Healthy Approaches to Transition

00:13
Rich Rudowske
Welcome to the Essentially Translatable Podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible Translators. My name is Rich Rudowske, Chief Operating Officer here at LBT. 

00:21
Rich Rudowske
Today I’m talking with Ali Federwitz, one of our member care coordinators, who is based in Ghana, West Africa. With all the transitions that most of the world has gone through in the past couple of months, and in light of more coming soon, we sat down to talk some about some skills and categories that you might find helpful to navigate those transitions well. 

00:41
Rich Rudowske
Well, all right, Ali, thanks for being on the podcast today. As we talked before, we had a listener on the podcast who wrote in and had some questions about what might happen when he returns to work. And he’s leading a group of people, and they’ve had an unusual transition out, and now they’re going to transition back. And I thought many Lutheran Bible Translators, you guys go through transitions all the time. What are some things you could tell us about how to transition? Well, so that’s what we’d like to talk about some today. And for context, this podcast was recorded in early May when we’re in some places in the US, there’s still quite a bit of time where there’s going to be some folks on restricted access or lockdowns in your states. 

01:21
Rich Rudowske
In the state of Missouri, where our office is, we are in a Phase One reopening, where we have a limited reopening, and there’ll be some phases going on past that where you gradually add more staff and so we’re in the beginning of that here. So when we transitioned out of the office, it was actually fairly suddenly we had that notice that all international travel was going to be canceled and there was all kinds of advice flying around out there that were trying to get our hands on and understand about what we should do for the office. And we made the decision here that we would need to enact a social distancing policy, which we did within the matter of a couple of days, and then we had a weekend, people came in on a Monday morning, picked up their stuff and went home. 

02:09
Rich Rudowske
And that’s how we got started. So we didn’t really set up that great for the transition, did some things pretty well, but we started working from home, and now we are in the 8th week of that, of what we thought really would maybe only be for a couple of weeks. And I was actually thinking that we would just be sort of testing to make sure, well, if it really got bad at some point in the future, we’d be able to do it. But in those first two weeks, the state and federal government both eventually mandated that we would need to be closed. And so we already. But so that transition happened, I guess, and the initial horizon was not what we expected. 

02:44
Rich Rudowske
So we had some time just kind of dealing with, and we had the staff and allie works in member care with our missionaries and staff, and I don’t know. Did you have any conversations? We had missionaries transitioning, staff transitioning, a lot going on at once. And any conversations or things where folks reached out to you to deal with a transition and how to do that or struggles they were having? 

03:07
Ali Federwitz
Well, it’s kind of interesting because transitioning is our life, and it’s just kind of what we do, whether it becomes natural or we just kind of fake it. So for most of our missionaries overseas, at least, there was just a lot of kind of questioning and watching and wondering, will I need to leave my area? But certainly I think it caught people off guard. You mentioned thinking originally that this would just be short-term and temporary, and I think that speaks really to the heart of transition. How long is this and how many times am I going to have to change things up or adjust to a new situation? So I didn’t have anyone actually really reaching out to me to discuss a transition. I think that we as missionaries are always just waiting for the next one. 

04:04
Rich Rudowske
Right. 

04:05
Ali Federwitz
And you are always on the edge of just being prepared for it in some way or another. 

04:10
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And it was interesting that the expectations just had so much to do with it. We sort of felt from the folks in the office like, okay, it’s two weeks and we can do this. And then as we got to the end of the first two weeks, we said, well, it looks like it’s another couple of weeks, probably. And again, folks seem to weather that pretty well, but only two or three days into that second two weeks, it was clear from government regulation that it needed to be a whole month and so I came back on with the staff and said, just so we all get in the right frame of mind and can just plan accordingly for the long haul, we’re going to be doing this for the next month. And that was when it seemed like that was the hard part…the hardest part for folks, I think, was when it came clear this is just something about saying it’s a whole month just changed in people’s minds. Any thoughts about that for sure? 

05:01
Ali Federwitz
I think you do get yourself set up for, okay, this is just for a time. And then when it gets extended, the realization of now, it’s not just for a time. It might be continually extended. So there’s going to be continuous changes and more adjustments that I need to allow for. So then it starts to set in as a reality rather than just something we’re going to make. Do you start to move out of the initial kind of adrenaline rush that comes with some changes, whether it brings up really positive feelings of excitement for change or kind of you get more negative feelings of how am I going to do this? Or what’s this going to look like? But either way, you get yourself set up for two weeks, you could do just about anything for two weeks. 

05:48
Ali Federwitz
But then when it gets switched to now this is a month, your brain starts to think maybe it’s going to be more than that and how am I going to make this sustainable? So, right, that’s what we’re looking for. How can I make this sustainable? How can I find acceptance for a new sort of normal? But even with that, how long is okay now I’m set to do it for a month. How permanent do I make it? Is it going to be extended beyond that? So it’s that constant wondering of, is there going to be another upheaval that really has an impact on our bodies, our overall well-being, mental health, physical health, stress levels are all impacted by that because your body starts to become a little bit on edge, like what’s going to come next? 

06:36
Ali Federwitz
And it could really be these simple things. For some people, transitioning to working from home is like a dream. Some people are just now learning that they’re introverted because they have the opportunity to be a little bit more isolated, and others are learning that they were able to be a better introvert in the office, away from the family. So we’re seeing a lot of these kind of mental health needs come up because of the transition. If we do look at it in terms of a transition, I mentioned that this is kind of old hat for missionaries, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect us or impact us. It’s just we’re not really surprised that a transition is imminent. There are a lot of different, kind of, models for helping people to visualize what you go through during a transition. 

07:27
Ali Federwitz
One that I’ve used, I was introduced to maybe like ten years ago when I first was kind of on the receiving end of member care, not actually practicing it myself. And there’s actually a book called Transitions, and there’s a transition curve in there, but the one that we use is kind of modified from that, but that’s just a basis for it. But you talk about one thing is ending and you’re working your way towards the new thing, beginning and both sides of that. And it is a curve. If you think of a deep valley, that’s what it would be. Kind of a mountain or a hill on one side and a little bit taller hill on the other. 

08:09
Ali Federwitz
And when you end something, so even something that might seem as simple as leaving your office environment to go work from home, you can find yourself feeling all kinds of different emotions about that. And again, we might say things as a negative emotion, though. Emotions are neither positive nor negative, but we just tend to think of them in that way. There might be like a disorientation. What’s this going to be like? What’s happening? How am I feeling? Denial. No, we’ll be back in two weeks. Maybe that’s a form of denial. Who knows? But there could be then on the other side of that, you could feel good about it. Like, well, this is just what we need to do right now. There’s some contentment there, and so I’ll just roll with it. So that’s part of the ending part of a transition. 

08:59
Ali Federwitz
And then there’s the deepest valley. Some people call it even a wilderness or a neutral zone. And that’s where a lot of mix of emotions come in. That’s where some feelings of, like, chaos, confusion, anxiety, emptiness, but as you’re coming up out of that, kind of, more towards this new beginning side of things, then you start to have some discovery about how this is really going to beneficial or the positives of it, and then working your way up to anticipation, some feelings of being peaceful with it or embracing whatever your new situation is. But on some sort of a curve, it looks like this nice line. Okay, I’m going to dip down into this valley and it’s going to be uncomfortable for a while. 

09:46
Ali Federwitz
But then I’m going to come out on the other side and I’m just going to be content and rejoicing at this new situation. But it’s not the truth. We can’t just plot along step one, step two, step three, and then just feel great about it. Because there’s never just one transition happening at a time. And I think that’s really what everyone is experiencing. Some people, for the first time, it’s thrown in their face. I’m thinking especially of families with children at home. The parents are now both working from home in many situations, and all the kids are home. And now we have to do life together and we still have to do our jobs together. And it can’t all happen at once. And then every single person in that household is experiencing this transition and they’re at different points on a curve. 

10:38
Ali Federwitz
If we can plot it out at different times. And you never just only move forward, you can slide back and forth and you can jump all around. It’s just not simple in a nice, neat package. So when people are feeling the impact of these transitions, it’s that extra layer of chaos. And even for those people that aren’t, for people who have maybe children who are out of the house, or people who are single, whatever the case may be, you are still impacted by the transitions that everybody in your circle are experiencing. So it just really impacts. Again, I’m going to go back to the mental health, the overall mental well-being picture of each individual person right now. 

11:22
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, there’s so many transitions happening all at once. And then each of those folks, if they would be plotted on the curve, those plots or those points don’t just move independently or in a vacuum of each other. They’re all pulling on each other. And then if I understand what you’re saying, is that each of those people also has a system of relationships or other things outside of that immediate home, and those are also pulling on the transitional experience. 

11:49
Ali Federwitz
Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, you can think about it as one individual person being in the center and then all these different, kind of, magnetic sites trying to pull you to one side or another, and then everyone’s coping mechanisms for each stage is going to be different. And again, in a vacuum, which doesn’t exist, you might be able to deal with that. But now we have someone who is in the grieving stage of a transition and somebody else who’s just like, hey, come on, this is great. And you’re trying to juggle it all at the same time. 

12:23
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And I think that when we look in materials about transitions, the Transitions book by Bridges, which, by the way, if you’re going to write a book about transition and your last name is already Bridges, you’re really doing well, I think. 

12:37
Ali Federwitz
But it’s golden. 

12:38
Rich Rudowske
Absolutely. Anyways, but usually the illustration kind of looks like, although if you read the text, it goes deeper than this, but one transition at a time would be really nice to go through this curve and be able to end well and deal with that and go through the uncertainty and then back to the new area of certainty. But that’s especially right now, not what’s going on. 

13:05
Ali Federwitz
Not at all. No, not at all. And I think it brings up two points for me that people often set these things aside and one is with each thing that feels like some sort of a loss or an unmet expectation, disappointments. There’s a grieving process that goes with it. I don’t know about you, but for me, the idea of grieving something that was not a death of a person, but like a loss of an item or an expectation or something like that, this idea was brand new to me. Ten years ago, somebody had to say, I think you’re not realizing that you’ve lost a lot of things and you need to grieve them. And I said, “What do you mean, like cry?” And the person said, “Well, you could,” but I’m not known as a person who can just outwardly emote like that. 

13:57
Ali Federwitz
So I had to find other ways. And sometimes it’s just as simple as saying, you know what? I really feel frustrated or I really feel angry that I don’t get to do that. And we’ve got losses all over the place right now. Losses of the sense of freedom and community interacting with other people. And then there are a lot of the graduations and the weddings and the baptisms that we don’t get to congregate. And those are really worth acknowledging and just however you need to grieve them, going ahead and doing that. But on the flip side, there are things to be celebrated that aren’t being given proper attention, because it’s like, well, what can we do right now? Well, we just need to be creative. And celebrations don’t have to be big parties. 

14:47
Ali Federwitz
If someone is really struggling with working from home or whatever the case may be, then you’ve got to reward yourself for making it through each day. And so what does that look like? Well, for some people, that’s taking a walk or that’s working in the garden or that’s eating some ice cream, those types of things, you have to give yourself rewards for doing these things. That might seem ridiculous, but now more than ever, it’s the time to recognize those, let’s call them extremes, both ends of the spectrum, the losses, and to recognize and celebrate those things that are accomplishments or need attention. And honestly praising God and thanking God for both things because He’s with you in all of it. And I just think that we need to help each other do that during this time and remind one another about that. 

15:42
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, that’s true. What are some ways that you’ve seen people doing that, especially when you think about the occasions which should have arisen, like a graduation or wedding? We have a conference that we’re going to have later this summer that we’re not going to be able to have in person. How are you seeing people adapt or make creative ways to still mark those occasions? 

16:05
Ali Federwitz
I was just on a comment thread on Facebook, someone trying to acknowledge an 8th grade graduation. So right, we think of graduating from high school or college, but a lot of schools now are doing this, even from preschool to kindergarten, these things. So it wouldn’t be maybe a walking-across-stage type of event. But what I’ve seen again, through social media from other people is, okay, so can you have people drive by your house? Can you decorate your car and go for a drive, open your windows, wave like you’re the queen? People decorating driveways with decorations or sidewalk chalk, having a front yard party. Your neighbors, if you start making noise, your neighbors will come out of their house, they’ll stay in their own yard. But you can all congregate and celebrate something that way. 

16:59
Ali Federwitz
So I think that there are ways to do those things. Even if you don’t normally have some sort of meal delivered to your house from a restaurant or whatever, maybe this is the time to do it. Order some special meal from a restaurant and enjoy it that way. 

17:18
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. So I think a question I have is, in transitions type of literature, they usually talk about that thing that’s ended doing well to be sure that has ended well, and dealing with unresolved things in that. How is that kind of not possible right now? Or how might that show itself to be something that becomes evident to be dealt with later? Does that question make sense? 

17:43
Ali Federwitz
It does. It actually feels to me like it’s rooted in the word trauma when things are left unresolved, or you have to set it aside for a certain amount of time. And I think that’s another thing, too. So maybe now is not the time to grieve something, or maybe now is not the time to celebrate something, but you do have to find a way to do it at some point or it will come back up again. And I think also that’s what this time is doing for people. The whole entire globe is experiencing a trauma, and some could say experiencing the same trauma, but we are doing it in a different way to a different degree. And for many people, their bodies are reacting in such a way that says, hey, this is familiar, I’ve done this before, I know what trauma is. 

18:31
Ali Federwitz
And sometimes they can click into some sort of healthy coping mechanism, or other times it’s the body reminding them of a trauma that they didn’t deal with. And now it’s even harder to be able to cope and connect with it. So I think mindfulness is really the key here, is just being mindful of yourself, because we can’t always deal with everything as it comes up. But however you make note of it, whether it’s physically writing a list, if you keep a good mental note of things, but if it has to be set aside, it needs to be dealt with at some future time. I’m hearing things from people, the same phrases over and over again about this time, that it feels surreal, that it feels otherworldly. And people say, this is something out of a movie or this is something out of a book. 

19:21
Ali Federwitz
And those are all ways to describe something where you are almost like removed from the situation. We sit and we watch a movie, we don’t participate in it. And this is your body trying to figure out how to make sense of it all and how to cope with it all. And really the way to deal with that, the best way is to take some time and really think, how am I feeling right now? How does this impact me? And from a personal side of things, there’s something about trauma. I’ve been cared for by other people through my own trauma, and that’s what brought me into member care in the first place because of that outpouring of love and support. 

20:02
Ali Federwitz
And so in a very strange way, when other people come to me with their own trauma, I feel like God is blessing me by allowing me to listen to them. But I went through my own trauma again at the beginning of this Covid-19 and got to the point where everywhere you turn, every website, every podcast, even like us, you can’t see anything without Covid-19 or coronavirus being on there somewhere. And so even seeing those words for me was what we call a ‘trigger’. And it sparked something inside of me that created anxiety right away. So you’re going to have people coming back to work who’ve experienced this pandemic in very different ways. 

20:54
Ali Federwitz
And since it’s been the only topic, some people are going to talk about it freely and comfortably and from a place of security and others are going to be like I was, I will say, I’m not at that place anymore, and that word is possibly going to make people feel like they need to crumble or hide. So it creates such a sensitive situation for bringing people back together. You talked about the phased approach of bringing people back together, and governments are working to make that happen, but it also mentally and emotionally, it’s like there needs to be a phased approach to protect people, to allow people to protect themselves as well. 

21:34
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, and I want to get to thinking a little bit about what some specific issues may be as people transition from now, where they’ve been in maybe the last six to eight weeks, to whatever is coming next and whenever that’s coming. But I guess before doing that, as people are in their situation, where they’re at now, are there things they could be doing to kind of be mindful of where they’re at right now and preparing themselves to have dealt with where they’ve come from at this point and where they are in preparation for the next transition, which is basically inevitable at this point? 

22:11
Ali Federwitz
Yeah, I can think of a couple of things, varying degrees of involvement and difficulty, and I think that’s also not being afraid to try something new to help individuals process things. We often think of people as, oh, that person’s really good with words, or they’re a writer, or they’re a thinker, or they are good with arts. But sometimes if you try something you’ve never tried before, it can really help you process things and understand maybe where you are. So I’d recommend people who aren’t normally into journaling, maybe pick up a journal and start writing a few things about where am I right now? How has this last eight weeks or whatever the time period is for somebody, how have they been for me? What have I experienced that’s been really positive, what’s been negative and hard, and what do I need help with? 

23:00
Ali Federwitz
How do I need to be supported for the foreseeable future? People can process things through art, prayer, devotion time, definitely. And just really asking God to bring those things to mind that he wants you to work on. But also laying all of those burdens right at the foot of the cross because Jesus died for Covid-19 too. And all of the things that we’re dealing with. So yeah, another thing, even a more analytical side of things, there are stress assessments. I’m thinking of one that’s really popular for those working cross-culturally, but is available, has implications for everybody, is the CernySmith Assessment, which can be done online. There are coaches who then help you read results and give you some advice along the way. 

23:52
Ali Federwitz
And then definitely whether or not your workplace health insurance allows for counseling, like the Employee Assistance Program, having somebody who can really help you identify some ways to help you. I keep using the word ‘cope’, but yes, some healthy coping mechanisms help you think through things. Maybe you’re stuck on something and you can’t get to the end of it. You can’t make peace of it. So I think it’s really important for those in leadership and administrative positions, to be well-versed in knowing those services and putting them in front of their people, even being so vulnerable as to say, hey, I’ve used this and I really want you to as well. If that’s true for them. May is mental health awareness month. So I feel like we’re going to be seeing more things, especially those who are engaging on social media. 

24:43
Ali Federwitz
They’re going to be seeing posts and things like that. So more and more people are kind of putting things out there about their own mental health situations, and I think the stigma from all of that is lifting. But we just need to really be putting those things in front of our people. If not for a professional counselor, some people that’s not available to them, definitely someone who is a trusted person who you really feel like you can open up to and share with, even for those people who wouldn’t necessarily consider themselves open. But if you get the right person who can ask the right question, you’ll find yourself sharing some things that were locked inside that really do need to come out. 

25:26
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. And I think for leaders especially too, I lead here in this organization, which is deployed quite a bit of the time anyways, so have some experience with that. And now we’re almost completely deployed. But reminding folks of the services, the insurance, and putting it out there repeatedly. If you feel like you’re talking about it all the time and it’s too much, it’s not too much, folks will hear it in the time that is right for them. It’s going to land when they need to hear it. And so you really can’t over communicate at a time like this. I think that’s one thing we’ve seen our executive director do well for. There was a period of, it seemed like every single day he would say, remember that the member care folks are here for you and you just need to reach out to them. 

26:07
Rich Rudowske
And just that repetitive communication at a time like this for the leaders is huge. And doing a real service for your people. 

26:15
Ali Federwitz
That’s right. You cannot overstate something or put it in front of people too many times. And that speaks to the kind of mental health aspect too, because we’re inundated with so many different things. And if someone’s experiencing a high level of stress or anxiety, even though you say, hey, this service is available, they might not be in a place where they’re ready to hear it. So you do have to keep saying it on a regular basis until that person finally realizes, hey, I should tap into that resource. 

26:42
Rich Rudowske
So I kind of wanted to think in terms of, again, some of our experience we do to prepare folks to work in an intercultural setting as we talk about things like culture shock. And I want to talk a little bit about that, especially for thinking of the return to the office whenever that happens for our listeners, how to be prepared or be aware, because culture shock, and maybe putting you on the spot a little, but just kind of briefly describe what it is. And what I’m getting at is when folks aren’t expecting it is when it hits them the hardest. 

27:15
Ali Federwitz
Yeah. So culture shock is tricky, I think, in many ways, because, again, we experience it differently, but it is that kind of disorientation. Who am I? Where do I fit in? This is not operating the way I would expect it to, and I can’t figure out how it is functioning or how I fit into it. And so I think that will relate to coming back into an office situation, because things are the same, but they’re not at all the same. You have maybe all of the same people and you have the same building, but now how are we relating to one another and how are we interacting with one another and with culture shock, that feeling of isolation that I’m alone even though I’m surrounded by people. 

28:05
Ali Federwitz
And I think that will be a very common thing that people feel because now we’ve been doing this social distancing thing and it’s so odd. Even if you’re not interacting with people that you would come into physical contact with if you wouldn’t hug, you might shake hands, you’re going to brush shoulders as you walk down the hallway, you’re going to stand and wait your turn for coffee and probably chat for a little bit. So these things are going to fit into that kind of surreal, otherworldly type of feeling and also feed some more of this isolation feeling. 

28:44
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, that’s really true. I think just one of the strangest things about social distance and what it has done to my mind, in a way, anyways, is we like to think of people in general as people are precious to us. They’re God’s creation, dearly loved by them, and so highly valuable to us. But now, in a period of social distancing, the first thought that is compelled to come to my mind is this is someone that I should fear somehow. I mean, if I just get down to the bottom of it, what if this person can make me sick? What if I can make this person sick? And that’s one of the disorienting things I think about social distancing, and that will need to be. It will be enforced in most workplaces. 

29:27
Rich Rudowske
So if you work in a work environment with people that you really have come to cherish and love and respect, you still have now this weird dynamic that wasn’t there before. And that’s kind of what I’m thinking of with culture shock affects people the worst if we use that term for it when they don’t expect it. Like when I went as a new missionary to Botswana, I had training in culture shock. I knew it was going to be different, really personally and with my family, developed reasonable expectations, and that helped us to cope. By contrast, I grew up in blue collar Michigan, and my first call as a pastor was to an affluent, white collar, suburban Ohio neighborhood. And so I came in thinking, this is just the like, I was actually disappointed when I got that assignment. I’m from Michigan. 

30:16
Rich Rudowske
I said, I’ll go anywhere in the world. And they send me to Ohio. And I know you’re from Ohio, and so you know how we feel about each other between Michigan and Ohio. But I came in there just thinking, okay, well, I know how this is. And I had the worst culture shock, not understanding how white collar life is different than blue collar life and the values and just things that I didn’t expect. And it was mainly because I didn’t expect. There was no categories there. So I think that’s really important if you’re returning to your workplaces to have an idea that things won’t be different and try to come to grips with how to set reasonable expectations. 

30:51
Ali Federwitz
Absolutely. And I think that also comes the need for leadership, to have very clear communication with people before returning to work as much as they can about what people should expect to see, what is going to be visibly different, and then what are the policies and things that we are enforcing that are, this is policy. This is what needs to be followed. And if it comes down to things in the office being moved around and actually looking different, why not make sure that’s part of one of your video conferencing meetings so that people can see before they show up what to expect, so that when you walk in, it’s not the same type of impact, it’s not the same kind of a shock. 

31:36
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, I think that’s really key. I think it’s just interesting. Some folks will have really leaned into and be enjoying the work from home experience and may not really want to come back, or there might be things they found as positive, or there could still be some fear of the transmission of the virus and what’s going to happen. And I think other folks, if their work from home experience hasn’t been optimal, could set the office experience up on a pedestal and say, when I get back, that’s when I’ll be able to get back in the swing of things and really be who I was vocationally, professionally before this all happened. And I guess what’s the danger in that kind of thinking? 

32:20
Ali Federwitz
Yeah, sure. Those are definitely the unrealistic expectations that are going to end with them being then unmet expectations. And that’s where I think it’s important, whether in a conversation with a coworker or someone in that type of a role at work about not only what is expected of that person once they return to work, because from the admin side of things, expectations will also need to change. So communicating those expectations clearly, but a trusted friend or maybe the counselor to kind of speak truth of the situation. Again, the building is the same, but the functioning is going to be different. And it’s exactly like what you’re describing from your first call. You expected the scenarios to be the same, and even though maybe things looked the same, the way they functioned were different. 

33:18
Ali Federwitz
So I think it really is taking time to evaluate where I am right now in finding the truth of it and remembering what were the positives and what were the negatives of the office before I left. Because you’re right, putting it on a pedestal, you like to forget those things that were frustrating, right? Well, chances are those things that are frustrating haven’t changed unless you shared an office and now you get some sort of a divider and that’s what you wanted. Most of the time, when we leave a situation that’s frustrating, even though we get a break away from it, we come back and we realize, oh yes, I never dealt with that. So dealing with those things before returning is important. 

34:00
Ali Federwitz
I think that this is really the time to bear one another’s burdens in many ways and knowing your own limits for how you’re able to do that. With Lutheran Bible Translators, we really have a great relationship amongst staff and missionaries, and I feel it’s just such a safe place to be able to share with people personally. But I know that a lot office situations aren’t like that, and it certainly helps that we are a christian organization. So secular organizations might not have that kind of camaraderie and that type of care, but you can still figure out how am I able to check in with my coworker? How am I able to see what this work from home time was for them? What are my limits for what can I hear from them? 

34:47
Ali Federwitz
You have to know your own boundaries for taking that on, but also from the administrative side of things too. If this does not seem like a safe environment, physically safe because of COVID restrictions and things like that, but also emotionally safe, people aren’t going to be able to function properly at work. I heard an acronym the other day in a member care training course I popped in on, and it’s C.U.R.E., C-U-R-E is the acrony, and I’ll need to find the actual source. But Harry Hoffman was the one running the course and some advice he gave just for member care in general, but I think it works very well for when approaching people in a situation like this. But first you want to make a connection with somebody, and that’s the C: Connect. 

35:36
Ali Federwitz
And then you want to you Understand their situation or what they’ve experienced. You want to do those things before you have any sort of an R, a response to them. And those responses often end. People like to give advice in situations like that, so they often end that way. And then the E is to engage in helping them or evaluating a situation. And I just thought that was a really good thing to remember. So let’s take the human side of things. Let’s make a personal connection with people. Let’s really try to understand them before we do any sort of response where we might even offer some sort of a help. We want to listen first before we do any helping or advice giving or, for that matter, judging. I think that’s really a gift that we can give one another during this time. 

36:24
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, I think one advantage that we as an organization had before any of this happened is we really made a deliberate effort to do what it took to have a good, healthy culture here in this office. And that’s what I’m speaking to any leaders, particularly listening. That’s the intangible, that if you haven’t invested in before, if when your office broke up, it was not really going well, that’s the intangible that makes so much bearable and makes folks able to deal with any number of things. And so Ali and I are going to collaborate on a small document that we’ll put as podcast notes for this episode. 

37:05
Rich Rudowske
If you picked up this podcast from Spotify or iTunes or whatever, if you go to our website, lbt.org/podcast, there’ll be a short document on there and some of the stuff Ali talked about and some resources for further reading. We’ll share that with you. And I’m going to also drop a couple things on there just about creating a healthy office culture. That’s a subject for many other podcasts, but a different episode, but it really helped us get a leg up on the situation when went into it. Well, thanks Ali for being with us today and glad to hear your thoughts and we appreciate all that the member care team does for LBT. 

37:43
Rich Rudowske
Like I said, we really had a leg up on a lot of folks, I think, in just being able to deal with the situation by already coming into this situation with a good, positive culture, and your team certainly helps foster that. So I appreciate you being with me today. 

37:59
Ali Federwitz
Thanks for letting me be here, Rich. 

38:04
Rich Rudowske
Thanks to Ali Federwitz for being our guest on the podcast today. One thing I love that Ali demonstrated for us at several points in our conversation was to have the balance between having good categories to think through and healthy approaches to transition, with important reminders that all things are in God’s hands. And at a certain point, our ability to cope and manage only goes so far, and we need to intentionally lay our burdens at the foot of the cross. If you’d like to dig a little deeper on any of the issues we talked about, look for more resources in the podcast notes for this episode on www.lbt.org/podcast thank you for listening to the Essentially Translatable Podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible Translators. 

38:46
Rich Rudowske
You can subscribe to receive new episodes in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Lutheran Bible Translators on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or go to www.lbt.org to find out how you can get involved in the Bible translation movement and put God’s Word in their hands. The essentially translatable podcast is edited and produced by Andrew Olson. Executive producer is Amy Gertz. Music written and performed by Rob Veith. I’m Rich Rodowske. So long for now.