“The success of reopening largely depends on how you can process the traumas and challenges of the past year”, said Hesna Al Ghaoui, host of the “Strength from Crisis – The Psychology of Reopening” series, in the intro of the second episode. “Since the players of tourism, catering and the music industry were all heavily affected by the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, the experience gained by today’s guests over the past year can be especially interesting”, added the other host, Judit Endrei-Kiss, Telenor’s Chief HR Officer who added that different people can have very different experiences and perceptions about the same event, and a crisis can bring new energies and ideas into play.
ByeAlex was badly affected by the lockdown and he talked openly about the mental challenges he faced during the lengthy pandemic period. “Covid is obviously not my number one problem. There are other issues and thoughts in my head I was left alone with. When I have emotional problems, I like running ahead and escaping them in which music and the associated lifestyle help me a lot. But then came Covid and it didn’t leave me alone.” The musician honestly talked about how difficult it was for him to accept that large festivals were cancelled also this year and he hardly had an opportunity to meet his audience live over the past year. “Music taught me how to come to love people and I started losing this ability during Covid and I don’t want to feel that.”
Károly Gerendai, businessman, cultural manager and founder of Sziget Festival, also admitted that facing Covid-related challenges was difficult for him.
“I suffered mentally from the fact that the world didn’t work the way I wanted it to and I lost control. Yet, I had to stay strong and be a model for my environment. I couldn’t afford to collapse because that would have caused problems to many other people.” Gerendai switched to crisis mode: “For more than a year now, I’ve tried to develop scenarios and encourage colleagues to try things, rather than just sit and expect the world to do us favours.” He believes that he and his team were forced to experiment with many things during the pandemic that would have never come to their mind without it. And many of these things will stay with us also after the pandemic – be it a private chef cooking in your home or online concerts. “I was struggling with two conflicting emotions. One was helplessness that sort of paralysed me while the other one was the urge to act, to do something and find a way forward”, said Gerendai who believes that the sense of uncertainty made fear a factor in management decisions during the pandemic.
The second episode of the video series addresses the professional and mental difficulties people in different life situations had to face during the pandemic and reviews the solutions that were born from necessity but turned out to be innovative and successful enough to stay with us in the long run.
The hosts and their guests also discussed the mental and physical challenges of the long-awaited reopening. One of the key goals of the series is to provide a platform for discussion, break taboos and make people aware that you are free to feel good and learn or profit from challenges. And you are also free to feel bad, have negative emotions and talk about them. For this reason, the hosts are very grateful to ByeAlex and Károly Gerendai for honestly sharing their thoughts about their ups and downs and the way they feel on the brink of reopening. Your road to success is often paved with failure, and this is especially true in the COVID era.
For the second episode of the series please click here: https://youtu.be/Jsqe1iyxDXI
About the series:
The coronavirus pandemic and the associated restrictions have turned people’s lives upside down generating lots of stress, fear and anxiety. But reopening, getting back to normal (or new normal) also brings about at least as much emotional pressure, dilemma and inherent conflict. In the video series supported by Telenor, Hesna Al Ghaoui and Judit Endrei-Kiss want to give people ammunition, inspiration for that and present exemplary human, community and workplace stories while chatting with their guests.
In the six episodes, guests will share their thoughts related to the given episode of the “Strength from Crisis” series. Guests include Károly Gerendai, ByeAlex, Anikó Baji, Réka Lukoviczki “Robotgirl”, Dr. Márta Fülöp, Zoltán Gazsi, József Balatoni “Jocó bácsi”, Norbert Michelisz and several other well-known experts and public figures. The “Strength from Crisis – The Psychology of Reopening” video series is supported by HR Fest as a professional partner.
In the first episode of the series, the theme of grief, letting go and restart was discussed by Health Communication Expert Anikó Baji who has been working in the frontline, at the emergency triage unit of Uzsoki hospital since the beginning of the pandemic, Réka Lukoviczki Réka “Robotgirl”, blogger, inspirational speaker and model and Diána Hajdu-Kis, organisational development coach and grief counsellor.