But what can I do myself?
For those who have a moment and are looking for ideas on how to deal with this question, here is a post about two completely different events in which this was addressed.
It is a question people ask me when it comes to what one can do for status holders, refugees, newcomers, people outside ‘their own bubble’.
I found it wonderful to experience that this question was also explicitly addressed in two completely different settings where I was this week: the hbs summit on global disruption and the event ‘future focus’ with different stories from refugees about how they have rebuilt their lives and how important connecting with people from their new environment is in doing so. And what turns out: there are many similarities. The most important is the challenge of dealing with people who are nothing like us.
Some insights from the summit:
- Astronaut Walter Villadei leading his team, by following his team members and leading from there
- Professor Vincent Pons who invites us to nurture our democracy ourselves, for example by discussing our ideas with colleagues, learning about differences and where they come from
- Michael Ensser of Egon Zehnder on the chance to engage your discomfort with a colleague as how you would engage discomfort with a family member
Some insights from ‘Future focus’
- John Thon Majok, MPA (The Wilson Center) stressed the importance of contextualising: find a topic on which you can connect with the other person in the moment; in his example 9/11 ... when he lived in the US and was able to explain on the basis of the destruction of the twin towers that he fled because his village was destroyed.
- Hilal T. (doctor) emphasised the importance of others' belief in your abilities; in her example someone who replied “you are a doctor, you are just temporarily not doing it right now”, to her comment, “I was a doctor and I can't do that here.”
At both events came the question ‘but what can I do’, on disruption or on supporting refugees. The common denominator is attention, for each other, for the people in your street, your colleagues, your fellow students, or residents of an asylum seekers' centre, attention so that you find recognition and understanding for the other.
And from my own experience, I know that action follows naturally from this, if anything more than a listening ear is needed. The naturalness comes from the similarity, since what I can do also appeals to me.
I look forward to get a glimpse of your experience on the question, ‘but what can I do?’
#hbseuropeansummit
#ittakesavillage
PitZtop
TalentenZonderGrenzen
Windle International
The Hague Humanity Hub
Marcela Rocha F. Neves Bijay Dhungana Jill Wilkinson Eva Hilf Gaby Cora MD MBA Dr Gaby Cora Max Catanese Juliana Zinger Raffaele Petrone Irina Schmid Steffen Letzelter Ibrahim Deraz Esther Geradts Antje Visser Sajad Sepehri Iris Erkelens Antonella Testaguzza Gert Kuijt Gilmar Ferreira da Cruz Catarrinho Harvard Business School
