Friday, July 31, 2009

Leadership & Storytelling Part 4 of Many...

A picture of two passionate people engaged in Tango dancing seems like a perfect image to set the stage for this entry. Dance is a wonderful metaphor for leaders in today's organization. Feel the music vibrating, see the flood of opportunities, risks, challenges, and dynamics ever-changing. The music doesn't stop and it draws us on. Are our leaders prepared to put their passions on the line? How will their passions instill a burning desire for others to pick up their heels and join the dance.

Here's the fourth behavior in our series of eight leadership behaviors and story-based communication skills. Grab your tango partner and join me now in the dicsussion...


4. Share Passion to Instill Passion

Tuning into the fires of the heart is a mission-critical ingredient for success. Without passion the organizational actors are just reading their lines from teleprompters on a bare stage. In whatever personal form it takes, leaders must find ever-new ways to share their passions. They must do this not simply for the purposes of rallying others to be illuminated by the leaders’ brilliant blaze but to model and encourage others to stoke their own fires. Having lots of fires ensures that the organization is bright, alive, and warm and that it contains a plethora of inviting interpersonal places for people to gather around and share their stories of how thingshave been and dream about how things can be.


Practice

• Take a piece of paper and draw a large heart. In the center of the heart write down all the things you are most passionate about in your organization. Describe how the role you play in the organization relates
and contributes to these areas of passion.

• During a team meeting ask people to share these pictures of their passions.Discuss how various team members’ passions overlap. Discuss any gaps between people’s passions and the organization’s
current goals and direction.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009


Continuing with our series on leadership behaviors. This is the third of eight behaviors and practices. Following these eight I will share nine story-based communication competencies from my research that are critical for leaders....


Manage Boundaries

Boundaries are necessary and not necessary. As learning architects we are challenged today to develop a keen appreciation for the porous relation between an organization and its various ecosystems. Knowing how and when to construct and retain clear boundaries and also how and when to demolish unnecessary ones is an art without simple rules. Managing boundaries becomes even more complex when it comes to the realm of interpersonal relationships. Use this as a general rule: when a boundary is impeding the flow of communication, is eroding trust, has become an end in and of itself, or is in any way preventing us from achieving our objectives, then that boundary needs to be modified. Likewise, there may be times to erect boundaries in order to formalize relationships, protect our interests, or minimize confusion.


Practice


• Draw a map of all the natural boundaries that exist in your organization and that affect your role. Write a short description of each one. Determine which ones are out of your control.

• Identify any boundaries you have artificially created. How can you remove them?

• Are there any boundaries you feel are necessary but not currently in place? Think about how you will know if any of the boundaries that are either missing or in place will need to be changed.


Three Questions We Generally Get From Leaders About Storytelling: Reflections, Discussion & Tools

Are your leaders great storytellers? And, why should you care anyway?

With over forty years of combined experience, two of the world’s leading narrative consultants divulge some of what they have learned. Join Shawn Callahan of Anecdote and Terrence Gargiulo of MAKINGSTORIES.net for a 45-minute rousing interactive discussion rich with examples and practical tools.

I wonder…

Will you be as surprised as we were when we discovered the “Triple Threat,” of storytelling for leaders?

Find out the answers to the three questions we get asked the most. Prior to the event we'll share a white paper on leadership and storytelling. Following the webinar we'll send you a job aid that we use in our work. So give us the pleasure of your company and interact with your peers to take a nuanced but deep dive into the art and science of leadership through narrative.



TIMES & REGISTRATION LINKS:

Wednesday, August 19th, 12:30-1:15 (US, Pacific Standard Time)

Monday, July 27, 2009

Leadership & Storytelling Part 2 of Many

This is a continuation of the previous post. I am taking an extending look at leadership from a storytelling perspective. I am beginning by looking at eight key leadership behaviors. Then I will explore nine specific story-based communication skills critical for leaders. Be sure to check out my complimentary webinars in August with Shawn Callahan of Anecdote on leadership and storytelling. I'll add a description of the webinar at the end of this post.

2. Delegate

Distribution of work is a passive form of delegation and only scratches the surface of this management tool. Delegation also means sharing the baton of leadership. When leadership is shared, talents are maximized in an organization. People become more aware and willing to assume optional responsibilities, tasks, or initiatives that lie outside their work-defined domains. Delegated leadership results in team members who seek to maximize the use of their unique gifts and talents by dovetailing them to the organization’s current and future mission and objectives.

Everyone wears lots of hats, some of them better than others. We hope we have a good mix of talents and experiences on our team, but if we don’t we need to develop a strategy for diversifying that team. When delegation operates well within our team, people are proactive. People naturally gravitate to the things they do well. We have a responsibility to bring out the best in each other. We do not need to compete with each other. Recognize and enable the gifts of others. If a member of our team shines we all benefit. The spotlight can move from one contributor to the next. None of us has the full set of talents that will ensure the team’s success. Make a point of identifying the capabilities and strengths of everyone on the team. Enable people to take the initiative for deciding the best way to be an invaluable contributor to the team.


Practice

• During a staff meeting take a few minutes to ask everyone to write down strengths and skills that he or she has noticed and appreciated in other team members.


• Ask each person to make a note of how his or her strengths and skills complement those of others.


• Ask each person to write a list of things he or she currently does as part of the job that he or she could teach others to do.


Three Questions We Generally Get From Leaders About Storytelling: Reflections, Discussion & Tools

Are your leaders great storytellers? And, why should you care anyway?

With over forty years of combined experience, two of the world’s leading narrative consultants divulge some of what they have learned. Join Shawn Callahan of Anecdote and Terrence Gargiulo of MAKINGSTORIES.net for a 45-minute rousing interactive discussion rich with examples and practical tools.

I wonder…

Will you be as surprised as we were when we discovered the “Triple Threat,” of storytelling for leaders?

Find out the answers to the three questions we get asked the most. Prior to the event we'll share a white paper on leadership and storytelling. Following the webinar we'll send you a job aid that we use in our work. So give us the pleasure of your company and interact with your peers to take a nuanced but deep dive into the art and science of leadership through narrative.



TIMES & REGISTRATION LINKS:

Wednesday, August 12th, 12:30-1:15 (Australia, Eastern Standard Time)


Wednesday, August 19th, 12:30-1:15 (US, Pacific Standard Time)

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Leadership & Storytelling Part 1 of Many

August and September are going to be exciting months for our complimentary webinar series. We'll be focusing on leadership and storytelling. First up will be Shawn Callahan of Anecdote who will be joining me and all of you for an engaging interactive discussion. He and his colleagues at Anecdote have one of the best narrative practices in the world. More info about the complimentary webinar (dates, times, etc...) can be found at the end of this posting).

In preparation I thought I would spend the next fifteen or so blog posts talking about leadership and storytelling. Before getting into the storytelling side of things I want to share with you eight behaviors of leadership. Following each behavior I will outline some ideas of how these behaviors can be practiced and cultivated.


1. Cultivate Trust

An organization is bankrupt without trust. In order to leverage all forms of capital (monetary and social) leaders must cultivate trust. People need to believe in one another and be willing to engage in intricate and intimate exchanges of knowledge, idea generation, and team effort. Likewise, people need to believe in their leader. Maintaining a positive reputation and exhibiting integrity are core parts of any leader’s work, as is accepting responsibility for people. All of this ensures the organization’s success along with the ongoing personal growth of its members and their satisfaction, resulting in a perpetual loop of renewable, sustainable energy and innovation.

Model trust and it will be reciprocated. Our ability to be agile depends upon it. In an environment besieged with rapid changes, maintaining tight reins of managerial control, whether hierarchical or lateral, interferes with our ability to be responsive. People need to know we trust them to act, even if they make a mistake.

It’s the only way to maximize the intelligence and experience of our team. In a supportive environment full of trust, any mistakes made by members of our team accelerate learning and seldom become stumbling blocks. When people know it’s OK to fail, because they are trusted, they are likely to perform better.

The trust we show each other will also send a signal to our partners. How can we expect our partners to trust us if they see we do not trust members of our own team? People pick up on negative dynamics very quickly. We will not be able to hide any dysfunction in our team from outside observers, therefore we cannot afford to undermine each other. Breaches of trust are inevitable, but they are not an excuse for us to withhold trust. Even when the culture of the organization at large is tainted by a degree of distrust, we can create a corner of the organization where trust reigns supreme. Our work succeeds or fails on the basis of relationships; and no relationship can thrive without trust.


Practice

• List the people you interact with in your organization. On a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 = little trust and 7 =lots of trust, rank the level of trust you perceive you have with each person.

• For any person with a rating of 4 or less, write down two to three things you believe you could do to begin to improve that level of trust.

• Identify any people on your list with whom it is unlikely you will cultivate greater trust (hint: look at anyone with a rating of 5 or higher). It’s simply not possible to have the same degree of trust with everyone we work with. Some people may not be interested in or capable of high levels of trust, or we may have knowingly or unknowingly done something in the past to severely restrict a relationship.

• Before beginning a new relationship with anyone in your organization think about specific things you can do with this person to begin cultivating trust.

• The next time you have an opportunity to negotiate deliverables and a timeline for a project be realistic but modest in what you commit to doing—then surprise the recipient by giving more than he or she asked for and before the agreed-on deadline.

Here's a little teaser about our upcoming webinar with registration links:

Three Questions We Usually Get from Leaders About Storytelling: Reflections, Discussion & Tools

Are your leaders great storytellers?

The word “storytelling” itself is misleading - more on that during the webinar. After fits and starts and with over forty years of combined experience, two of the world’s leading narrative consultants divulge some of what they have learned. Join Shawn Callahan of Anecdote and Terrence Gargiulo of MAKINGSTORIES.net for a rousing interactive discussion rich with examples and practical tools.

I wonder…

Will you be as surprised as we were when we discovered the “Triple Threat,” of storytelling for leaders?

Find out the answers to the three questions we get asked the most. Prior to the event we'll share a white paper on leadership and storytelling. Following the webinar we'll send you a job aid that we use in our work. So give us the pleasure of your company and interact with your peers to take a nuanced but deep dive into the art and science of leadership through narrative.

Registration Times (Click on Link to Register for Comp. Webinar)...

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM GMT (Greenich Mean Time)


Wednesday, August 19, 2009 12:30 PM - 1:15 PM PDT (Pacific Stanrard Time)

Monday, July 20, 2009

Round-up StoryMatters Episode 7 - Words & Stories

If you haven’t had a chance read the blog entry before this one - it has three 99 word stories from our last StoryMatters Episode.

After Brian shared the stories posted in the last blog entry, I reflected the stories back to him. In the process I look for some key words to help me index (pinpoint) something central in the story that stands out for me. These index words are the gateway to finding my own personal stories that are associated with the 99 words stories. I use the 99 word stories as trigger for my own story reflection.

The three words from the stores that jumped out for me were:

IMAGINATION
COMPREHENSION
PROBLEM

I then proceeded to tell some stories of my own...I shared a story of a year in Budapest living in Communist built apartment complex, without a working phone, the beginning of Desert Storm with CNN images of smart bombing, my father in the hospital for heart surgery and no way for me to get back home, reading a book in my apartment - Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L'Engle (Mad Dog Bonzgo and WWIII) when the lights in the entire city of apartment buildings go out - I felt so vulnerable I crawled to my bed and did not move for 12 hours...

I told another story about a 30 year old hotel worker and the depth of experience and knowledge about a place that was otherwise falling apart. It had been a grand hotel - this guy had not only knowledge, but deep comprehension ... he had ideas of how and what the hotel could do to make things better but given his lowly position no one was talking to him

The last story I shared was about watching how more often than not people's initial grievances and complaints with large scale software implementations face away and settle with a little time and patience. More problems are created by over reacting to problems too quickly or soon.

Brian then shared a stored about having to facilitate a workshop in a loud school gymnasium. When he reframed his annoyance into a challenge of imagination by pretending it was the launch deck of the Star Trek Enterpise his whole attitude changed and his it no longer became an onerous task to ignore the initial noise and distractions


After our stories we opened up the discussion tot he group. We asked them to reflect on the relationship between the words

IMAGINATION - COMPREHENSION - PROBLEMS

Here's what people had to said. Of course other stories were shared too...

Imagination enables us to choose the frame we use to interpret or
comprehend a situation


With imagination, the "frame" of our comprehension becomes more flexible
than we might have thought.


You can't make a problem go a way by imagining it differently but you
can change its severity or intensity


Comprehension is driven by the frame we draw around something and that
frame can be flexible with imagination


We can never erase our frame entirely; can never fully see something
from another's perspective


Being circumspect about our attitude allows us to flex our frame


Using our imagination to practice flexing our frame of reference teaches
us a level of tolerance for the sometimes unusual frames that other
people are using


Imagination and comprehension are necessary for good problem solving


I think it takes first comprehension and then imagination to take a look at what is perceived as a problem and reframe it as not a problem, or perhaps discover solution


Problems are best solved with complete comprehension plus imagination thrown


Okay so what words stand out for you from the three stories?
What do you see as the relationship between these words?
And, most importantly...what stories can share that are triggers/associated with these words?

Thanks in advance for sharing!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

StoryMatters Episode 7 - Three 99 Word Story Triggers


Today we had the first live virtual studio audience for Episode 7 of StoryMatters. We'll be posting the recording soon but until then here are the three 99 word stories that were the trigger for our rich dialogue and story swapping.

Imagine!
Jeff was not an urbanite but he lived in an apartment above a busy Manhattan street. The rush of city– especially the noise of traffic – began to affect his sense of wellbeing. So, when a friend suggested he spend his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, Jeff did not hesitate.

Two weeks surrounded by gulls and waves healed Jeff’s spirit with lasting impact. Back in New York, he still awoke with the sound of surf in his ears – even though it was really the traffic far below his window!

Imagination plus attitude equals potent medicine for everyday coping.


Who Knew?
At three and a half, my daughter was a pacifier junkie. She only popped it in her mouth after daycare yet no amount of encouragement could induce her to kick the habit.

One day, my wife and I were discussing a report that the chemical softener in pacifiers could be carcinogenic. Our daughter interrupted to ask what we were talking about. We explained, in simple terms, that her pacifier might be dangerous for her long-term health. Without a word, she took it out of her mouth. Cold turkey.

We never really know how much a person comprehends!


The Passing Lane
Ahead of me climbing the steep mountain highway, three cars and a very slow truck jockey for dominance. The drivers all know this is the only passing lane for several miles. I can just imagine the tension in those cars as everyone tries to get around the lumbering truck before the passing lane ends. They are bumper to bumper at 60 mph!

Two cars pass the truck. Not me. But at the top of the hill, the truck makes a left turn onto another highway.

Some problems take care of themselves. Some problems we make ourselves.


STAY TUNED MORE TO FOLLOW SOON...

Monday, July 13, 2009

Guideline for Working with a Group's Stories - Part 9 of 9


9. Build in more room for story sharing when designing learning

Time to retire heavily scripted courses. Facilitating experiential learning with stories is not for the faint of heart. It requires guts, courage, authenticity, and an ability to think on your feet. Here’s the secret: once you become accustomed to being in less control and collaborating with a group the richer and more significant the learning will be. We must be willing to surrender a certain amount of our positional power to be effective. Chuck Hodell, (2000) in his book, ISD From the Ground Up, makes this point in a subtle way by saying, “The better the course goes, the less chance there is that anyone will appreciate the effort that went into it” (p. 185). If you make stories a core part of your experiential learning strategy during an event though, you will be wiped out. As we discussed earlier in the chapter stories require active listening and this make them exhausting as well as exhilarating. Stories are the most effective when used as a tool to facilitate participant collaboration.


Even very technical topics or regulatory forms of learning can benefit from building in time for knowledge sharing through stories. Of course topics that are softer in nature require lots of time and space for stories. As we have become more and more harried in our daily lives we have lost the art of conversation. Good conversations are full of stories. When we design learning, less will always be more. I use other forms of instruction to give people variety and a break from the intense, reflective nature of dialogue through stories. Group dialogue saturated with stories needs to be at the heart of experiential learning. Even when we create event-driven experiences for people in learning, we are in essence giving them new stories to reflect on. In this way stories are effective because they help us enact our intentions and thoughts rather than announce them. More traditional forms of instructional design are focused on instructing and telling us what we need to know. Stories always lead by offering examples and an endless playground for our imaginations to unearth new treasures.


As a general guideline if you have not developed the course and there is very little room in the material for deviations or discussion, spend a few minutes at the beginning of the day of a multi-day session, after breaks, at the end of a learning module or any place where debriefs or questions have been built into the course, to share and elicit stories from the group. When facilitating other people’s course materials I have been known to give people a break from didactic lecturing by giving folks some quiet time to digest the material on their own. This is followed by a quick recapitulation and an opportunity for people to ask questions. This usually gives me a few minutes to query the group for experiences and stories relevant to the material just read. Admittedly, some courses will not lend themselves to the use of stories. Or they may require you as facilitator to pinpoint spots in the courses and fine tune the stories you tell. Remember if you tell a story and there is not enough time for people to respond with their stories, whatever story you tell will be best served by a self-less attitude. Your story should not be about impressing others or driving a simple point home. Your story needs to be rich enough that it is evoking people’s experiences. Ideally you want to be able to process this with folks but if there is not enough time just be sure your story is rich enough to cause people to reflect and synthesize their experiences in new ways.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Guideline for Working with a Group's Stories - Part 8 of 9


8. Connect stories to one another

Treat each story as a building block that can be pieced together with another one to generate greater understanding. Stories left in isolation are like cold statues in abandoned temples erected as grand testimonies of heroic accomplishments but devoid of depth and significance. I developed a group facilitation technique called Story Collaging™ (described in Part II of this book) for helping groups see the connections between stories. Leave no stone unturned. As members of a group create a shared history, lots and lots of stories will naturally emerge. Your job is to remember these stories and constantly look for how they relate to one another. You are also tasked with inciting others in the group to do the same thing.

Stories are reflection in motion. One story leads to another and before you know it you have a mosaic of experiences crisscrossing with one another. Stories are like the tiny pieces of glass in a stained glass window. Every time the sun shines through new colors and shades of meaning emerge. Story listeners function like the sun in our image of a stained glass window. This is one of the most exciting things I do as a facilitator. I never know what will surface. The stronger the connections between the stories and the greater the number of connections between them directly correlates with the quality of learning.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Guideline for Working with a Group's Stories - Part 7 of 9


7. Be open, respectful, and non-judgmental of the stories people share

Treat all stories with respect. When someone shares a story they have given us a part of themselves. Handle it accordingly. The fragile pieces of our identity rest in our narratives. Never feel entitled to know anyone’s story. People will share what they want, when they are ready, and in a manner that does not violate their sense of themselves. However, you will be surprised at how willing and eager people are to exit the precarious myth of their separateness and embrace a sense of belonging granted by tying their experiences to those of others in a tapestry of shared consciousness.


The most vivid pictures we own are the stories in our hearts. Stories support a lattice of human experience. Each new story acts as a tendril tying us to the past, making the present significant, and giving shape to the future. Stories by their nature are a microcosm of who and how we are, so be sure you’re always respectful and non-judgmental. We can never fully understand the mysteries of someone else’s journey. Stories have no need to compete with one another and stories exist to coexist with each other. Act as an unbiased, self-aware, gracious curator and stories will usher in a cornucopia of delights and wisdom.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Guideline for Working with a Group's Stories - Part 6 of 9

6. Elicit more stories than you tell

The shortest distance between two people is a story. One of the chief reasons to tell a story is to elicit them. Stories act as triggers. We want to draw stories out of people. As the number of personal experiences shared increases, so does the quality and quantity of experiential learning. Even if someone does not share his or her story out loud, our story will set off a series of internal reflective events. People scan their index of personal experiences to find ones that match or resonate with the ones we tell them. It is not always a direct one-to-one correspondence. In other words, the stories we elicit in others will not always have an easy to see relationship to our own. We are after connections.

In order to elicit stories in others we need to work on three levels:

LEVEL NAME DESCRIPTION

LEVEL 1
Trust
• Building history with others
• Creating joint stories
• Having shared experiences

LEVEL 2
Climate of Sharing
• Willingness to share our own experiences and be vulnerable
• Inviting others to share
• Demonstrate resonance and understanding of others experiences
• Pacing

LEVEL 3
Attending
• Rephrasing questions
• Developing alternative questions
• Matching others’ language