42 Rules for
Creating WE |
Thanks to your support, the launch of 42 Rules for Creating WE has been
very successful. The book is an Amazon Best Seller, it's #1 in Leadership,
Management, Motivation and Organization Behavior and was the second fastest
selling book on our launch day.
If you haven't gotten your copy yet, and would like to buy the book you
can order it now from Amazon.com.
If you also want to receive our Neuro-tips white paper with additional research
on the Neuroscience of WE please purchase the book through the Creating WE Institute website.
Visit our web site for additional information
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Award Winning Books
and Multimedia
by Judith E. Glaser |
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Thoughtful Quotes
"If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just"
Anita Roddick
"Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them"
Albert Einstein
"If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again"
Groucho Marx
"Stories are the single most powerful tool in a leader's toolkit"
Howard Gardner
"Storytellers, by the very act of telling, communicate a radical learning that changes lives and the world: telling stories is a universally accessible means through which people make meaning"
Chris Cavanaugh
"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value"
Albert Einstein
"The end result of kindness is that it draws people to you"
"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give"
Winston Churchill"Sometimes we hesitate telling the real truth to people for fear we will hurt their feelings or ruin a relationship irreparably. Sometimes we don't tell the truth because we're not sure how"Charles Jones
"A 'No' or 'Yes-but' shuts down the chances for new possibilities, diminishes the quest for risk-taking, and locks people into a mindset of limitations"Louise van Rhyn
"Language is the house of Being; in its home man dwells. Those who think and those who create with words are the guardians of this home"Martin Heidegger
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| Creating WE Institute |
Where the Art of Engagement and the Spirit of Innovation
Build Collective Wisdom in the Workplace...
Visit our web site for additional information
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Contributing Expert
Judith is one of many contributing experts on the sites listed below.
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Greetings!
Welcome to our newsletter - The DNA of Leadership.
Every month, we will be bringing you new ideas to think about, new
practices to experiment with, and new thoughts on topics such as changing organizational culture, creative team development and leadership assessment and development to inspire you.
Welcome new readers! We are delighted that you are interested in learning more about Creating WE leadership. We are confident that you will find our monthly newsletter informative and always welcome your feedback.
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Story Telling Patterns
"Handle
them carefully,
for words have more power than atom bombs."
Pearl Strachan, author
 Our
stories either build or break down relationships with others. At work, we
interact with colleagues and hopefully create networks and build alliances.
Every day in your business, there are a million interactions that will create
either a positive or a negative dynamic among people. While these interactions
may seem small, they begin to add up to a larger pattern. We are either
spiraling up or down. We are either building a stronger sense of I or a
stronger sense of WE.
Building Stories - Two Scenarios
Storytelling, like the words we use, comes
naturally to human beings. Stories are how we share what we are seeing,
feeling, and sensing inside. Storytelling is, in essence, our view of reality.
Storytelling begins as an I-centric
capability enabling us to state and often defend our point of view. In
organizational life, storytelling shapes the way we view the world individually
and collectively, and it can have positive or negative consequences for the
health of the enterprise. Learning how and when to shift from an 'I to a WE'
perspective in the stories we tell is essential to organizational health and
growth.
We create stories based on our point of
view-based on our function, our title, and our respective level in the
hierarchy. "Where we sit" can determine "where we stand." Because we each see
the world through our respective lenses of experience and beliefs, it's not
hard to understand how colleagues engaged in different functions or operating
within different environments-even within the same organization-can come to
tell their stories about the enterprise from the vantage points of their own
separate silos.
IMAGINE
Imagine
you just joined a new company in a new position, and you have been given the
responsibility for achieving success. Your predecessor was unable to pull it
off, so you have some extra pressure to deliver results. Imagine you accept
this responsibility and start your job tomorrow.
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What story are you telling yourself about this job, about
your role, about what you want to accomplish?
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What story are you telling the new employees who will be
meeting you for the first time? Your staff? Your customers?
Imagine
the following situation, which I'll call
Scenario 1. As you do your due
diligence and make your assessment of the situation, you uncover concerns that
you didn't see before. The talent seems to be light for the task ahead. You
sense that the resource base is also light, and you realize that the job is
bigger than you thought.
The
business problems also seem bigger and you can't get your arms around them. You
are new and believe you are supposed to be in charge of the situation. You
decide not to share your fears and worries out of concern that others will
think you are not capable of being a leader or are unable to handle the
challenge. How will the story you hold inside, and the story you tell outside
impact the future success of the business?
Your
Story: The story you tell yourself in this scenario is that you
need to be tough, and show confidence. Sharing your concerns will weaken your
leadership, and asking for help or involvement will weaken your power.
Their
Story: The story your direct reports tell each other is that you
are not interested in their perspectives and are a command and control leader.
They band together and are fearful of what you do, lack trust in your
assessments and resist your approach.
As
an alternative, let's look at Scenario 2. You come aboard, do your due
diligence, and find problems are more difficult than you originally
anticipated. You immediately bring your direct reports into your assessment
and, with open and honest communication; you create an engagement process to
build positive energy and focus. You include others in discovering new and
exciting ways for building the business. In Scenario 2 you are more open and
transparent with colleagues, you express your desire to create sustainable
partnerships, and you are willing to coach and be coached to help yourself and
others grow.
Your
Story: The story you tell yourself in this scenario is that while
you were hired to be the leader, you weren't hired to have all the answers
alone.
Their
Story: The story your direct reports tell each other is that you
are an incredibly inclusive leader who really cares about their perspective,
wisdom and insight.
Telling Stories
 We
establish our power through our stories and story telling with others. Stories
shape our sense of the world, our relationships, and our future. Stories
communicate our aspirations, our hopes, our intentions, and our beliefs. Most
importantly, stories convey the hopes and dreams we hold in our minds about the
reality we believe we are living in or want to live in.
We
tell our stories all day long. We tell them to customers, to colleagues, and to
our friends and family. But the person we tell our stories to most of all is
ourself.
Human
beings have the power and ability to make up dramatic stories with any
conceivable ending. Our stories can portray a future full of promise and
accomplishment or one that is dark and empty. It's all stuff we first make up
and then come to believe. Once we believe our story, we live it out the way we
visualize it in our minds.
Like
it or not, we are storytellers. Our main audience is us; and our life develops
from the stories we create. In other words, if we wake up one morning to
discover that our finances have been wiped out because we purchased a bad
stock, our story could become that we are a loser and stupid, or we could tell
a story of our ability to take risks and go after the Big One. Our stories
influence how we see ourselves and how we approach the life challenges that
come next. Stories can empower or dis-empower our life journey.
How
are You Using Story Telling at Work?
 Think
about the power of stories to shape your future. How are you using story
telling at work? Scan and monitor your stories and reflect on how you are using
stories to either lift you up or push others down. Are your stories I-centric
or WE-centric?
Are
you using story telling to:
- Prove you are right?
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Build stronger relationships?
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Inspire people to step into new challenges?
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Break from the past and create the future?
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Blame others and make them bad in the eyes of others?
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Build people up and make them feel great about themselves?
Reflect on your story telling process and
keep track of the themes that show up in your stories.
In the next issues we'll talk about the
neuroscience behind story telling!
We didn't know if our ideas were strong enough of big enough, yet as we listened to each other's ideas, and became inspired by what others had to say - we did.
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Getting to the next level of greatness depends on the quality of the culture, which depends on the quality of relationships, which depend on the quality of conversations.
Everything happens through conversation!
Judith E. Glaser
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