TODAY’S NEWS. TOMORROW’S INSIGHTS.A daily newsletter from McKinsey & Company
Brought to you by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities
•
Baboon besties. Having close networks of friends and family can help people to recover from traumatic early life events. That’s also the case among baboons, recent research shows. A study of 199 females in Kenya found that each adverse experience (such as having her mother die) cut short a baboon’s life by 1.4 years. However, enjoying close friendships—determined by baboons’ grooming practices—extended life by 2.2 years. This held true even for females that had endured multiple hardships early in life. [Popular Science]
Seeking social skills. With more companies practicing skills-based hiring, future white-collar jobs might not require college degrees, a Harvard Business School professor says. Strong social skills, such as an ability to build productive relationships, will continue to be critical for many roles. People who didn’t experience abuse or neglect during childhood are likelier to develop more advanced social skills at an early age, he adds. Fortunately, anyone can improve their soft skills through repetition, self-reflection, and being open to feedback. [Fortune]
The truth about trauma. We often think that young children under five are resilient. In truth, many have traumatic experiences that affect their physical, emotional, and cognitive development, says Sesame Workshop’s Jeanette Betancourt in an interview with McKinsey Health Institute partner Katherine Linzer. Adults need to understand that children under five who have suffered trauma may not know how to verbalize their concerns, Betancourt says. Their anxiety might show up as a stomachache, or as clingy or disruptive behavior.
Helping kids in pain. Sesame Workshop and its celebrated TV show Sesame Street are focused on supporting children’s emotional well-being from very early on, Betancourt shares. “In the US, we’ve tackled everything from parental addiction to parental incarceration to coping with grief,” Betancourt explains. “Globally, we work with crisis and conflict. How do we help the many children experiencing long-term trauma and resettlement?” Learn what parents and educators can do to help kids who have faced traumatic situations.
— Edited by Belinda Yu, editor, Atlanta
Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.
Or send us feedback—we’d love to hear from you.
Follow our thinking
