The Carnival That Wasn’t; The Leadership That Must Continue To Be

“Well they moan and they fuss and they say we want we fete/And they ‘buse and they cuss and they say this is a threat/Yes, they damn and they blast, and they say we hope it ain't true/They won't dare to cancel we jump up 1972.”

This famous opening line of Lord Kitchener’s masterpiece, Rainorama, paints a timeless picture of the angst that swept Trinidad and Tobago back in 1972 when, in the midst of a polio outbreak, the Government made the decision to postpone the annual Carnival celebrations in February.

Of course, if you know how the rest of the song goes, or like me, you were alive at the time when all this was current, you would know that Carnival was moved to May, when (ironically, one could suppose) heavy rains put a damper on the festivities. But, inclement weather notwithstanding, the festival still took place and people had that much needed release.

Fast forward to nearly a half century (and almost to the day later) to a time when a different viral scourge currently ravages economies and societies the world over, and we found ourselves in a similar situation. Only this time, instead of a postponement, Carnival was cancelled.

Whether one agrees with the decision or not, objective thinking will lead you to agree that it was the right one if we are to be serious about protecting our people and serving the greater common good.

Not surprisingly, the decision also brought a great deal of anxiety, regardless of their individual and/or collective enjoyment of the festival.

In fact, if your social media timelines were anything like mine, the tension was almost palpable. Many posted videos and photos of their past Carnival activities, using the #tbt (Throwback Thursday) to reinforce how much they were missing the Season. Moreover, it seemed that they were relying on nostalgia and memory as a salve for the pain of a year with no Carnival.

On an aside, undeterred, even in the face of the pandemic, several artistes, entertainers, fete promoters and the like embraced the digital wave and tried to integrate our usual celebrations into the cybersphere.

While these were met with varying degrees of success and receptivity, each attempt was, without exception, commendable in preserving a cultural staple and in helping an entire nation adjust to the stark reality that as the New Normal brings changes that can be particularly unpleasant, it also propels us to relook at the way we do things.

In compelling us to look around, it also motivates us to look ahead.

But what does a cancelled annual event have to do with the new leadership we each seek to understand, channel, and propagate? In a word. Everything.

The impacts that having no Carnival in 2021 have had on our nation will continue to reveal themselves over time. However, as leaders, we can scarcely afford to bide time until they do. Because it’s easy to be a strong leader when your teams are happy and motivated, but how can we motivate our people when their morale is low?

Our teams’ mental health took a serious blow with the absence of Carnival. We, as leaders, also took a similar (if not equal) hit. Rather than see this as yet another obstacle in becoming a great leader, however, it is a rare opportunity, like those who persevered in bringing Carnival festivity to life in the COVID-19 age, to do things differently…to do them better.

And it starts with our mental and emotional health.

Light a Candle

“It is far better to light a single candle than it is to curse the darkness.”

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc. While the virus has taken (and continues to take) its toll on our physical health and wellbeing, as well as our under siege healthcare systems, it is the “unseen” damage to our mental and emotional health that perhaps poses the greatest threat.

In a study conducted by the tech company, Oracle, and the Human Resource Research and Advisory firm, Workplace Intelligence, of the 12,000 employees, managers, and executives interviewed across 11 countries, they discovered that the pandemic had significantly increased workplace stress and burnout rates across the board.

The study also found that up to 70% of respondents said they were more stressed and anxious at work than ever before. Coming back to our sweet little isle and home to the Greatest Show on Earth, it can be rightly assumed that the absence of our Carnival, that majestic and cathartic release which many look forward to has, and will continue to have, deleterious effects on our teams, our people, our nation.

Just how far reaching and bad remains to be seen. But, as leaders, we cannot afford to wait for that to happen. Added to this potential toxic mix is the fact that with the slowed down economy, jobs and businesses on the line, the stress of remote working and the growing disconnect as we continue to social distance, the proverbial light at the end of tunnel seemingly looks farther off than ever.

Many within our teams are losing hope; going through the motions of the day to day, just to get through. This isn’t living. It’s surviving. And any organisation that has teams just surviving will find itself in trouble, for when circumstances change, our people, who have been in that depressed mindset, will not be prepared to adjust.

Granted we Trinbagonians are regarded by many as an easy going, adaptable people, but even the longest rope has its end. As leaders, we cannot afford to wait for the rope’s end. As leaders, we have an opportunity…no, we have an obligation to do what we can to safeguard and promote our teams’ health and wellbeing.

We also must safeguard and promote our own.

Develop Your Emotional Literacy

“Being a leader is a far deeper responsibility than leading the business outcome alone. As leaders, we have an unending ability to impact the health and lives of our team, and change how our fellow human beings thrive in their daily life.” – Mimi Nicklin, Author, Softening the Edge.

The challenge that we face as leaders, during this fragile time, is to walk the walk as we talk the talk. We need to move past the rhetoric and the systematic steps that we believe will aid our teams’ development and their continued adoption of good behaviours.

In putting ourselves in their shoes, we need to embody the very behaviours we wish to see from them. These include demonstrating a positive mindset, staying tuned to the emotional needs of others, and establishing clear boundaries around workload and our expectations of our teams.

And this all begins with showing an appropriate degree of openness with ourselves and our teams to facilitate and foster honest conversation on mental health issues. In being more empathetic, let us try to move away from telling our teams what we want and listening more to what they need.

Is this to say that leaders are to transform into genies and grant every wish and desire? Of course not. But how can we understand what our people are going through unless we ask them? Unless we listen to them? These are some of the key steps necessary to helping our teams develop strengthen their emotional literacy. They are the very steps we, as leaders, need to undertake to develop our own emotional literacy.

Dr Alan Watkins, co-author of HR (R)Evolution: Change The Workplace, Change The World, says, “People who suffer with anxiety, depression or many other unhelpful emotional states are often unable to turn on and sustain more positive emotional states. But no one has taught them how to do this. We have yet to develop the skill of emotional literacy and emotional regulation.”

We’ve only scratched the surface of this particular discussion, but perhaps we’ve broken good ground in addressing the importance of developing our emotional literacy. I would very much like to continue this talk in next month’s chat. Maybe some new information will come our way and we can delve into it.

What are some of the thoughts you have about this? Share them and let’s discuss them.

Oh, before I forget. I began with a quote from Lord Kitchener, so it’s only fitting I end with one. This is from another perennial hit, No Wuk (Work) for Carnival.

“I want to spread the news loud and clear/Spread it for all employers to hear/Tell them when it come to Carnival time/Wuk to a Trini is a big crime/All before Carnival we go wuk/Sunday to Sunday right round the clock/But Carnival Saturday is my last/Then we want we freedom to play we Mas.”