Holding a trauma lens to get to the heart of conflict
Author: Eileen Mah Gricuk (Belfast)
an elevator speech to help global leaders shift their impact for a better common good
Introduction
Writing a reflective essay following the Trauma in Peacebuilding course was an undertaking I welcomed to integrate what I had learned. However, I resisted authoring an essay purely on my reflections, especially at this time when our Mother Earth and human geo-politics are going up in flames. My desire and energy with respect to the essay was one of praxis- to create something that could be applied. What resulted is an offering for an elevator speech- albeit a longish one - a basis for conversation with global political leaders, or anyone, about the omnipresence of trauma and the need to acknowledge it. Leaders, good ones according to leadership theory, are ‘people who do the right thing’ (Bennis and Nanus, 1985:21). They steer their groups and nations through VUCA[1] environments by understanding what they are faced with and making appropriate choices. Holding a trauma lens when examining context is a simple enquiry that may get to the heart of conflicts, and uncover the fertile ground on which to build a broader common good.
What follows is a template with a few suggestions on how global leaders could hold a trauma lens to deepen their understanding of and transform conflict. This serves as a beginning to provoke deeper consideration of their presenting situation. Use of this template, or any conversation on trauma, should be held with clear intentions: 1) to open conversation and keep the door open for further connection, 2) to engage with an ‘open mind, open heart and open will’ (Scharmer, 2019), and 3) to welcome and have compassion for whatever response may emerge from the leader/person in front of you, for they may also be in some state of trauma.
Let’s all open up conversations, make (inter)connections, and hold them with love and hope.
