As a regular guest on the BBC’s Business Matters, I’m often asked to predict the future. I often feel ill-equipped to do so. But this week, freshly returned from London, and experiencing the British Summer of Discontent for myself, I had a strong feeling that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s days were numbered. So I shared my prediction live on the BBC on Tuesday evening. Today, less than 48 hours later, I woke to the news that Boris Johnson has announced his resignation.
“I think it’ll be a matter of hours or days before Boris Johnson is pushed out.” Business Matters July 5th, 2022.
Here’s a transcript of the segment, edited for length and clarity.
BBC host, Sam Fenwick: Two of the UK government’s most senior ministers have resigned from Boris Johnson’s cabinet, plunging the government into a major crisis… There has been no reaction in the stock market to the developments in UK politics. Alison, what about in the States? Perhaps better news, bigger news there?
Alison van Diggelen: It’s not headline news here. One of the stories in the New York Times was: Who is Rishi Sunak? He’s not a household name here yet. But it’s clear the tide has turned. Boris Johnson has lost the trust of many of his influential colleagues and I expect Sunak might replace him when he is forced out.
And of course, this comes in the larger context of this climate of unrest and the term The Summer of Discontent applies to parliament, as well as the union action that’s sparking right across the country.
Sam Fenwick: Boris Johnson’s integrity is in question. Is it possible for a leader to come back from something like that when their honesty is being questioned?
Alison van Diggelen: The good parallel with the United States is Donald Trump. He, like Boris Johnson, seems to have a teflon outer coating: nothing seems to stick to him, to date! But with Boris Johnson, it seems the tide has turned and his propensity for obfuscating and lying means he’s going to get his comeuppance in the next few days. He failed to show any humility or change in strategy in the wake of the vote of no confidence will come back to bite him.
…I think the integrity of politicians around the world is in question and I think it’ll be a matter of hours or days before Boris Johnson is pushed out.
More Green Dialogues
I always try to focus on good news from the world of green tech when I’m on the BBC, so you might also be interested in hearing about our discussion of the new ballot measure to promote Electric Vehicles and boost forest management and fire prevention in California.
I can only imagine you share my disgust and horror at what’s going on in Ukraine. It’s heart breaking. This week on Fresh Dialogues, we get an intimate look at the war, from a Ukrainian in Silicon Valley who has team members on the front lines. Highlights of our interview were picked up by the BBC World Service. I asked Sergey Lubarsky what’s likely to happen in the next few days and week. He explained why he expects an apocalyptic escalation of violence in Ukraine and how that could be averted.
“The world has never been that close to a nuclear holocaust. Never. You have a deranged person with a nuclear strike capabilities who has nothing to lose. He has zero regard for human life….Putin is irrational. He cannot back off, has no exit strategy. He’s not going to be killed by his cabinet members.” Sergey Lubarsky, tech entrepreneur.
[Photo credit: Nicole, a half Russian, half Ukrainian girl attending an anti-war protest by Kaylee C Greenlee Beal, San Antonio Express News]
This week, I reached out to Lubarsky who was born in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, close to the border with Russia. Today, Lubarsky is a Silicon Valley based tech entrepreneur with a team of 15 in Ukraine. He shared:
powerful stories from colleagues on the front lines of the Ukrainian resistance.
why President Zelensky is “the George Washington of Ukraine.”
the worst case scenario he expects, and how it might be prevented.
BBC Host, Fergus Nicoll, invited me on Wednesday to share highlights of my interview on the BBC World Service program, Business Matters. We also discussed, with Peter Ryan of ABC in Australia, the propaganda war in Russia and Ukraine; the role of cryptocurrency; and how President Zelensky and his cabinet are expertly leveraging social media to rally support from tech companies and the Western world to meet their urgent needs. I also added my perspective on Donald Trump’s latest speech, when he calls the U.S a “stupid country” and praises Putin’s “smarts”. Given what’s happening today in Ukraine, in my view, it should make his Republicans supporters examine their consciences.
This week’s Fresh Dialogues podcast includes highlights of the BBC program and some powerful extracts from my interview with Sergey Lubarsky. Here is a transcript of some of our conversation (edited for length and clarity):
Sergey Lubarsky: I’ve never had Ukrainian by passport. I left (31 years ago) holding a Soviet passport. Until the first invasion in 2014, I would never consider myself Ukrainian because it was a moot point, I’m bilingual.
Alison van Diggelen: How do you feel about that now?
Sergey Lubarsky: I’m proud to be Ukrainian. I’m so proud of my people. A week ago if you asked me, I’d have said there’s corruption there… (Today) I’m speechless, they deserve so much credit.
Sergey has a team of 15 in Ukraine. He says some are on the front lines, some are hiding in subways or basements and some have fled the country.
Alison van Diggelen: Are you concerned that they’re in danger?
Sergey Lubarsky: Several of them joined the national territory defense. It’s basically the national guard.
Alison van Diggelen: Are they sharing details?
Sergey Lubarsky: One of my developers said: This is open safari. We’re burning their tanks, the Russians are fleeing their tanks, the locals are killing them by the bunch, their dogs are eating their flesh and we’re burying them.
They can only use the roads because it’s springtime, they can’t move their weapon systems through open fields. It’s guerrilla warfare. If you take down the first two tanks, the whole convoy is stalled. There’s nowhere to go. They can’t do a U-turn and go back.
Lubarsky points to the Orange revolution and the Budapest Treaty in which the U.K. and the U.S. committed in 1994 to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. He feels that the West has not lived up to its side of the bargain.
Alison van Diggelen: What more should be done by Facebook? Sergey Lubarsky: Zuckerberg had no problem to block accounts from people who didn’t agree with him politically. Zuckerberg should suspend accounts of people who support this war. It’s informational warfare. There’s a reason why Putin took half of the TV broadcasting station in Kiev. Information is important to morale. Zuckerberg should turn on his censorship machine and start censoring people who actively support Putin, or there will be more corpses. The people will not know the truth.
Alison van Diggelen: What would you say to Putin, if you had the chance?
Sergey Lubarsky: If you have a madman running in your street, killing your neighbors, do you have a desire to talk to him? He’s a a deranged dude…a madman with nuclear capabilities on the loose.
Alison van Diggelen: What about President Zelensky, he’s a global hero?
“All of a sudden, Zelensky is a Ukrainian George Washington, the father of the Ukrainian nation. What we’re witnessing right now is the birth of a nation. He has a bullseye on his back, not metaphorically: there are several special forces groups deployed to kill him and his cabinet. President Biden calls him to offer him a ride (flee the country) and Zelensky broadcasts his whereabouts in Kiev. That’s what keeps them going. Without his courage, the resistance would probably have collapsed three days ago.” Sergey Lubarsky
Sergey Lubarsky: Nobody can work. Every friend of mine from Russia calls me and apologizes. (They say) we can’t believe it’s happening….We have a huge support from them.
Alison van Diggelen: Are they in tears? Sergey Lubarsky: Oh yes. A have a best friend, a Muscovite. He knows me well and says: are you still talking to me? Every person of Russian descent, we’re all ex-Soviet Union. For me: Am I Russian, Ukrainian, am I a Jew? Who cares? It makes no difference. People call and say: I’m in tears with you. A friend asks me where can I donate the money?
Alison van Diggelen: What is the best case scenario for a resolution? Sergey Lubarsky: I see a nuclear strike at Ukraine. Putin is an international pariah, he has no exit strategy. He’s destroyed the Russian economy, the Russian people suffer. A friend of mine is medical doctor and professor in Russia. He can’t send money to support his children studying in Europe because of the SWIFT system sanctions. Russia is in the economic stone age and Putin can’t go back and say: on second thought, that was a bad idea, let’s move the troops back. I don’t see a best case scenario.
Sergey Lubarsky: What would you say to President Biden?
Sergey Lubarsky: Biden is doing everything right, one step too late….The West is not working proactively. The West needs to declare Putin a war criminal today. It would stop the generals of his army. They will know “I was just following the commands” is not a line anymore. They will be hanged. The West needs to declare that any Russian soldier, officer will be implicated if they use weapons of mass destruction and be prosecuted personally. That will deter them, they have families. Biden needs to do it today before it’s too late. When the (nuclear) bomb goes off in Kharkiv it’ll be too late.
The only way to assure nothing happens is to declare Putin a war criminal today, it will send a chilling message to his entourage that they will be hanged, as the Germans were hanged after Nuremberg. That might deter him.
Lubarsky is collecting money for the Ukrainian resistance. You can support him and contribute here.
Hyperbole is overused these days, but when the Financial Times calls someone a superstar, I’m apt to repeat the title, especially if the person in question is so humble that he insists his impact is “a mystery.”
Adam Grant is a Wharton School Professor and influential author. Lately he’s become a “superstar management thinker” according to the FT’s Andrew Hill. I had the pleasure of interviewing Adam last month about his new book Think Again, and his wise words have resonated with me ever since.
Last week I was invited to be a guest on the BBC World Service program, Business Matters. The London producers asked me if I had interviewed anyone interesting lately, so how could I resist sharing some of Adam’s insights?
But even superstars can be upstaged. This week’s podcast also features a rare appearance from my dear old dog, Mookie. Working from home is one thing, but broadcasting from home when it’s time for your dog’s walk, is a little risky! When BBC presenter Fergus Nicoll asked me about the idea of adding Covid border controls between states in America, Mookie couldn’t help but share his perspective. You can hear clearly: he’s not a fan!
I look forward to sharing more of Adam’s observations and research in my next podcast: on why kindness builds resilience, what Malcolm Gladwell taught him about writing books, and the upsides of anger and frustration. And who hasn’t experienced some frustration over this challenging last year? He even suggests we think again about Elon Musk. According to Adam, despite his tough manager reputation, Musk scores off the charts on one far-reaching measure of kindness.
Here are highlights of our BBC discussion:
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And here’s a transcript, edited for length and clarity:
Fergus Nicoll: On Business Matters, we talk to people who help us understand the way we should approach business, the way our workforce works most effectively, especially as we come out of the Coronavirus pandemic. Alison, you’ve been talking to someone who’s a bit of a management guru, who has a few pointers for us, in terms of management style?
Alison van Diggelen: I recently interviewed Wharton School Professor and “superstar management psychologist” Adam Grant. His latest book is called Think Again. He urges us to nurture more open minds. He has a clear recipe for how to identify our biases and blind spots, and become less dogmatic and more “scientific” in our decision making. He explains why he’s been called a “logic bully” and why we call need a Challenge Network.
Adam Grant: I think the first step is to catch yourself when you slip into preaching, prosecuting or politicking. So I think we’re all vulnerable to these mindsets. When you’re in preacher mode, you believe you’ve already found the truth and you’re just trying to proselytize it. When you’re in prosecutor mode, you’re trying to win an argument and prove your case. And if you stop there, you’re not going to do much rethinking because you’ve already decided that you’re right and everyone else is wrong.
And then in politician mode you’re trying to win the approval of an audience through campaigning and lobbying and you might tell them what they want to hear, but you’re probably not changing what you really think.
One of the things I find helpful is to ask myself: okay how much time did I spend in each of those modes today? And I catch myself regularly going into prosecutor mode when I think somebody is wrong. I just feel like it’s my moral responsibility as a social scientist to bring them sharper logic and stronger evidence. I’ve been called a logic bully. I start bombarding people with data and with reasons and they tend to either attack or withdraw, which doesn’t go well.
So shifting into science mode for me is about reminding myself to value of humility over pride, and curiosity over conviction. My goal is to not let my ideas become my identity. You don’t have to invest in a microscope or a telescope. You don’t have to walk around wearing a lab coat. Thinking like a scientist just means when you have an opinion or you have a piece of knowledge, recognize it’s just a hypothesis: it might be true (or) it might be false. And if you want to test it, that means you have to look for reasons why you might be wrong. Not just the reason why you must be right. You have to listen to ideas that make you think hard, not just the ones that make you feel good. And you have to surround yourself with people who challenge your thought process, not just ones who agree with your conclusions.
Alison van Diggelen: You frame it in terms of driver’s ed. We all have blind spots, and in our cars it’s fine: we can use our mirrors and sensors. So how do we recognize our cognitive blind spots and how do we rectify them?
Adam Grant: I think usually the best sensors and mirrors are other people. Most of us lean on our support network, the people who who cheer lead for us, who reassure us, who encourage us. But to see our blind spots, we need a challenge network, a group of thoughtful critics that we trust to tell us the things that we do not want to hear but we need to hear.
Listen to more of the BBC Program here: We get reaction to Adam’s ideas from Karen Lema, Bureau Chief for Reuters News Agency in Manilla, and discuss Artificial Intelligence, drones, as well as Biden’s inspiring action on Climate Change.
Check back soon at Fresh Dialogues to hear more from Adam Grant.
Why is Trump accusing China of hacking biotech companies, and threatening to ban TikTok? Smart policy or Red Scare tactics to distract us from his fatal response to the pandemic ?
Last month, Donald Trump finally started wearing a mask and doling out some good advice on Covid. Is it too little, too late?
I was invited to join the BBC World Service program Business Matters to discuss the latest reversal from the White House, as well as breaking business news and analysis.
“Trump only started wearing a mask last week, which is unconscionable. And he’s been spreading misinformation on the number of cases and cures…”
Here are highlights from my conversation with the BBC’s effervescent Rahul Tandon in London, and outspoken business advisor Simon Littlewood in Singapore. The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Rahul Tandon: Alison, where you are in Silicon Valley, this rising tension between China and the US… What do people make of it? Is there a lot of support for the president and Mike Pompeo’s strong stance?
Alison van Diggelen: This is a political move, this is distracting action from our president’s mess up of the response to the Covid virus. I applaud their call to come together to fight a common enemy. But they’re forgetting that the biggest threat humanity faces is Covid-19.
There is a race going on, it’s like a new space race to find a reliable vaccine. It’s even more intense than the space race: the first country to get there will get a humanitarian reward of saving lives and also an economic reward. There will be a massive reward by allowing a swift return to business as usual, and a huge boost in consumer confidence.
This Trump White House action is a distracting political move. It feels a bit like the Red Scare of the Cold War Era.
Simon Littlewood: I agree. That’s exactly what it is. I’d echo Alison’s comments. There clearly are serious domestic issues in the U.S. and the president would do well to concentrate on them.
Rahul Tandon: I want to come back to Alison: we’re talking about China trying to hack information when it comes to Coronavirus vaccines and treatments. That’s just like the old world of espionage. It’s something that’s always gone on and now we’re looking at the stakes in a new tech world?
Alison van Diggelen: That’s right. Last week’s Twitter hack showed that even tech companies in the heart of Silicon Valley, with some of the smartest minds in the world and savvy programmers, are not immune to cyber criminals. I think it’s very likely that Americans are doing the same in China. Every major super power is trying to hack in and see what the other countries are doing. It’s just like the space race.
Rahul Tandon: There we go. We have two of the finest minds in the world with us here on Business Matters today. (Thanks Rahul!)
Simon Littlewood: Hopefully un-hacked!
Rahul Tandon: I was very certain about Alison. But Simon, we’ll need to give you another 40 minutes to see how you perform during the rest of the program…
Trump: We’re asking Americans to wear a mask…imploring young Americans to avoid packed bars, and other indoor gatherings. Be safe and be smart.
Rahul Tandon: Are Americans being safe and smart? Are people wearing masks?
Alison van Diggelen: I’m holding my breath hearing the president. He only started wearing a mask last week, which is unconscionable. And he’s been spreading misinformation on the number of cases and cures.
I’m glad to hear that he’s finally pushing the right message –– congratulations to whoever persuaded him! But his White House has been undermining the clear scientific evidence from Anthony Fauci who’s probably the best qualified to educate the world on what needs to be done.
It’s a little late, but I’m glad he’s doing the right thing finally. I hope he uses his Twitter account to spread the right message: Wearing a mask is the most effective thing people can do, as well as sheltering at home and minimizing exposure to others.
We also discuss:
The Green Recovery: Fergus Nicoll’s interview with Tim Smith, the founder of the Eden Project about changing attitudes to nature, localism and the environment, as a result of the pandemic.
What can be done to tackle the growing problem of fake news during the coronavirus pandemic?
Last week, as demonstrations and outrage continued across America, I received an invitation that made me very nervous: I was invited to join a live BBC World Service program to discuss the view from California. I felt ill-equipped to contribute. What could I say that would be valuable to the dialogue? This is a challenging time to opine on the tinder box that is America, particularly if you’re a white immigrant. But I did my homework, listened to a lot of diverse commentary and read widely.
I can’t claim to have all the answers (who does?) but in preparing for the program, I did some personal growth. I changed from from feeling tongue-tied and unworthy, to fired up about speaking out. How? My research taught me three important things (see below).
Or listen to the Fresh Dialogues podcast below which features highlights of our discussion and more about what I discovered.
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We began by discussing Trump’s executive order introducing police reforms, and then listened to the insightful perspective of Philip McHarris. A researcher at Yale University, McHarris is a vocal member of the Community Resource Hub for Safety and Accountability. He makes some excellent points about the need to prioritize education and economic opportunity for the black community, and has written a provocative New York Times Opinion piece that concludes: “We need to reimagine public safety in ways that shrink and eventually abolish police and prisons.”
I agree with his call to reimagine public safety, but it’s hard to imagine that abolishing police and prisons will ever be a wise idea. What do you think?
BBC transcript (edited for length and clarity).
Philip McHarris: Police are largely arresting people, and putting people in jail and ruining lives and communities, when people need resources and opportunities, and not a prison cell and policing.
Defunding police means shifting resources away from policing and getting at the underlying causes like not having quality schools, employment options, housing healthcare. The communities that are the safest don’t have the most police but they have the most resources. Because of specific decisions and political inaction, housing policies have created legacies of racial and economic inequality. People often are forced into survival economies which are then criminalized.
So the first step is funding community resources and institutions. The other side is developing alternative emergency response systems where police –– who have guns and a license to kill with immunity –– are not showing up when people need a wellness check, a mental health intervention or domestic violence support.
Jamie Robertson: Alison, this idea of defunding the police…is it getting traction? The idea of withdrawing the police and replacing areas of police enforcement with social workers?
Alison van Diggelen:There is support for defunding police and looking at the root causes (of police brutality). The fact is: We all have bias. It’s what we do with it and how we manage our first impulses (that matters most).
The police force needs to build new protocols and new partnerships, as Philip said, with social workers and psychologists. It needs to invest more in anger management and de-escalating violence, rather than inciting violence. And perhaps making Malcolm Gladwell’s book Talking to Strangers mandatory for police officers?
This pandemic has exacerbated the tinder box of despair and rage in America. Perhaps America also needs to face its horrific history of slavery. That legacy continues today. We need to borrow practices from South Africa and Rwanda and hold Truth and Reconciliation hearings.
Here are the three things I learned in preparing for the BBC program:
Speak out: As influential psychologist and author Adam Grant says:
“Just as sexism is not only a ‘women’s issue,’ racism is not only a ‘black issue.’ In social movements, research has repeatedly shown that when majority groups stay quiet, they inadvertently license the oppression of marginalized groups.” Adam Grant
So, no matter who you are or where you’re from, this is time for speaking out against injustice and inequality. It’s also a time for mindful listening, reading purposefully and amplifying the voices from the black community.
“Let’s not excuse violence, or rationalize it, or participate in it. If we want our criminal justice system, and American society at large, to operate on a higher ethical code, then we have to model that code ourselves.” Barack Obama
It’s a version of Michelle Obama’s powerful mantra: “When they go low, we go high.” Here’s her full explanation of the mantra:
“‘Going high’ doesn’t mean you don’t feel the hurt, or you’re not entitled to an emotion. It means that your response has to reflect the solution. It shouldn’t come from a place of anger or vengefulness. Anger may feel good in the moment, but it’s not going to move the ball forward,” Michelle Obama.
3. Champion what works
The United States has a appalling history of slavery; but it’s not the only country that’s ever dealt with systemic racism. Think about the last century of German and Rwandan history. And in South Africa, racism wasn’t just systemic during the Apartheid era, it was an integral part of the constitution and the law of the land. Many people predicted a bloodbath when apartheid ended, but instead Nelson Mandela helped to make a peaceful transition. The country’s Truth and Reconciliation Hearings were an integral part of this.
My fellow BBC contributor, Barrett Holmes Pitner writes eloquently about what we can learn from other countries and concludes:
“Rwanda, Germany, and South Africa have reckoned with their troubled past to make a better future, but America has long preferred to ignore the past, and proclaim the inevitability of progress. America today must define and confront the Original Sin of slavery.” BBC contributor Barrett Holmes Pitner.
Here are some other insightful perspectives worth reading:
With the tragic news of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade’s recent deaths by suicide, the spotlight is on suicide this month. The latest trends are chilling: The suicide rate in the United States has grown by over 25% since 1999, according to the CDC. Alison van Diggelen’s latest report for the BBC’s Health Check couldn’t be more timely. She was asked to explore the role that barbershops can play as a conduit to getting vulnerable men the help they need. Alison found that the potential for reaching vulnerable people is enormous. This hopeful story could equally apply to hair salons, sports clubs, bars, cafes, places of worship… even sidewalks. Wherever two people have a chance to talk, there’s an opportunity to help save a life.
[Photo credit: Elizabeth Brockway, The Daily Beast]
“It’s not just a cut, it’s more of a confessional…their sanctuary to unload a lot of their intimate feelings. We hold those relationships in high regard. These individuals can trust us that it’s not going to go any further than the chair.” Dan Dixon, owner of Crewners Barber Shop in Silicon Valley, California
Here’s a transcript of the original report (edited for length and clarity):
BBC Health Check host, Claudia Hammond: In many parts of the world, men feel reluctant to seek help for their mental health. So in Silicon Valley, California, there’s a barbershop that’s become a safe space for men to talk about more private things in life, while they have a haircut. For Health Check, Alison van Diggelen has been to a barbershop to see how it’s done…
Alison van Diggelen:Here in downtown San Jose, Crewners Barber Shop is a popular place for men to shed some hair, as well as some of their troubles. The owner, Dan Dixon, is dapperly dressed in burgundy shirt, black waistcoat and white tie. He’s a warm and friendly chap who sees his regulars about once a month. Over the years, he’s built a lot of trust. Dixon and his barbers have become confidantes to many men. Their clients tell them when they’re planning to leave their spouses, when there’s a death in the family and more…
Dan Dixon: There are people who’ve felt this is their place, their sanctuary to unload a lot of their intimate feelings… A gentleman who’d not yet come out to his family…he wanted to go through a sex change. He confided that in me prior to mentioning it to his family. We hold those relationships in high regard. These individuals can trust us that it’s not going to go any further than the chair.
Alison van Diggelen: His barbershop is a safe place to talk, for anyone at all.
Dan Dixon: It’s not just a cut, it’s more of a confessional. What’s funny right now is Alex is cutting the hair of one of our Catholic priests here in downtown San Jose. So Alex is currently giving his confessional to his priest. (laughter) It’s a great environment…I try to lend a bit of my background…I’m older, I’m 49. I try to be the open ear and the soft spoken one and lend what I’ve gone through…
Alison van Diggelen: I talk to James Ursin, one of Dixon’s long time clients. James, have you shared intimate stuff about you, your family?
James Ursin: Of course! And he has too. When you live in such a competitive atmosphere of Silicon Valley: high cost of living, job opportunities…I like to run things by him. He’ll sometimes open up…you have a relationship you see once a month. You have to be honest with them, they’re holding scissors next to your neck! (laughter) Part of that goes back to trust.
James Ursin: Sometimes just talking out my problems to him he doesn’t even need to respond. I can usually answer them myself. Maybe I bring up questions I wouldn’t bring up with my wife, or my business partner. An ear to listen to…It’s important – barbers is a lost art, an amazing profession. It’s not just about cutting hair…
Alison van Diggelen: This intimate bond between barbers and their clients is something that doctors sought to leverage in a recent six-month study of 52 barber shops across Los Angeles. Cardiologist Ron Victor and his team discovered that barbers could act as a conduit to getting men the healthcare interventions they need. The study’s focus was blood pressure and by bringing pharmacists into barber shops, they helped reduce the blood pressure of 300 men by a significant percentage. Independent experts called the study “a home run in high-touch medicine.”
Does Victor believe this method could be used for other healthcare issues? It’s possible he says, but he points out that blood pressure tests involve a simple cuff around the arm and are quick and easy to administer. Mental health screening is a sensitive issue, he says, and would require more time and expertise. Victor mentions however, that black barber shops – the focus of his study – would be a good place to address mental health issues as most have a back room where a mental health worker could meet privately with customers.
A British charity, the Lions Barber Collective is focused on suicide prevention. Its barber shop members encourage customers to talk openly and are trained to identify signs of depression. They connect customers with the Samaritans, a volunteer group that offers a 24-hour helpline and free counseling for people in distress.
Mego Lien: The barbershop collaboration is a fantastic idea! Middle aged men have a much lower chance of reaching out to mental health professionals. It’s really about going to where men are at and relying on existing relationships…
Alison van Diggelen: In Silicon Valley, the suicide rate rises in men over 45 years-old. Lien’s team aims to help vulnerable groups, including teenage men. They’ve reached middle-aged men via targeted public service announcements on sports radio; and they reach teenagers at school.
Mego Lien: It’s not just the mental health professionals in schools, the teachers, the coaches, the bus drivers and the janitors ideally would all be trained in recognizing the warning signs and speaking to someone who might be thinking of suicide. It’s about: Who are the individuals in the community who’re interacting with the people you’re trying to reach?
Alison van Diggelen: Lien recommends talking directly to people you’re concerned about; and using the word “suicide” and not vague phrases like “harming yourself.”
Mego Lien: Research shows that if you’re able to breach the topic of suicide genuinely and empathetically that lowers people’s anxiety around the topic. There’s a lot of stigma…more likely to open up to you and talk about what’s going on with them.
Alison van Diggelen: She points out that warning signs aren’t always verbal…
Mego Lien: …they might be behavioral, like stockpiling pills or dangerous weapons…they could be physical like stomach aches, headaches or chronic pain that can’t be explained. The starting point is to look out for these warning signs…start having rapport building conversations, list a few of the signs you’re noticing…
Alison van Diggelen: What’s the best way to get help for a loved one?
Mego Lien: We recommend…taking them to a therapist who can help them…or sit with a loved one and dialing the number for the suicide prevention hotline and supporting them while they make the call and have that conversation. Provide mental health resources and get their good faith commitment that they’re going to seek help.
Alison van Diggelen: Lien points out that easy access to guns is a big issue in the United States. Her wish list for effective suicide prevention has three components:
Mego Lien: A lot of community members trained who can recognize warning signs. Strong mental health systems that can take people who need treatment; and less access to deadly means like firearms. [CDC reports confirm that about half of U.S. suicides use guns]
Alison van Diggelen: She emphasizes that the media has an important role to play to avoid sensationalizing suicide and to help to lift its stigma…
Mego Lien: Research has shown media can contribute to contagion …In terms of do’s and don’ts: the word “Commit” makes people think about committing a crime or a sin. We prefer the language someone “died by suicide.” It’s more neutral and less stigmatizing.
Fade in: Atmos of barber shop
Alison van Diggelen: Back in the barbershop, I ask Dan Dixon if he’d embrace a suicide awareness and prevention program like the Lions Barber Collective in Britain…
Dan Dixon: I know it would work for me and my staff. Barber shops in the U.S. are more along lines of pub…a clubhouse type setting where it’s more about the masculine camaraderie…my staff, we would be open to that.
Dan Dixon:
