Storytelling, Empathy, and Employee Engagement

Just north of San Antonio, where I live, is the Eagle Ford Shale formation, which I drove through recently taking my family to the coast for a vacation. Here and in other sites across the country, technologies developed in the United States are unlocking vast stores of oil and gas in shale rock formations, enabling steep climbs in energy production.
 

What is it like for the employees working in these fields?  A recent New York Times article described the situation well, the danger and stress of working “14 hours a day shuffling the heavy iron in [a] maze of six-inch pipes … At any given time, some of the pipes are empty while others will hold back four tons of water pressure … hammering on the wrong union or opening the wrong valve can be fatal …  There are 2,500 pounds of iron swinging in the air, and explosives being lowered into wells on three miles of cable.”

 
To work this hard in such conditions, these employees must be engaged with all their hearts, and to work safely, they must be engaged with all their minds as well. They need to pay attention to every single detail of their own work, and to the work of their colleagues. I do most of my consulting and coaching in the energy sector. I am deeply humbled and awed by this work, and the commitment to safety I witness.  Imagine the responsibility and accountability shared by the leaders and executives of these enterprises who must create the culture of engagement, reliability, and safety for this work that meets our growing energy needs.
 

Engaging hearts and minds is the aim of most leadership practices whether the topic is strategy execution, culture change, or improved customer service.   When it comes to safety in potentially dangerous working environments, the stakes are the highest.  Thus, I find the energy sector especially valuable for uncovering best practices foremployee engagement.
 

We have been working with a global energy client to apply recent research in neuroscience to help leaders create and tell stories that inspire and teach others to practice more safe behaviors. Our approach is based on research that suggests a well-told story with the right ingredients can serve like a “flight simulator” through the activation of mirror neurons, the brain-based source of empathy.  Empathy allows us to feel the story as our own.  In effect, hearing the safety stories of others – hazards encountered and avoided, or accidents experienced and learned from – allows learning without risk.  We simulate the behavior safely in our minds and feel the consequences without the physical impact in our own bodies.
 

The ability to empathize and feel danger vicariously is especially important in countering a common phenomenon called risk tolerance – the more we do a task, the more we grow complacent about potential dangers.  And that’s true whether your employees face the physical dangers of four tons of water pressure or the fiscal risks of not meeting operational milestones in a timely manner.
 

Interestingly, it was the science – cells firing together in new ways and creating pathways for new behaviors – that convinced the technically-minded leaders that I work with to give story-telling a shot! Through intensive skills practice and coaching, they are achieving transformation on both an individual and organizational level.  The most successful leaders have been able to forge personal and emotional connections with their teams in ways never experienced before.
 

Perhaps story-telling has a role to play in your employee engagement efforts. What are the critical behaviors that you would like to simulate – and stimulate – in your workforce?