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It was the most traumatic and emotional experience of my life. As the rumors swirled last January insinuating Russia could invade Ukraine, I and many others thought they were just that—rumors. Media hype to fulfill global news coverage holes. This wasn’t going to happen. There was no way this could happen. My birthday was in February. It should have been a time of celebration with loved ones, but fear and uncertainty were set to erupt.
“It started.” The two frightful words my boyfriend told me at 6 a.m. It left me unable to comprehend anything else. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday—the days were overlapping. I cried and had a lingering migraine. I frantically tried to check in with my team.
It was Monday. I washed my face with cold water and said, “OK. We’re going to work through this.” Then I packed my bags, not knowing if or when I would ever be back to the place I was born, grew up and called home for over 30 years. I still haven’t been back since. Europe was quickly closing its airspace and borders to Russians. We realized we had to move quickly, or it would be too late.
Planning such a traumatic and difficult evacuation—moving quickly through war, forced evacuation and business as usual—we never lost sight of the fact that we are working with human beings. What we were about to do would completely change our team’s lives around in one day—communication and empathy became crucial.
Trust propelled us
Once war was imminent, we were overwhelmed by the obstacles that lay ahead. Worrying about the welfare of our families and friends, banks closing, fears of enlistment—the chaos sunk in. Working in tech, there was no telling if the war would limit access to the internet, email or social media, which were crucial for our day-to-day operations.
In those moments of uncertainty, one thing was clear: It was critical for my team to know their safety wouldn’t be in further jeopardy. Data has shown that only one in three employees trusts their leaders, which paints quite a negative picture. I may have been unprepared, but I had the trust of my team, which allowed us to work together in a highly stressful situation and achieve a successful outcome with little impact to our work and deliverables.