The Power of Stories: Building, Sharing and Changing Culture
Our last article on the Coach’s Clipboard focused on how tests such as the Riley Test can build skills and also influence team culture by setting expectations and a standard. This week’s entry on the Coach’s Clipboard remains focused on how to build, share and change the culture of a team or organization. However, instead of tests, the food for thought is how stories can impact company culture. The stories we tell express values and feelings that we find important as something to re-enforce or sometimes something to avoid. Stories are powerful in that our brains recall and remember stories much more than facts, figures, policies or even mission or values statements. A story that represents a company value will be recalled and resonate much more readily than a mere statement of that value. I was recently reminded of this when listening to a Coaching for Leaders podcast that highlighted how stories create emotions, express values and reenforce or impede company or team culture.
As I reflect on this, I remember when I was leading a team that had just been part of a company acquisition. The acquired company and its team had a much different company culture than what I was used to. This was evident in both the morale and the performance of the team. They told stories of how the prior owners took advantage of and didn’t care about the team members. In one of the first days working with this team, I was told about how the prior owner drove past a team member walking on the road as the owner passed on his drive to work. The team member’s car had broken down, and he was walking to work. The prior owner didn’t stop and pick him up, but instead when he arrived to work, he told the team member’s boss to send him home because he was going to be late. This story was obviously told throughout the organization for years and even to the next leaders. Our task was to create and share new stories of support and teamwork that would change the morale and culture within this team. We could not just say we cared and had a different mission statement. We had to live it and then share the stories, or examples, of this with the entire team. That team member that was walking on the side of the road? We helped him get a new, more reliable vehicle so he wouldn’t have that problem again. He, and we, told that story for years to come. Feel free to share any of your company stories that have helped build or change your culture with scott@teamacuity.org.
For more details about how stories can help build and change culture , please see: https://apple.news/A0vkxX5EbTEybEoJOHyqxQA
