How to thrive in a crisis

Marie Taylor unpicks the hallmarks and lays out practical tips you and your team can take

When our environment seems to change every day, never more so than in the midst of a pandemic, there is more potential than ever for people to be tipped into a state of crisis – and there are any number of things that can be the cause.

It might be a mental health crisis, identity crisis, an accident, a lawsuit, a family disruption or the loss of a job or loved one.

Crises can also be caused by positive experiences too. Most people would consider the birth of a child to be a blessing, or a marriage to be a time of joy. But sometimes that can initiate a crisis too.

In this article, we will explore the steps you can take in a crisis and the route to turn it around.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE FACED WITH A CRISIS When crisis strikes, there are a number of states we go through as we try to process what is happening. These include some of the following…

Shock The first thing that happens is a person goes into a state of shock. People report a sense that things are surreal. They experience the feeling life is turning into a movie they are watching. They also experience a brain fog and thinking becomes difficult.

Shock is a difficult thing to describe. It’s the feeling of stasis and the more you resist the worse it gets.

Some crises, though, don’t allow for the luxury of sitting still, particularly if it involves immediate danger. We’ll consider a four-step plan to tackle these circumstances later.

But if you are not under immediate threat, the way to deal with that initial shock is through stillness.

The body needs an intense amount of focused presence and stillness in order to deal with the flood of hormonal chemicals that put you into fight, flight or freeze mode.

It’s not possible, in that state, to deliver sound judgement and objective decision-making. So when you’re in shock, you’ll need to resist all your urges and powerfully do nothing.

Reactivity This is a self-preservation strategy. You may succumb to knee-jerk reactions and follow a pattern of behaviour that worked successfully at some point in the past.

A person who has learned the best way to defend themselves is to fight back will immediately get defensive, agitated, and will get into more fights and disagreements.

A person who has learned to take responsibility is going to react by immediately blaming themselves. When we are reacting, we are not accepting what’s happening. We are proactively resisting and trying to come out of the crisis situation unscathed. This resistance, or refusal, to accept makes it a time of extreme frustration, anger and heightened anxiety. If you find yourself in that moment of reactivity, the most effective way through it is to recognise that it is happening. There is an intense polarisation between the part of you that’s trying to protect yourself and that which is trying to mitigate or minimise.

Meaning An obsession with the ‘meaning’ of a crisis is still a version of a refusal to accept what has happened.

It rests on the belief that if you could fully understand it you could in some way prevent or mitigate the consequences.

When searching for meaning you’ll become obsessed with finding out the truth (the could’ve, should’ve, would’ve).

In this phase you’re going to want to tell your story as many times as you can so you can grasp

the meaning of it. If you don’t feel like you have a confidante to talk to, writing it out or keeping a journal instead is the next best option. It’s also a time when people start bargaining: Maybe if I can change my bad habits? Maybe if I can do better? This is an attempt to understand and therefore gain control over the experience that’s making you feel so out of control.

Acceptance and processing Accepting is different to what

most people think. You start to realise that once you can’t prevent something, you can only take proactive steps from where you are now. You are also accepting that it involves some degree of pain.

To accept does not mean to like! When swallowing the reality and validity of something, typically people start confronting their feelings of powerlessness relative to the situation. Once acceptance occurs, and a person levels with the reality of what’s happening, defence mechanisms start to diminish. A person focuses less on the story, and trying to understand, and mentally switches to what they can do about it now. They also start to let go of what doesn’t make sense to hold onto anymore.

What can I do with what I have now?

Reorientation When the world takes all the cards and throws them up in the air, the reorienting phase is when they get

organised in a whole new form.

This is the critical phase when re-imagining a “new normal”. It’s the finding of a new sense of direction, deciding which cards you’re going to play next, and this phase is the most fun.

Even though when you look back you’ll see this phase was difficult, you’ll also see how it made more of instead of taking away from you.

HOW TO MOVE THROUGH THESE PHASES

It’s critical to understand these phases and how to move through them relative to a crisis. If any of them are resisted you could get stuck.

Some people do get stuck in long-term shock. They get stuck retelling their story, or trying to find the meaning phase, so they never reach a place where, deep down, they accept what has happened.

This is why all the mainstream mental health campaigns encourage people to talk and be open about what’s going on for them.

What this means is we have to face any resistance to any of these phases, allow them to occur, and relax in the knowledge that whatever phase we are in right now, it will pass.

But you can’t skip a step.

The good news is you are hard wired to survive a crisis and you will get through it. The concept of thriving in a crisis is a concept you use so that whatever you face becomes woven into the tapestry of who you are becoming. It needs

to add instead of diminishing you.

HOW TO REACT BEST IN A CRISIS WHERE YOU NEED TO RESPOND IMMEDIATELY Once you’re out of immediate danger these four steps are the first to take. Please note, if you are in danger you won’t get this ‘right’. Mistakes will be made and that’s OK.

Step 1 Diaphragmatic breathing: take breaths as deep as you can. This

means breathing into your lower back, filling up to the bottom of your rib cage. This helps you mitigate panic, because panic stops you from prioritising well.

Step 2 Get the situation under control: prioritise people over property and call emergency teams depending on the crisis you find yourself in.

Step 3 Analyse: What happened, what happens now, and what happens next? Have you experienced anything like this before? What did you learn then that you can use now? What can you do in the next minutes, hours, and weeks? Think through any unintended consequences of a course of action you decide to take now. There may be a domino effect.

Step 4 Act in alignment with your values.

In a crisis everyone wants relief.

This can mean the desire for relief causes you to look at things that don’t align with what is important to you. You may compromise your ideals or the things you value.

Stick to your morals and conscience and only take actions now that won’t keep you up at night in the future. If in doubt choose the moral high ground.

PUTTING YOURSELF IN A POSITION TO RESPOND WELL Leadership and your ability to thrive in a crisis is built upon being able to regulate emotionally. In a crisis, that means lowering your stress response in the situation you’re in so you begin functioning from your rational objective mind and using your intuition.

All crises have an element of surprise. You are hard wired to react so you can’t stop it unless you are aware of it.

Practice noticing when you are reacting. If you resolve the reaction you are having internally, this lowers stress and allows you to respond better. Three ways to reduce reaction:

Breathe in for two counts, hold for four, out for eight, and no breath for two before you repeat the process.

Seek out deep touch – squeeze your forearm and/or your ankle. This calms the overall charge in your nervous system. You can also grab a blanket and wrap it tight. This sense of containment is a way the nervous system tries to naturally sedate and bring down stress chemicals. Bringing the knees to the chest also has the same effect.

Create resources for yourself. Good sleep: Regularly playing the same piece of music or calming sounds, just before you go to sleep, will train the unconscious part of the mind (associated with learning and behaviour change) that these sounds signal it’s time to be sleep. After a short time, your brain will automatically associate the sounds with calmness and sleep and become a tool if insomnia strikes. Explore: While you’re planning your response, look at the recipe or ingredients that constitutes the crisis with which you are dealing. What’s the expectation that’s been unfulfilled or what’s the attributed of the unsuccessful communication?

If these options fail to create calm, it could be you have a deeper unconscious wound from the past that this latest crisis is triggering. In these circumstances a therapist or coach can help you overcome this. A local Master Practitioner of NLP or Time Line TherapyTM will give you someone who can help you efficiently but gently move forward.

Simplify When you’re faced with a crisis, get anything unnecessary off your plate. If the crisis is in your club, focus on what you can do right now (and delegate the rest). But take one thing at a time. Practice taking things off your plate:

What can you do to stop thinking about it?

What goals can you put on the back burner?

What daily chores or activities could you pause or remove from the to-do list?

What appointment can you cancel?

What have you said yes to that you need to back out of?

Now list things that require your focus. For some, this will include daily exercise. For others, doing daily exercise will feel like pressure. This list will be unique to you and will change as you move through your situation.

Marie J. Taylor is Communications Executive at the GCMA and a Master Practitioner of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) and Time Line TherapyTM.

If you are in a crisis, or if you or any other person is in danger, you can get immediate help from: Samaritans – Whatever you’re going through, a Samaritan will face it with you. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call free on 116 123. Or call emergency services on 999.

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Coronavirus has had a huge impact on greenkeepers and, reveal BIGGA, it’s more vital than ever that your teams get the help and support they need

The Rowbottom family with John, pictured left, at Woolley Park

Golf clubs are enjoying a spike in players this year and there have been many stories about golf clubs increasing their membership.

When the UK began to reopen after lockdown, the sport of golf was one of the first to get back up and running thanks in part to a unified approach from various bodies including the GCMA, The R&A and BIGGA. Golf clubs reopened because these bodies and others had worked sensibly and with expert knowledge to operate safely throughout the heightened restrictions and had presented a unified case regarding how the game could be played in a safe manner. Played outside, with no physical contact between players and strict regulations on contact points, golf was an ideal candidate to get the world moving again and fingers crossed that has paid off, with no horror stories about clubs being hit with the virus.

Within the greenkeeping team, course managers and head greenkeepers who had grown accustomed to managing staffing, budgets and long-term planning found themselves back out on the course as golf clubs utilised the Government’s Job Retention Scheme – on average, each club furloughed more than half of their greenkeeping team.

For head greenkeepers at smaller clubs who go about their regular daily business with tiny budgets and resources stretched, that may

have meant just an extension of their usual duties. But for anyone else, the shift was devastating. From a career dedicated to making golf courses as picture perfect as can be to being told to leave areas to go unmanaged, many found it incredibly difficult. And the highest levels of the game were impacted just as much as the lowest, with Royal St George’s course manager Paul Larsen seeing his plans for the year switch from the hosting of The Open to merely trying to keep the fairways in manageable order.

“I had good and bad days, but I was so busy that I didn’t have time to think,” said Paul. “I was working 11 hours a day and when I got home, I had just enough energy to cook for myself and then I was knackered and slept like a log. The hardship for me was I wasn’t with my lad, Elliott. He lives with his mum and I wasn’t able to see him. We speak on the phone every night, but it was hard not being able to see him.”

When lockdown was announced and golf facilities went into stasis, the clubhouse lights were switched off, caterers stopped ordering supplies and turned off equipment and pro shops

The greenkeeping team at work at the Hero Open at Forest of Arden

closed. You can’t put a golf course into stasis, though, and the greenkeepers kept working, often alone and for extended periods. Others were furloughed and at a time when they are usually gearing up for the busiest period of the year, they were stuck inside, home schooling children or finding other ways to pass their time. For a group of people who are used to working in the outdoors and who care deeply for the course they present, it was incredibly difficult and groups such as the Greenkeepers Mental Health Group have reported increased activity.

John Rowbottom is head greenkeeper at Woolley Park in Yorkshire. He said: “Having a young family stuck at home and me having to work most of the week was one of the toughest things. My daughter is five and my son is two, so having school, nursery and that routine taken away was difficult for them. Home schooling was difficult and my wife took on a lot of the responsibility, but it was difficult not being there to help every day.

“I have grown up in a family business where working every day is normal to us. For those periods when I was furloughed, to have to shut down was tough mentally. I’m an outdoor person who enjoys working, so after a week of no work I was beginning to climb the walls. I really felt for some of my team who experienced this for a lot longer.”

You’ll have heard the phrase ‘essential maintenance’ a lot since March and that defined what work greenkeepers like John could complete during lockdown. It meant greens could be mown a maximum of three times per week, while fairways and tees could be managed just once a week. That sounds like it would remove a lot of the burden for those working, but when you have only one or two staff on an entire golf course, it remains a massive amount of work.

Since lockdown eased, those maintenance restrictions have been lifted and golfers are expecting courses to return to normal, with little awareness that at many clubs, the important income stream provided by the Job Retention Scheme has meant clubs haven’t returned staff from furlough as quickly as you may expect. Essentially, at the height of summer

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greenkeepers have been expected to provide regular playing conditions with fewer staff, reduced resources and ongoing requirements regarding social distancing.

Put bluntly, that’s just not possible and if your course is looking and playing well at the moment, then the greenkeeping team need praising because they’re doing an amazing job.

Sadly, that work hasn’t always been appreciated and during this summer the narrative quickly switched from how glad people were to be out on the course to the loss of jobs and greenkeepers’ fears about providing for their

family. Calls to the horticultural charity Perennial and BIGGA’s own charity, the Greenkeepers Benevolent Fund, increased exponentially. BIGGA staff are dealing with increasing numbers of members encountering hardship or asking for guidance through employment disputes. The sun may be shining and golfers may be golfing, but behind the scenes, there are deep concerns.

Some clubs had the added challenge of the European Tour’s UK Swing, the Rose Ladies Series and other major events. It took 17 staff seven weeks to take the Forest of Arden from ‘essential maintenance’ standards up to European Tour standards for the Hero English Open. That’s a superhuman effort and most clubs won’t be able to get anywhere near that standard, nor will the resources even be in place to achieve that.

“What can I say, panic set in straight away and I’ll never forget it!” said the Forest of Arden’s course manager Rob Rowson. “But I must say, my team did a fine job, together with support from other golf clubs in the surrounding area. My thanks go to everyone involved in making the event the success it was.”

Clockwise: Social distancing at Royal St George’s, Rob Rowson and Aidan Williams at Forest of Arden, and Colin Webber shows his appreciation for the NHS alongside his dog, Nelly

Greenkeeping isn’t just about mowing the grass. We’re not going to insult your intelligence by telling you that. As a pro-active club manager, you know that there’s so much more that goes into the maintenance of a modern golf course.

But what distinguishes those golf clubs that are recovering well and those who are struggling?

There are clearly a number of differentiating factors, but a well-educated and professional greenkeeping team is chief among them. Key to that is giving your team access to networking and educational opportunities, such as those provided by membership associations such as BIGGA. Not only is it morally right to look after your staff, but membership of an association and promoting a culture of professional development at your club is a way to support them in a cost-effective way that means you retain your high-quality staff and the course continues to operate at the standard your members have come to expect.

Membership of BIGGA provides your greenkeeping team with access to a global network of industry experts and opportunities to develop their own knowledge

and experience, often at little or no cost. On a personal level, they also gain access to legal advice and financial support if they encounter hardship.

Will the post-COVID golf boom last? The economy is taking a hit, so your members have less money. The Bank of England has estimated that unemployment will hit 7.5% so job cuts are happening.

The same forecast says GDP will be 5% down at the end of 2020, taking a year to recover to pre-pandemic levels. When those members who signed up as the sun shone during June and July get their renewals notice early

John Rowbottom and his daughter on the Woolley Park course back in May

next year, will it be seen as a luxury they feel pressured to do without?

“This is harvest time,” BIGGA President and Portmore Golf Park owner Colin Webber wrote in his August column for BIGGA’s monthly journal, Greenkeeper International.

“But when winter arrives it won’t last and the key thing is to focus on surviving through until the next summer, the next harvest.”

The question is, when renewals come up next April, what will people look for?

Golfers rate the course condition as their number one priority when choosing where to play. As The R&A states, “the mark of a good golf course is one that: caters for a desirable level of play throughout the year… provides fair and consistent playing surfaces… sits inclusively within the local natural environment and adds to the landscape of the vicinity”.

Costs should be saved, there’s no denying it. But no one person has access to all the answers and active membership of BIGGA gives your greenkeeping team a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips.

Sustainability is the buzz word – every expenditure needs to be justified and balance sheets should be just that, balanced. For the small expense of BIGGA membership, your golf club gets a whole load back in return.

“At Chippenham we’re enjoying a surge in membership,” said the club’s course manager, Chris Sealey. “Some are students, who’ve had the summer off, while others have joined because there’s been no rugby, football or cricket and the gyms are closed.

“What will be key is whether we can retain those members when renewal notices go out next April. Things may be busy now, but next year’s renewal rate will have a big impact on what the club can achieve going forward.

“BIGGA has made me a better greenkeeper and it’s more important than ever before to be a member of the association. It’s going to be so important going forwards for golf clubs to have greenstaff that are razor sharp and educated. We’re all going to have to make ourselves stand out from the crowd if we’re to flourish and thrive.”

To find out more about BIGGA and the benefits of membership, head to www.bigga.org.uk

From the HELPDESK

This month: Locker room surveillance, hard hats and... can you recycle golf balls?

Is VAT payable to HMRC on buggy hire income? Golf Buggy income is classed as Additional Income by HMRC and is subject to VAT at 20%.

Do we have to file a RIDDOR report for golf ball strikes on the course? Our assistant pro was hit by a member... It all depends on the injury sustained, please read the list of reportable injuries on the HSE website: hse.gov.uk/riddor/ reportable-incidents.htm

What action is the GCMA taking over HMRC’s proposal to exclude golf courses from buying red diesel? We have, through an industry response facilitated by the Sports & Recreation Alliance, taken part in the government consultation. We have informed the consultation of the increased financial burden that this will place on golf facilities, especially during these difficult times.

We have had a spate of locker room break-ins. What are the views on CCTV or small surveillance cameras in locker rooms to catch the culprit? Quoting from a previous GCMA library document on CCTV:“The covert monitoring of [members] can rarely be justified.

Do not carry it out unless it has been authorised at the highest level in the club.

You should be satisfied that there are grounds for suspecting criminal activity or equivalent malpractice, and that telling people about the monitoring would make it difficult to prevent or detect such wrongdoing.

Use covert monitoring only as part of a specific investigation, and stop when the investigation has been completed.

Do not use covert monitoring in places such as toilets or private offices unless you suspect serious crime and intend to involve the police.”

Issues might begin to arise if you intend to keep the cameras there after the culprit has been caught. This article can found in document 8045 in the Information Library. Visit http://www.gcma.org.uk/ library/8045

Should greenkeepers be wearing hard hats while they operate mowers? If so, is it a legal requirement? It is for the club to address the risks that could result in greenkeepers being injured before introducing hard hats.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and current Health and Safety Regulations both place obligations on employers to protect employees at work. However, whilst there is the Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989, there is no equivalent regulation relating to golf clubs.

Regulations suggest recording formal risk assessments with the greenkeeper, especially as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is advised to be the last resort.

It is worth noting if a greenkeeper was to have as serious accident, there is no doubt that an Environmental Health Officer could prosecute if the risk assessment was not suitable.

This article can be found in document 1200 in the Information Library. Visit: gcma.org.uk/ library/1200/

Have the GCMA ever looked into recycling golf balls? You will find that local authority recycling programmes and your local recycling centres typically do not accept golf balls (or most other types of sporting balls for that matter). That is because there is no true way to recycle a golf ball at present. However, there are companies that put balls back to use.

An online helpdesk is available at gcma.org.uk/members