TED Talks Daily How to handle grief at work and beyond | Meredith Wilson Parfet
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Mar 4, 2025 
Meredith Wilson Parfet, CEO of a crisis management firm and hospice chaplain, brings her unique perspective to the table. She discusses the complex realities of mixing personal grief with professional life, offering practical tools to navigate this chaos. Key insights include the importance of emotional expression, self-awareness, and the power of simple compassionate actions to support grieving colleagues. Parfet emphasizes that understanding grief is a shared human experience, moving beyond toxic positivity toward true resilience.
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Personal Crises
- Meredith Wilson-Parfet faced multiple personal crises, including the death of her sister and a life-threatening childbirth complication.
- These experiences led her to explore death and dying, influencing her career path.
Professional Crisis
- While COO of a hedge fund, Wilson-Parfet faced a professional crisis when their largest investment was revealed as a Ponzi scheme.
- This resulted in job loss, reputational damage, and grief similar to personal loss.
Two Worlds of Crisis
- We live in two worlds: our inner world of grief and our outer world of problem-solving.
- Managing crisis requires addressing both worlds, providing support for grief and order for chaos.