{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Modern Manager","title":"34: How Stories Can Transform Relationships with Ann Smith","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1740,"description":"When was the last time your team had a conversation about a non-work topic? That might seem like an unusual question when in fact, it’s an important component to building a high performing team. When people connect on a human level, they develop and deepen trust and respect, enabling them to constructively engage in conflict, openly share ideas and much more.\r\nThis week, I speak with Ann Smith, Executive Director of the non-profit Books@Work. Books@Work partners with employers to break down barriers, build connections and foster openness, trust and respect. Using facilitated dialogue about a carefully-curated piece of narrative literature, the program invites colleagues to deepen the relationships that anchor healthy and inclusive organizations.\r\n \r\nJoin the Modern Manager community to get 3 stories from Books@Work to use with your team. Plus, access additional guest bonuses and other resources to support your learning journey when you join.\r\n \r\nSubscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.\r\n \r\nRead the related blog post: How to use Stories to Transform Relationships\r\n \r\nKey Takeaways:\r\n\r\nUsing narrative text as the basis for a discussion tees up conversations that don't normally happen, enabling the group to address topics as potentially challenging as race, and gender, and politics. The story creates an alternate reality to talk about, so people feel more open to share their view. When people engage in a narrative text, they each bring their own perspective, often seeing different things.\r\nThere's almost no organization or industry where the ability to connect more deeply with other people isn't relevant and profound. Books@Work has impact any place that the human relationship lies at the core of being successful.\r\nThe big difference between the Books@Work approach and other common forms of team bonding such as a happy hour, is that a happy hour is wonderful in the moment, but most people will gravitate to the...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/vh03-o0OUKG7JnFjtDqtJmV0y385f5sQOifebswPa_E/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQzNjM5LzE2OTA1/Nzg4MDYtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}