When Tragedy Strikes

A national tragedy or a personal tragedy has a huge impact at work. And, workplaces can help people successfully weather the tragedy. They can ease the passage people experience during tragedy. They can help people deal with the helplessness and grief they experience during tragedy. They can provide a support system to help prop people up during grief.

Thursday's murder of 13 people and wounding of 31, who had promising lives, families who loved them, and futures yet unexperienced, at Fort Hood, by Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist soon to be deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq (sources vary), is a major workplace tragedy. Fortunately, most of us will never experience a tragedy of these epic dimensions.

But, anyone who works and develops relationships in their workplace experiences tragedy, nonetheless. Coworkers die; their family members suffer catastrophic illness, and dreadful incidents happen to good people. So, even when tragedies are closer to home, these thoughts will help you deal with your workplace tragedies.

While the Fort Hood shootings will be remembered for their tragic consequences, heroism lived there, too. Celebrate Sergeant Kimberly Munley's heroism. Perhaps none of us will ever experience the terrifying reality of an armed gunman, but I'd like to think that if we did, we would rise to the occasion just like she did. And, even as I speak, more stories of heroism emerge from Fort Hood.

Officials at Fort Hood have established two hotlines for family members to obtain information about their loved ones.

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