Big thanks to Shirley Anderson, a coach colleague of mine. She introduced me to a wonderful idea put together by an organization called StoryCorps. StoryCorps created the National Day of Listening, a designated opportunity to sit with a loved one, neighbor, friend, teacher, etc and learn about their life. Through conversational interviews, people will share their memories, their hopes, dreams, joys and sorrows in a recorded conversation with the intent of creating an audio (or written) keepsake.

Here’s what Shirley had to say in her email to me:

“I’m a fan because I neglected to capture these stories from my parents and grandparents and those stories are lost forever … my great-nieces and nephews … and even their parents will never know what it was like for their blood ancestors to come to America as an immigrant.  How precious are those stories of my grandparents and their heroic journeys.

I have lunch weekdays with a group of people who are anywhere from 5 to 20 years older than I am.  Nearly every day there are stories about their lives growing up on farms in this area.  It seems impossible that they and their families survived conditions I’ve only read about.  None of them had the advantages my parents were able to provide for me and my siblings by moving to the city.   They don’t feel like they missed anything, though.  There’s no anger or regret.  If anything, it’s a quiet pride.  Yes, I’m going to start recording them.  The only challenge is to keep everyone from talking at once. It’s a true privilege to know them.”

I often think about the legacy I am leaving to my children and how they will remember me and talk about me to others. Part of what I’d like to leave them with are stories about their ancestors, family members and close friends. It is important to me that my children and the generations to come will feel connected with their heritage and know the background from which they’ve come. Thanks to StoryCorps, this will be the year for me to start capturing these stories!

StoryCorps has lots of tools and information to help anyone plan for their keepsake conversation. I found their Great Questions list particularly helpful to design my interview guides. Here are a few of my favorite questions, meant to be asked to a parent or grandparent (other relatives may be relevant also):

• What was your childhood like?
• Who were your favorite relatives?
• Do you remember any of the stories they used to tell you?
• How did you meet mom/dad?
• What was my mom/dad like growing up?
• What are your dreams for me?
• Is there anything that you’ve always wanted to tell me but haven’t?
• What lessons has your work life taught you?
• If you could do anything now, what would you do? Why?

And, if you happen to be in one of the major cities hosting National Day of Listening events, there will be Mobile Storybooths where you can make a reservation and go with your loved one to record their stories.  The full details can be found on here.

Let me know if you participate in any way. I’d truly love to hear about your experience. I’ll share mine in a future blog. Peace to you and yours as you celebrate this Thanksgiving. I am grateful for my many blessings, of which I include you, my reader, colleague, client, friend.

“Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent.”

- Source Unknown

Effectively leading an organization, as the quote above states, implies a level of success at both accomplishing objectives and fostering cohesion within the organization. This requires that a leadership team focus on both “tasks” and “relationships” in order to sustain positive results for the organization. I blogged a while back about the need for balance between a team’s task focus (goals, objectives, deliverables, results) and it’s relationship focus (how people relate to one another, the quality of the interactions, level of authenticity and openness, and generally how well people like each other).

There are many useful models, books and assessments available to guide a leadership team’s analysis of their performance as it relates to this duality. The model I am writing about here is one I use frequently in my team building and organizational development work: The Five Dysfunctions of Team by Patrick Lencioni.

In this engaging fable and well explained management book, Lencioni writes a very readable fictional story of how a newly appointed chief executive sets about improving the performance of the top leadership team in a failing company. Lencioni has a way of developing the characters and unfolding the story so that the reader relates and connects with the scenario. I’ve been amazed by the fact that every team I’ve introduced to this book, from scientists at a biotech firm to managers in an IKEA warehouse, has the same response: “That’s us!” or “I felt like he was describing our team!”

The story begins with the new CEO taking time to get to know the team before leading them through a series of steps and exercises. The steps and exercises will raise team members’ awareness to the patterns of behavior getting in their way and what new behaviors are necessary to create the results they all desire. So, first a focus on “relationship” and then on “task.”

Let’s look briefly at the five components of the model and how it might apply or be useful within your own team. If you know me personally or read my blog regularly, you probably know that I am a proponent of Appreciative Inquiry and the language of positivity. I prefer to look at Lencioni’s 5-part model from the perspective of “fundamentals” to be mastered, and not “dysfunctions” to be overcome. Thus, the language shift:

1. The first fundamental is Trust. This is not just a reliability-based trust, as in “I trust her to get that done on time,” but also a vulnerability-based trust. This is the kind of trust that allows team members to be real, to be genuinely open with each other about their mistakes and weaknesses, to offer or ask for help unashamedly, and to bring all of who they are to the team (the good, the bad, and the ugly).
2. With a high level of trust, openness, and “real-ness,” team members are ready to master the next fundamental: passionate debate, robust dialogue, or simply put: ‘conflict’. Trusting teams are capable of fully and honestly debating issues, disagreeing with and challenging one another, hearing all opinions and viewpoints, and putting the important, and oftentimes, difficult issues on the table for discussion.
3. The ability to openly discuss issues leads to team member Commitment, the third fundamental. When team members are able to fully air their views, to feel that their opinions and knowledge are valued, and to understand the perspectives of other teammates, they are very likely to support and be fully committed to the decisions of the group.
4. Only when team members are fully bought into the decisions of the group, can there be true Accountability (fundamental #4). How can someone stand up and be counted on issues they were not completely committed to in the first place? In fact, on a team operating at the level described thus far (high level of vulnerability-based trust, willingness and ability to talk through the real issues, unambiguous decisions fully supported by all team members) individuals often possess a strong sense of ownership and identify themselves with the success and achievements of the team. These team members tend to hold themselves more accountable and take great pride in their membership on the team.
5. Accountability creates an environment that leads to the fifth fundamental, Results. Desired results are achieved and team performance is meeting (and maybe exceeding) expectations. In the case of a leadership team, team members’ focus in on organizational results and the collective needs of the team; not on their specific department or even their individual needs (such as ego, career, recognition or reward).

Are you finding this information interesting or resonant? Maybe you’re wondering where your team’s greatest opportunities lie for mastering each fundamental. Let’s find out! You can start by completing my complimentary teamwork assessment to see which behaviors you personally feel most comfortable or skilled with and which behaviors you are less comfortable using.

You can also learn more about the Five Dysfunctions of a Team model by reading the two articles below, both written by Patrick Lencioni:

Conquer Team Dysfunction

The Trouble with Teamwork

Here is the link again for your complimentary teamwork assessment. Once you complete it, I’ll email you to arrange a time we can review and interpret your responses together.