Üsküdar University Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan participated in the Kastamonu Entegre Ağaç Sanayi (KEAS) Talks program organized by Hayat Holding. In the program held for company employees, Tarhan shared insights on the topic of “Employee Psychology During the Pandemic,” emphasizing new problems arising amidst many new normals as the pandemic's impact subsides.
“The strongest point of the chain is its weakest link”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that new problems have been added to the existing ones in society with the pandemic; “The impact of the pandemic brought new problems within many new normals. But there are also new solutions to these situations. Here, employees and employers are all going through a rare process in human history. This will certainly have some natural consequences. The pandemic arrived in such a process;
There are expensive watches, but no time. Bigger televisions, fewer books. More people, less humanity. Countless friends on social media, zero true friends in reality. More suspicion, less trust. More deceit, less honesty. Much discrimination, little empathy. More material wealth, less spiritual peace.
Imagine a chain; the strongest part of the chain is its weakest link. When stretched, the chain breaks from there. Similarly, during the pandemic, if a country's economic situation is weak, or if the bonds of a company or a family are weak, the chains began to break from those points with this process. Wherever there are weaknesses in a social fabric, in a social structure, ruptures occur from there.” he said.
“The desire for survival exists instinctively”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan; “A study on loneliness was conducted in England in 2018. It was a joint study by Manchester University and the BBC on over 55,000 individuals. This is called the loneliness experiment. The rate of young people aged 16-24 who say “I feel very lonely” is 40%, while for those over 75 years old it is 27%. This means, contrary to expectations that older people would feel lonelier, young people feel more alone. According to statistics, the younger generation is very lucky, but their risks are also in different areas. Our generations matured amidst scarcity. They had to mature, but now the current generations need to mature amidst abundance. Maturing in abundance is also difficult. Because there is a fundamental feeling in humans: the feeling of survival and the desire not to die. Even if a person reaches 80 years old, the desire for survival is instinctive. That is, no living creature says, 'My life has come to an end, let me die.' Humans certainly never say it. Because of this characteristic of humans, death is a feeling they don't want to think about. But we had to remember this quite often during the Covid period.” he stated.
True freedom is not doing whatever you want!
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan emphasized that a person must first be a leader to themselves. Tarhan; “Covid-19 will cause breakdowns in weak areas. It will increase suicides and depressions. We can say that individuals who can psychologically protect themselves will emerge from this with gains. So, there is a neuro-management diagram. Why neuro-management? In leadership, as you know, every employee is a leader. A person is first their own leader. This is called neuro-leader. It's called neuro-management. That is, if a person cannot manage their brain, their mind, they cannot manage anyone else. True freedom is not doing whatever you want, but being free from your desires and impulses. The old existentialist psychology teaching disregarded this. Existential humanism, nihilist humanism, atheist humanism, deist humanisms placed man at the center. It said that man is flawless, perfect, and has no need for criticism. However, Tolstoy also says that, but he benefits from Eastern sages. Tolstoy says, ‘Change yourself before you change the world.’ At our university, we developed a motto, ‘Start changing the world by changing yourself.’ One who cannot be a leader to themselves cannot be the leader of a family or a group. Anyone who cannot control their desires and impulses, their anger, their fear, cannot be a good father, mother, boss, or group leader, because they cannot set a good example for others.” he stated.