Currently, Brazil is the second country with the highest number of cases of Burnout Syndrome. This syndrome (which was even included in the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization in 2019) is defined as “emotional exhaustion”, and its main symptoms are related to anxiety and depression, a very common situation in today’s corporate environment.
I must confess that I became very worried about this fact. But, as it is never too late to pick up from where we left off, I invite you to follow me on this short reflection on how to strive for a better future.
I have been following up the Great Reset since last year, and it has helped me a great deal to consider some topics and relate them to the inevitable consequences the world will face to recreate and reframe life in a post Covid Crisis era.
In this sense, we should note that “The Great Reset” is the name of the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), held in June 2020, that brought together prominent political and business leaders, with the theme of rebuilding society and the economy in their most sustainable form after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regardless of whether we are aware of this WEF movement, I believe it is important to reflect on how conflict mediation can assist in this process of reinitialization.
From my perspective, we need to build entirely new foundations for our economic and social systems. Clearly, this need is imminent and we must put an emphasis on it to ensure that the great restoration that we need, in fact, happens. A need to go in search of the better future we want in Amy Webb’s vision.
A good tool towards that objective was the publication of last year’s report by WEF – “The report on the future of work” – pointing out that, mainly in the technological area, global companies that try to take advantage of the potential growth of the new technological resources, find it very difficult due to the scarcity of the so-called soft skills in the great diversity of human resources.
Below are three of these soft skills that will be highly valued by 2025 according to the report, and which I find worth mentioning because they are fully aligned with the principles of mediation:
1- Troubleshooting
Conflicts are full of judgments and even an innocent sentence can be misinterpreted.
Therefore, it is important that the mediator knows how to translate what is being said to facilitate communication. Techniques like paraphrasing, is simple action that helps those involved in a conflict to understand the situation through a new perspective.
2- Emotional intelligence
Can be used as a trigger to motivate parties to use this ability to understand and manage feelings and emotions behind the conflict.
Emotional intelligence promotes a more humane and expanded reality, since the conflict relates to individuals seeking certain results from a worn-out communication and without consensus.
3- Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
Being resilient means to be able to adapt to changes, which are constantly happening in the conflict mediation field.
It is necessary to undergo a change in conflict culture to consider a new one – a culture of dialogue where tolerance and empathy can be crucial for the positive resolution of the conflict.
The mediator must be flexible, skilled and ductile to provide immediate responses. He or she must be able to adjust focus without losing sight of the objectives of the mediation process.
We are living in times of many challenges and several mediator tools have become essential for a healthy survival in a world of so many uncertainties, isolation and new technologies. Helping people around us to dialogue, to collaborate and to build a better future is a main role for us from now on !
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