The drills and planning at times seem endless.
For commercial ships and especially ships carrying passengers these are required. Specific drills, instructions, signage, placards and more are posted by law in exact locations with exact wording.
The drills must take place within a certain amount of time when initially departing with new passengers and each week thereafter. Every crew member has a job to perform during the drill and a station to report to immediately when the alarm sounds.
U.S. Navy vessels have emergency training and drills built into their mission. They are always ready, at any time, for anything.
This is why the various drills are timed for the response by the crew to the situation required by the exact drill. The ships are graded and many factors go into the report.
Which brings this recent incident to mind in the category of no good deed goes unpunished. Also known as “What Do You Do When The Sh!t Hits The Fan?”
The question is what happens when the disruption is not in the training manual?
What do you do when the emergency isn’t one you, your superiors, and the people you lead are familiar with, possibly fearful of and truth be told not really clear on how best to proceed?
This is what all ships, hospitals, cities, countries and populations involved are all dealing with right now.
Now you ask yourself what am I supposed to do?
About my business?
Or
About my employees?
Or
About my family, my kids?
Or
About the job I just lost?
Or
About the job I was about to interview for?
Let’s start with a few things you should not do.
In fact if you are doing them – stop it – stop it right now.
- Recognize you can only control, what you can control. This means there is no sense worrying about anything – anything – that you cannot control.
- Recognize that the anxiety, fear, fright – in essence these emotions in action, spoken or physically displayed will make those around you more anxious, fearful and frightened. Do you really need to do that to them? Maybe even your kids?
- Recognize that the media representing itself as news on TV, cable, whatever, is purely driven by money and politics. Tune it out. Turn it off. For staying informed about how to handle the virus only listen to trusted sources who have one agenda – let people know what to do in order to protect themselves and their families.
- Recognize others for going beyond average for the good of everyone. In the grocery store be warm and thank the cashier, the person stocking the shelves. The people who are in the healthcare industry, the police, and the firefighters who are all in their line of work potentially exposed to this virus numerous times a day.
- Most of all be kind to yourself. When you relax and stay calm the people around you will too. This may be the most difficult of these steps. It is without a doubt the most important.
Hopefully you will take these one step at a time and put them into action.
If you have questions like the ones suggested earlier or other questions which were not addressed here – post your questions in the comments section. These will either be answered in another post or on a Facebook live where I will answer these questions as well as many others people have been asking me in that last few weeks.
Be safe, be calm, stay strong.
Mitch Tublin is the CEO and Founder of Wenkroy International LLC a boutique consulting company with a main focus on adding value to people. Through Speaking, Training and Coaching we change lives. Our passion is to take people to the next level in their life and in their career or business.
