A Spy Story: Protective Behavior By Team Members

You have likely seen many instances where people are struggling exercising new skills, but are afraid to ask for help. Then once their skills and confidence grow, they realize that it was always ok to ask for help.

What is the role of the leader when people are developing new skills? A review of Hersey-Blanchard’s situational leadership is well worth some study for a brilliant, yet simple, framework that offers guidance on the role of a leader in developing people and their skills. There is much material available on situational leadership. This link provides a brief overview https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hersey-and-blanchard-model.asp

 

A Book Titled “I Was Never Here”

I found an interesting example of avoiding asking for assistance in a book I recently read.  The book was written by a former spy. The story is about his past work in the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. The book is titled I Was Never Here and is written by Andrew Hirsch.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60288495-i-was-never-here

The Book and Behavior in Organizations

The book was less exciting than I expected considering the author was a spy, but it is an interesting read regardless.  It’s interesting because it’s about people, and individual and team behavior in organizations. 

The book jacket makes clear that the book isn’t a James Bond thriller, but instead offers insight into his former role in CSIS. And CSIS is a large federal agency that does great work, however it is a typical organization with battles for resources, and protective behavior amongst teams within the organization. 

An interesting section describes surveillance of a car which belonged to a person of interest.  A mistake is made which slows the surveillance work, and the CSIS technical experts are very protective of the team member that made the mistake.  This slows the work.  The protective team behavior complicates the greater goal of the organization to the frustration of the other teams involved and senior leadership.

Embarrassed to Admit It

My main interest is in public speaking and leadership skills and there is often reluctance by people to address gaps in these areas. Considering this reluctance, I enjoyed this passage on page 76 of the copy I read. He described moving from a desk job in the agency where he managed various data reporting needs, and then the difficult move to more dangerous field work.  

“When I didn’t know what I was doing I was embarrassed to admit it. As my confidence grew, so did my willingness to admit when I needed help.”

It's common that people are reluctant to acknowledge a skill gap or ask for assistance. The situational leadership model provides a framework to help leaders in the art of assessing skill development of team members and responding appropriately.

Comfort Zone – A Leap from 829 Feet: Great Speakers Tell Great Stories

 Great speakers tell great stories. Often their stories are original, but sometimes the source is someone else, told as a third-person story. Such stories can be found in books, videos, one-on-one conversations and other sources. Using someone else’s story is fine, so long as you attribute the story to the source, or in some way modify and make the story your own. You’ve likely heard speakers use material from notables such as Steve Jobs and Warren Buffet.

Skills Needed For Effective Story Telling

There are a few key skills involved in effectively using stories in presentations. First is simply being a good story teller, which involves dramatizing some elements, and using voice and pausing. The purpose of a story is to make a point with an audience, so if some embellishment might help land the point, it’s worth some polish. The objective isn’t to provide 100% accuracy, even in the unlikely event that your memory of the event is 100% accurate, or to share every tiny detail. The objective should be to tell the story so it’s remembered and the lesson is clear and vivid, along with the most important story elements.

A second skill in using stories effectively is finding them, usually by mining your personal experience. Often when I am working with a speaker, during casual conversation we uncover stories that are valuable for future presentations.

A third skill is in understanding the point and value, and maybe the multiple points, of a story. I usually carry a 4x6 moleskin notebook in a jacket pocket. Just about any story I tell with passion to a friend or colleague I jot down in the notebook and capture the point of the story. For example, one story I captured was about a minor, but funny, incident that happened while on a plane.  That story was simple, relatable and offered some lessons on clear communication, on asking for what you want, and on customer service. One story with at least three lessons.

Jumping From the Stratosphere Hotel Tower

I write this because last year I discovered a video I had saved on YouTube, and then ignored, from a team building event.  I wasn’t excited about this team building event at the time. Each team member individually jumped from the 829-foot (253 meters) Stratosphere tower in Las Vegas and recorded a personal video of the jump from a wrist-mounted camera. I didn’t see great value in this as a team building experience, and would not have spent the money personally to make the jump. Regardless, we shared this individual, sequential experience. We all enjoyed the adrenaline rush, and we spoke about it afterwards, but we didn’t observe and learn how team members react and perform as we would in other team building experiences

Information on the jump is available at this link https://thestrat.com/attractions/skyjump

My jump video is available here https://youtu.be/E7U64OV0iVU

Mining Our Experiences for Stories

When I rediscovered and watched the ninety-second video after these years had passed, I recognized that those ninety-seconds perfectly illustrate an element of situational leadership, a model I like to present to audiences. I will write a second post on that those elements, but this post focuses on mining for stories.

Great speakers do tell great stories.  The best way to find great stories is to consider and mine your personal experiences. I had saved this video but saw no value in my Stratosphere experience beyond the immediate rush. However, when I reviewed it again, I realized the potential of the video.  It’s always well received by audiences and helps me illustrate situational leadership.

You may also have some video content you’ve tucked away somewhere. You may have some stories you like to tell from past experiences. You might have a passionate discussion today with a friend of colleague about a recent event. Become skilled at capturing these stories and the lessons they illuminate. Then share them with audiences.  

People love stories. People remember stories. Bolt your point or lesson to a good story and you have an asset to build into a great, reusable speech.

 

#situationalleadership #leadership #risk #stories