Three Easy Traps

Lisa and I recently had a deep discussion about how we create the best cultures for staff and how services become best spaces for staff and personal development. As we thought over what we had written a number of key themes came to mind. One area we covered was how we easily fall into 'traps'. Traps are mental and practical illusions that hold us in a place of no power while taking all our energy and vision away. Traps are pretty awful things. They are workplace vampires and yet we can walk into one tomorrow as easily as walking through a door. In this post we look at three work traps and how we might escape and even avoid them.

The first is the not accepting responsibility trap. This is easily enough to do yet its effects are deadly. We may not be able to control our workplace or economic factors but there is one area where we can exercise dominion and that's with ourselves. Whatever the issue or challenge ( and we have many ) we can be responsible for ourselves. We can make the commitment to be the best we can be; the best nurse, doctor, support worker and manager. It may not be easy but it can be done. People who are bullied often feel there is nothing they can do about it. This is one of bullying's great triumphs - to make us believe we have no power or choice to change things. The giving up of power and refusing to accept responsibility for one's self and our responses is a trap that can bring misery for us and others. Once we accept the power to be or in the words of the theologian, Paul Tillich, 'the courage to be' we enter a new dimension of living. That is the dimension we call integrity. It's where we own our behaviour and are open to change, criticism and growth.  It's where the blaming others stops and the work for self development starts . We grow when we are honest about ourselves and seek to own our process of becoming. Paul Tillich also warned that, 'Neurosis is the way of avoiding nonbeing by avoiding being' . By refusing to be what we are and can be we open up the possibility of becoming ill.

The second trap is rescuing. This is a trap good and kind people fall into. We meet a client and want to 'fix' them. We want on some level to be their rescuer. The problem with this is that it doesn't work usually as people don't dance to our agendas. If it happens to work it still isn't the best way as it means us sorting people like models rather than people finding their own power and possibility. People caught in this trap can often end up in one of two states. The first is self defeat and blaming themselves. 'I can't do this. I've tried but I have failed.' The other is where the blame gets projected outwards to the client. 'They don't want to change. I have tried and tried and these people aren't interested.' What both states have in common is that they view clients as problems to be fixed rather than people with real choices. The journey model is a richer and more respectful picture of work. The journey model is where we walk alongside others as a positive and supportive presence not necessarily agreeing with their choices but still walking with them. This model rather than the 'fixing' rescuing one respects choice and offers the possibility of real change and healing.

The last trap is resigning. By this we do not mean resigning from work. We mean resigning from working for better cultures and approaches. Resigning from hope. It's easy to give up. It's also easy to slide into a 'It's only  a job' viewpoint. When we go down this road we lose our passion, our vision and our hope. It's a terribly depressing thought to think of someone who has lost their soul for the work they do. That their work is just 'doing the job' rather than building and supporting a service that heals and cares.  Everyday we have a hundred and one opportunities to be a wonderful difference for the better. To be the kind ward sister. To be the compassionate doctor whose presence and words bring calm to a patient. To be the service development worker who listens to staff and supports them through a difficult time. These are not extras. They are fundamental to good compassionate care and service. They are transformation and workplace wellbeing.

A part of any solution is awareness. For us to see and change our own attitudes and conditioning. To become aware of when we are not taking the power, when we are trying to rescue others ( rather than support them ) and when we are resigning to just be another worker rather than a person who can make a difference and contribution. As we write this the need for a  clear vision, firm values, good support and a willingness to honestly see the need for change and work towards it become apparent. This is a work that can take time, commitment and focus. It's also an escape from the prison these three traps represent and that can only be real freedom. These words may sound very dramatic. But then again they describe us moving away from giving away our power, boundaries and hope so they are, in our opinion, deeply true.

John Walsh. York Street Health Practice. Leeds Community Healthcare

Lisa Falkingham. Service Improvement Team. Leeds Community Healthcare