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™ฉ โฃ

This one doesnโ€™t show up too much when I read up about leadership but itโ€™s critical. Without this one, you cannot be a cheerleader, you cannot fully show up to hold space for someone elseโ€™s suffering - you canโ€™t show up as your best self! List down resources you can turn to for self-care, schedule time in your diary, get accountability from a friend or loved one to make sure this one happens because as servant leaders and community builders, we tend to feel a lot of guilt around this one not recognising how we need it the most. Think of it as creating your โ€˜Self-careโ€™ tool-kit so that when you are in need of it, you donโ€™t feel overwhelmed wondering what you can do.โฃ

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๐˜ฝ๐™š ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™™๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™จ๐™š๐™ง๐™ซ๐™š - ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™ฉ โฃ

If you find yourself in a community that has slowed down significantly, use this time proactively. Start to mind map how you would like to serve if the opportunity and the needs present itself. Run through ways you can serve others with love during this time - even if itโ€™s not always explicitly being said.โฃ

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๐™„โ€™๐™ข ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช! โฃ

Emily Teng
 
 

โฃP.S !

You can unpack themes similar to this one at my Global Community Connection Calls

Our next one runs THIS Friday 7:00PM (PST) / Saturday 10:00AM (Singapore) You can join for free via the link below or pay-what-you-wish with 100% proceeds benefiting Blessings in a Bag to keep their doors open to children and youth post #circuitbreaker

Complimentary pass: https://mailchi.mp/93a0e1fa680d/globalcommunityconnectioncall

Pay-what-you-wish pass: https://globalcommunityconnectionmay22.peatix.com/

Emily Teng