In this episode, we're joined by guest Jolie Wills, a Christchurch-based cognitive psychologist specialising in disaster recovery.

During the recovery phase of Covid19, resilient leaders need to inspire their teams to navigate through uncertainty. From a wellbeing perspective, it is important leaders both support their team and their own wellbeing to sustain that energy and focus.

Drawing on her expertise in assisting leaders through prolonged pressure, Jolie shares her tips and recommendations for ensuring leaders can work through the challenges ahead. We also discuss strategies and initiatives that workplaces can put in place to create critical support structures and we reflect on managing stress through times of crisis.

Jolie is a co-founder of Hummingly, along with Elizabeth McNaughton. The duo have worked in disasters around the world for more than two decades. The realisation that helping one person, one community, one disaster at a time was no longer enough, lit the spark that became Hummingly. Jolie and Elizabeth set about creating easy to use tools that people, communities and workplaces the world over could access to do well in tough times. Hummingly’s products are now helping thousands of people and organisations around the world.

Jolie has a Masters in Cognitive Psychology and is a leading psychosocial expert in disaster and disruption. Jolie has studied how the mind works under prolonged pressure, how we make decisions and how our reactions and behaviours are impacted by stress. Jolie is a survivor of the Christchurch earthquake and has lived disaster recovery with her family first-hand.

She developed services and training to help her fellow citizens for the Red Cross, local government and academia. Jolie is a Winston Churchill fellowship recipient, a Leadership New Zealand alumni, an Edmund Hillary Fellow and the co-author of Leading in Disaster Recovery: A Companion through the Chaos, primary author of the New Zealand Psychological First Aid guide and is Co-Chair of the New Zealand chapter of Australasian Women in Emergencies Network.

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