Triple Threat Team

The Goonies, Apollo 13, The Avengers, A League of Their Own, Dodgeball.  Every successful team has its own special alchemy and unique possibility.  Central to realising that potential is trust.  The faster it can be forged, the more powerful the team will be.

At the heart of these sessions is the creation and sharing of personal stories which deliver a triple threat of benefit for the team – strengthened social bonds, embodied shared values and a sense of belonging through individual expression.

1) Accelerates the neurochemistry of social bonding

 “We are nervous systems influencing other nervous systems” – Lisa Feltman Barrett

Our brains and nervous systems are wired for connection with others.  A common set of biological, neurochemical and hormonal processes underpin social bonding.  Teams that effectively establish these bonds build trust and are better able to resolve conflict.

During these sessions, we’ll train the team on how to craft and tell the neurochemically active stories that initiate the mix of cortisol, oxytocin and dopamine that create deep connection and empathy.

2) Embodies shared values

“It’s not until the listeners hear a real-life story that high-order areas like their frontal cortices begin to align” Uri Hassen of Princeton University

We know that building a culture of strong, shared values is fundamental to high-performance team dynamics. Too often, company values gather dust in a mission statement, disconnected from the lived experience of team members. 

Personal stories are a visceral way to bring shared values to life.  By telling each other personal stories based on a specific value we convey how much it really matters to us and we increase our ability to act according to that value when the moment comes.  It’s a mutual value workout.

3) Fuels Belonging

“Belonging is commonly defined as the extent to which individuals feel they are personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others'”

Expression of self through personal stories is a powerful way to recognise individual voices within the common mission and bring to life the diversity of experience and background of your team.  Stories reveal unexpected sides of us, the perspectives that we don’t often get to express in our working lives.

In telling and listening to them during the session, we learn about each other, challenging assumptions, building belonging and creating a new understanding in the team about their potential.

This session is about going beyond the job titles and roles to achieve human-to-human contact. Entertaining not earnest, powerful not predictable, revealing not repetitive.

The team will leave the sessions with a sense of their shared identity, a combination of camaraderie and conviction as well as a powerful set of storytelling skills.