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By: Opinion, Jennifer Sharpe September 1, 2022 Comments Off on Sharpe: The ratchet straps binding us together

A few weeks ago, a long drive necessitated the use of my roof rack, and I trusted ratchet straps to secure my possessions. The sturdy straps, hooks and buckles allowed me to not only tie down my items but tighten the bind and ensure stability for my cargo.

There are people in our lives who serve the same purpose – dependable, reliable, supportive forces that help us keep it all together, securely.

Security is an essential human need that is tied to well-being. We all crave some form of stability – financial, with our jobs and/or in our relationships – and this need infiltrates our work lives as well.

We need “ratchet strap” people at work, people who are stabilizing forces that can be counted on for assistance, advice or expertise. They are the people who manage projects even when project management isn’t their official job title or an official aspect of the industry.

These are the people who “hold s— together” on the job. I used those exact words recently during a soul-searching career conversation with a friend who was doubting his worth and needed to be reminded just how impactful his work is.

We must cultivate these people because they are invaluable to a company’s success.

To encourage the people who are our ratchet straps, and to be more of a ratchet strap ourselves, we should:

The current work world is plagued with burnout – we’re seeing “The Great Resignation” and “quiet quitting” – but it is a manifestation of a bigger crisis, a “pandemic fatigue” that has affected our mental and emotional well-being and, on a larger level, compromised our humanity.

In the past few years, our mortality has been threatened in a way most of us have never experienced. We saw death without answers. Widespread panic and mistrust. Uncertainty. Insecurity and instability shook us all on some level – and we have all been jolted.

Our news reports are replete with increasing incidents of violence. We see it in our everyday lives – in the just the past week, I’ve observed road rage, short tempers with restaurant waitstaff, customers arguing with cashiers in stores, and social media ugliness.

The overall effect of what we have been through is a general impatience and dissatisfaction that is affecting our ability to be decent human beings. And even when people recognize their need for help, there are not enough mental health providers to meet the demand.

We are living in a short-fuse world that seems to be getting worse – a society driving on the highway with unsecured cargo, wobbling, ready to fly away with a bump, turn or gust of wind.

The solution could be more ratchet straps – caring for the ones we have around us and striving to be more of one ourselves.

Jennifer Sharpe is the special projects editor for The Journal Record of Oklahoma City, a division of BridgeTower Media

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