How One Woman’s Internal Peace Saved Her Life and Hundreds of Others

We handle external conflict well when we have internal peace.

On August 20, 2013, Antoinette Tuff was a shining example of this concept. 

She started out her typical work day at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy Elementary School, where she was suddenly met with a gunman who entered the school stating, “We are all going to die today.”

During this unexpected moment of crisis, Antoinette had a choice to react with panic or peace. Thankfully, she chose to stay grounded in peace to face the crisis calmly and save lives.
This was no easy task for Antoinette, as she was facing the recent abandonment of her husband that prompted a suicide attempt, financial hardship, and taking on all the responsibilities of her 22-year-old son with disabilities. 

She was struggling every single day to simply put one foot in front of the other, and in an instant, her focus had to change to simply stay alive to see tomorrow.

Peace is a crucial position of power. 

When you walk into work or join a Zoom call, you too may be facing many personal stressors while also facing budgets that need to be met, project deadlines, and unhappy employees or customers.

Grounding yourself with internal peace is your anchor to handle whatever comes your way. More specifically, you have power when you have internal peace.

Like Antoinette Tuff, internal peace gives you… 

• A calm presence amidst chaos
• Clarity to what is most important right now 
• The reassuring demeanor to defuse conflict

When you are at peace, you are unstoppable to inspire your team to bring out their best.

Make the Conscious Choice to have internal peace, so that no matter what conflict or threat you may face, you save relationships and maybe even lives.

About the author 

Bonnie Artman Fox, MS, LMFT works with executive leaders who want to gain self-awareness about the impact of their words and actions and up-level their interpersonal skills. 

Drawing from decades as a psychiatric nurse and licensed family therapist, Bonnie brings a unique perspective to equip executive leaders with the roadmap to emotional intelligence that brings teams together. 

Bonnie’s leadership Turnaround coaching program has an 82% success rate in guiding leaders to replace abrasive behavior with tact, empathy, and consideration of others. The end result is a happy, healthy, and profitable workplace…sooner vs. later.