Transcript- Episode 129: Why Strategic Storytelling Is the New Corporate Currency with Aleya Harris, Speaker, Strategic Storytelling Consultant, Bestselling Author Episode 129
Oct 1, 2024
00:00:00 - Aleya Harris
If a story is told and no one hears it, does the story really matter? You have to be a storyteller and a story listener at the same time to create a good culture and that truly is a good leader. I'm creating an environment for you to tell your story and you know that I actually care about the beginning, the middle, and the end of it.
00:00:26 - Christina Barsi
The workforce landscape is rapidly changing. And educators and their institutions need to keep up. Preparing students before they enter the workforce to make our communities and businesses stronger is at the core of getting an education. But we need to understand how to change and adjust so that we can begin to project where things are headed before we even get there. So how do we begin to predict the future?
00:00:51 - Salvatrice Cummo
Hi, I'm Salvatrice Cummo, Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development at Pasadena City College and host of this podcast.
00:01:00 - Christina Barsi
And I'm Christina Barsi, producer and co-host of this podcast.
00:01:04 - Salvatrice Cummo
And we are starting the conversation about the future of work. We'll explore topics like how education can partner with industry, how to be more equitable, and how to attain one of our highest goals, more internships and PCC. Students in the workforce we at Pasadena City College want to lead the charge in closing the gap between what our students are learning and what the demands of the workforce will be once they enter. This is a conversation that impacts all of us. You, the employers, the policymakers, the educational institutions, and the community as a whole.
00:01:38 - Christina Barsi
We believe change happens when we work together, and it all starts with having a conversation. I'm Christina Barsi.
00:01:45 - Salvatrice Cummo
And I'm Salvatrice Cummo, and this is the Future of Work. Hi, welcome back to the Future of Work podcast. I am your host, Dr. Salvatrice Cummo. Joining us today is a leading expert in strategic storytelling and a powerhouse in the business consultancy world, Aleya Harris. Aleya is the founder and CEO of the Evolution Collective, Incorporated, and the mastermind behind Spark the Stage, a program designed to elevate professional speaking through authentic storytelling. With a background as a marketing executive and an ex-Google vendor partner, Aleya has garnered accolades, including being named speaker of the year twice. She's captivated audiences with over 100 presentations and webinars, and her expertise has been featured on more than 125 podcasts. Aleya is also set to release her highly anticipated book, Spark the Stage, which promises to change the way we think about storytelling in a public setting. Today, we'll explore how authentic storytelling is reshaping the workplace culture. Aleya will share how strategic storytelling can drive inclusivity, transform organizational dynamics, and set brands apart in today's competitive market. Aleya. Hi. How are you?
00:03:06 - Aleya Harris
Hello. I am good. How are you, my friend?
00:03:09 - Salvatrice Cummo
Very good. Very good. It's so wonderful to have you on the show. And thank you for just saying yes.
00:03:15 - Aleya Harris
Of course, to you, there was no other option. I had to say yes.
00:03:20 - Salvatrice Cummo
Thank you. I really appreciate that. Well, I'll tell you what. I have to get started with a background question. Like, I know a little bit about your background, right? But our listener may not. So I'm gonna pose to you a question about your career. Right. Like, you've worked with Stevie Wonders as a private chef.
00:03:38 - Aleya Harris
Yes.
00:03:39 - Salvatrice Cummo
To becoming a thought leader in storytelling. Right. Talk about a diverse career background.
00:03:45 - Aleya Harris
What do you mean? Those are totally related.
00:03:48 - Salvatrice Cummo
Totally related. Absolutely. Share with us. How did your experiences kind of lead to this intersection of storytelling and workplace culture? How did you get there?
00:03:58 - Aleya Harris
So it was through not knowing myself and finding little nuggets along the way that I ended up where I am now. So, I started off in the fashion industry, the cosmetic industry. Hated it. Hated it. I was like, so let me get this straight. We make jeans that cost us dollar 20 to make, and we sell them for dollar 400, and they make your butt look flat. It was not for me. It was not for me. So, I was trying to. And I cried every day because the whole thing was just not for me. And then I got laid off. Luckily, didn't feel luckily at the time, but luckily I got laid off, and I ended up going to culinary school because I couldn't get a job doing anything else. I don't know why I was unhireable. And Uber was not around back then. So I was in culinary school for two years, and then I got some of the best, worst advice I'd ever gotten. Kind of got my cockles up. Chef instructor said, "well, you're gonna have to work ten years for $10 an hour before you're ever gonna make anything of yourself." And I said, excuse you. Wow. You clearly have never met me. Hi, my name is Aleya Harris, and I've never made $10 an hour, even in my first internship. So why the heck would I go to school and start now? So it was that that drove me to being the best. I graduated with 4.0 on the dean's list and president's list. And while I was in school, I said, how am I going to make it so I don't make $10 an hour? And so I started my own business. And that was my first foray into entrepreneurship. I started a private catering and chef business. And then, like any respectable person in Los Angeles, I got an agent. I got a chef agent. Yes. Everyone has agents, including chefs.
00:05:36 - Salvatrice Cummo
You guys even know that that exists?
00:05:38 - Aleya Harris
It's a thing. It's like, you know, for your household staff, you can go through an agency. You have your driver, your butler, your nanny. Everyone can have an agent should you decide to have one.
00:05:49 - Salvatrice Cummo
Okay?
00:05:50 - Aleya Harris
Find your niche. Find your agent. I found my agent. They were great, btw. They placed me some short term gigs, some long term gigs, and then they placed me among other people, like, with Stevie Wonder. And I ended up kind of doing my own business, but really focusing on being his private chef. And I traveled all around the world, and I thought I had found it because I definitely was not making $10 an hour. So, check. Mission accomplished.
00:06:17 - Salvatrice Cummo
Yeah.
00:06:18 - Aleya Harris
But after a while, I think I have delusions of grandeur, Salvatrice, because I was there with one of the biggest legends in music, and I was like, yeah, well, he's a legend, but I'm not. And the longer that I'm here, the more he will be a legend and the more I will not. And I said, how do I do what is burning in me? To be known, to be helpful, to be seen. How do I tap into that? But it still didn't feel quite right, that whole narrative. Oh, I just wanted people to know my name. For what? Like who? I'm not that important. Like, just to know the name Aleya Harris. What does that mean? And that actually gave me a clue when one day I was still working for Stevie, but I was also moonlighting with this other dude, like, this millionaire bazillionaire dude. He was, like, in his thirties. He had a house. I got lost in one time. I had to call the maid because I had no idea where I was. It had bowling alleys and movie theaters and wings. I mean, huge house. And I'm there, and one day, this dude comes home and I'm in the kitchen, and he brings me a jar of Prego. Like, Prego, like.
00:07:27 - Salvatrice Cummo
Like the sauce, like sauce, okay.
00:07:29 - Aleya Harris
Which I was, like, keeping it together, and I had my, like, public face on with that plastered smile, like, how can I help you? I'm behind my smile. I'm like, am I about to get fired? And you're about to do it in the most horrible way by telling me, like, this jar of Prego was better than your food. No, none of that was happening. He'd had a really rough day, and he comes from money, European money. And so his mom and him had grown up with chefs their whole lives. But when he was having a bad day, his mom would cook for him herself as a way to say, "I love you." And the only thing she knew how to cook was canned pasta sauce and noodles.
00:08:06 - Salvatrice Cummo
Wow.
00:08:07 - Aleya Harris
And so he brought me this pasta sauce, and he said, can you make this for me? I've had a really hard day, and I'm thinking to myself, this is the most expensive Prego pasta you are ever gonna have. But I did, and it was in that moment, and there were several moments with Stevie as well, where I was just like, wait a minute. My purpose here is not to be in someone's shadow. My purpose here is to love people into the highest versions of themselves, to allow them to connect with the place and the part of them that they don't get to show because they feel vulnerable, they feel trapped, they feel scared, they feel lonely. Rich people. Celebrities are some of the loneliest people I've ever met, right? And it's sad, but they're there. And through food, I had a medium to love them. That's why it was like. Like water for chocolate. It was like, let me love you through this food. So I had that whole I love you piece. I want to love you into the biggest version of yourself. And then I also had the but I want to be known, and everybody needs to hear from Aleya Harris. I didn't know how to rectify that, so I ended up working after Stevie, actually, after a couple other clients working at Google as a vendor partner in the marketing team, I was a regional marketing manager with my region being the United States, and I was like, I really love this. I'm loving people through food, through better behaviors. I'm able to help them understand, and I get to tell stories. I'm not cooking, so how do I translate that same feeling I'm able to give through the actual food well, but I could tell the story about the food and how it got there and how it can impact their lives. And that's how I started my storytelling journey. And the pieces started to come together, and I rose through the ranks of my parent company and became the head of marketing for North America and hated it again. I wasn't telling stories. I was surrounded by a bunch of bald white men in IBM suits who didn't know what the hell to do with me. They didn't know what to do. And I was like, I don't know what to do with me either. Within this, luckily, I got laid off, so God is just like, "I got you, girl."
00:10:06 - Salvatrice Cummo
The universe has you covered universe had me covered.
00:10:09 - Aleya Harris
So then I started my business, which had a different name, but I was doing the same thing, and I started putting those pieces together. And I said, well, if I have this knowledge of storytelling and marketing, my goal is to love people into the highest versions of themselves. And I have a really good knack of doing that. Well, all I really need to do, then, is to tell people how to tell stories and to tell really good ones so that they believe that their story is worth telling. And that's what I do now. I do that with individuals. I teach them how to be on stages and how to speak. I do that with companies. I had a brokerage company that was going up for sale, and they were valued at 2 million. And I got into their story, pulled out their differentiation points, gave them the tools to tell that story, and then their end valuation was 51 million. They closed in June. Stories, I realized, are a way of showcasing the part of you that most people look for externally. They're looking for what makes them unique, what kind of thing they can do, the gimmick, the cool thing that already exists inside of you. You just need to showcase it. And the best way that I've learned how to do that, since I can't cook for the whole world, my kitchen's just not that big, is to tell stories.
00:11:26 - Salvatrice Cummo
Speaking of which, like, you really highlight the storytelling piece as part of workplace culture. But, by the way, wow, amazing story. Like, I learned a few things that I didn't know.
00:11:40 - Aleya Harris
I'm so glad. See, I'm multifaceted. There's depth. Depth over here.
00:11:46 - Salvatrice Cummo
100%. 100%. The storytelling piece is what I'm really fascinated about and how you really emphasize storytelling and workplace culture going hand in hand and why that's important. So, can we talk a little bit about why storytelling and workplace culture really creates a supportive work environment? And why do you think it's so important for business leaders today to hone in on what their story is?
00:12:14 - Aleya Harris
Okay, so let's break this down to, like, what we're actually doing, because business people are really good at all of the acronyms, right? ROI, KPI, DEI. Right? We're, like, gonna acronym it out to make ourselves feel important. And the thing that I've realized over my whole career.
00:12:32 - Salvatrice Cummo
I'm gonna use that. I'm gonna use that. We're gonna acronym this out.
00:12:35 - Aleya Harris
We're in an acronym. We're gonna use that phrase. It's just. It's never that serious. So we think, oh, workplace culture, that's such a big concept. Let's break it down. You got human beings. Human beings, in order to survive in the culture that we are in, have to go to somewhere or exchange their value, their expertise for money. That's what we do. And when you get a whole bunch of those people together, you have a workplace culture is happening whether you like it or not. It's a shared value system, shared beliefs, thought patterns, and behaviors. That's what makes up culture. So you got a whole bunch of people that have their own individual stories that are running twenty-four-seven. And that is creating your workplace culture. The human beings and the collection of their individual stories. So, instead of thinking about this workplace culture as those values on the wall, like integrity with the lion and resilience.
00:13:35 - Salvatrice Cummo
And all of that stuff, with that tone as well.
00:13:38 - Aleya Harris
That tone, it is not any of that. It is the storybook of each individual human stories. So it's up to you then, as a workplace culture builder, to find the golden thread between the stories. Because humans come as humans every single day of their work life. They cannot leave themselves behind. It used to be that in workplace cultures and very corporate environments, we tried. We tried our darndest. We did. We were gonna be as fake as possible. I'm not gonna let you.
00:14:15 - Salvatrice Cummo
But it worked!
00:14:16 - Aleya Harris
It worked right until people were dying inside and they realized what was it all for. I would much rather have a little bit of a mess that we have right now because human beings are messy. And as culture builders, we have to understand that not every story has a happy ending. And there are lots of stories with ogres and dragons and people who get limbs cut off and sickness and magic potions that put you to sleep for long periods. Our stories are filled with the real-world examples of those things. When you're looking to build culture, you're looking for the commonality between experience that everyone can relate to. Everyone can relate to stories of overcoming. So then what have they overcome? How can they tell their story within the cultural landscape of your company? And how do you paint the overall story of your workplace as well? We had bad Q4 figures, right? But we're going to overcome that as the heroes of this story. And what qualities of overcoming that you experience in your own life can we use in our group and collective corporate story? How do you highlight those element so that people can relate, so that they are bought in, so that the hero of your story is not just a logo brand name, but is actually all of the human beings at work underneath that company buying into that story, finding those human threads is your job as a culture builder. And you're a culture builder if you're an HR, okay, check. Be a culture builder. If you're a leader. You're a culture builder if you are an individual contributor. And the stories that you're telling and sharing are contributing to that storybook, and you got to live in the storybook. So you probably should make it a good story, because otherwise you're kind of, like, stuck under the bridge with the ogre, and nobody wants that.
00:16:11 - Salvatrice Cummo
No one wants that. No. No. It's not a fun place to be.
00:16:14 - Aleya Harris
No, it smells.
00:16:21 - Salvatrice Cummo
Is there. Might there be an example that you can share with us if you're at liberty to share an example of that cultural storytelling and the impact it made to the organization?
00:16:32 - Aleya Harris
So one example that I can share is, like, when the behaviors have gone wrong, so name is redacted for the personal benefit of the company. Right. So they had a problem with their founder and the legacy of the founder being almost bigger than the founder themselves, and then creating behaviors where they were then kind of incapacitated to moving towards a new way of doing things because, oh, well, if we move and if we change these behaviors, then we're not being true to our roots. But the problem was that the environment around them is changing. They're an older company, and they needed to be able to change the narrative and take the founder out of the seat of the hero and put that founder in the seat of the guide so that the hero, the people that were currently leading and being in the company could go on their own journey or the next stage of a journey. In every story, there's many, many characters, right? But for now, we're going to focus on the hero and the guide. The hero is the one who gets to go on the journey. They're the ones who experience the transformation. They're the ones who get to follow the plan of the guide, the sage that leads them to success and away from failure by putting this person that had already gone on their journey and keeping them in the hero seat, what it was like would be like the knight in shining armor coming back from all of these quests and then, like, having drunken ragers all day, every day for years, never wanting to let go of the glory days and never actually moving on. So then the kingdom falls into ruin because then the knight doesn't do what he was supposed to do. It's gotten. And then the rest of the people who could have risen up and taken control of the kingdom, they don't have the space to do that because that's not how we do things here. So, for this particular company, the first thing that we had to do was articulate what the roles were that everyone was playing and realize the value that each one had, articulate the behaviors that happened in those roles and needed to happen within those roles in order for everyone to be successful. And then how are we going to measure, then, how those roles were successful? How do we know whether we truly were going towards success and happily ever after or going towards failure? And we're stuck with the ogre under the bridge, and that is not, again, where we want to be. So we went through those three stages, and then we also started doing some work within the individual stories of the company and the individual humans. Again, workplace cultures about the individual humans, these are some of the questions we ask. What have you lived through that you think is important? What are the struggles that you've gone through, and how do they make you who you are? How do those struggles relate to the company that you're currently in? What story do you want to be able to tell about this company to your kids? What would make you proud of working for this company when you were gone? Stories like that that we got individually were doing research phase. We then pulled together. We did some very unsexy data coding and collection. My husband would be so proud. He's a researcher. He'd be so proud. And we looked for the themes to determine what this new hero would look like, where they wanted to go, the type of journey they would go on, and we presented it back to leadership. And, of course, as usually happens with me, there were tears. I don't know what it is about me. Salvager. People love crying in my presence. I don't know if I just make people feel super comfy or what.
00:20:06 - Salvatrice Cummo
You're recharging their energy.
00:20:08 - Aleya Harris
That's why my tagline is "The spark for your spark."
00:20:11 - Salvatrice Cummo
There you go.
00:20:11 - Aleya Harris
I like my job. There we go. So they're recharging their energy right as they're crying it out, and they're having this realization that, oh, my God, my journey as the hero is done. I said, yeah, it's been done. But, yes, I'm still glad we're having this come to Jesus moment. And look at what your journey will allow to have happen. And then we started getting into, okay, if this is the journey we're gonna be going on, what is some visioning work we can be doing? What is everybody's individual role in that? Determining, based on not just your job title, but your role. Are you the potions master, or are you the dragon slayer. Are you the one who deals with the problems? Are you the ones who are doing the research, whatever it is that you're doing? What is that role for you in the story? And because it's co created, then it becomes part of the story that they want to live, and they understand the behaviors that they need to go about living through that experience. So then you go from a culture that was stuck, can't move, stuck in the shadow of someone whose story was over in this cycle, to fresh energy, innovation, then be able to roll out new services because they were giving themselves permission to go on the journey. And the life, they painted their office walls. They did all of these things because new life was injected, because they were going on a new hero's journey. I love that that is my example for you.
00:21:33 - Salvatrice Cummo
It's really a beautiful example of how, again, people are complex and we're flawed. Right. And so to bring a group of humans together to come up with a collective story is hard to do. It really. It really is. It really, really is. But it's also, like, the outcome of that, because at that point, they've created this new culture, this new chapter, this new identity for themselves and how they're going to proceed forward. I think a lot of us leaders, we struggle with that. We struggle with it because we own that. A lot of us feel that as leaders, we own the.
00:22:10 - Aleya Harris
It's our job to keep it moving forward.
00:22:12 - Salvatrice Cummo
Yeah, it's like, it's our job to create the culture. It's like, okay, we play a role in it, no doubt about it. But the culture is a collective, and the story is of the collective. And so in your book, you actually talk about radical, authentic storytelling, right?
00:22:30 - Aleya Harris
I do.
00:22:31 - Salvatrice Cummo
In "Spark the Stage" book. Yeah, let's talk about that a little bit. Is that similar to the example you just shared?
00:22:37 - Aleya Harris
It is very similar.
00:22:39 - Salvatrice Cummo
And how does leadership adjust to that? Like, how do we adjust to this radical, authentic storytelling, and how should we approach it?
00:22:48 - Aleya Harris
So the first is a mindset shift. One, we're not doing corporate anymore, so let's just stop with the fake and the corporate, and we're not doing that anymore. Nobody wants that. Nobody wants to. After the pandemic, people realized they didn't want that and they couldn't do that anymore.
00:23:02 - Salvatrice Cummo
That's right.
00:23:02 - Aleya Harris
So, that scared the crap out of a lot of people because that was all they knew how to do and be. And in order to not do that, it requires you to be more vulnerable and real. And then people decided, well, does that mean I have to trauma dump onto you? Is that what it means to be radically authentic? I'm expecting you to be my therapist. Like when I come in and my wife has just yelled at me, am I supposed to tell you all of that? Is that how I relate to my people? And you ended up getting weirdness happening. That's not it either.
00:23:33 - Salvatrice Cummo
Thank you for sharing that, by the way. Wow, you're so right. Like, we did do this massive. We almost like overly did it.
00:23:40 - Aleya Harris
You overdid it. And you're like, I did not need to know all of that about you.
00:23:45 - Salvatrice Cummo
We did overcorrect on the authenticity a little bit. I mean, anyways, I'm not trying to downplay trauma-informed culture and things like that, but it was rather radical, almost to a different direction. It almost backfired, wouldn't you agree? Like, I think it kind of.
00:24:00 - Aleya Harris
Oh, 100%. Because that's not what people are seeking. People are seeking connection. And connection, yes, does require vulnerability. That's why I call what I do radically authentic strategic storytelling because it's not just being vulnerable about any and everything. And it also depends on what the burden, or hopefully lack thereof, that you're putting, putting on the other person or people is really leading you to do. We've gone through that and we've gotten through this oversharing. And then authenticity became a buzzword, and then it became like a bad word because more people were doing that weirdness. Right? For me, your radically authentic self is the part of you that is your best self, your highest self. The part that knows, the part that is connected, the part that's not afraid of sharing who it is, because it's not sharing its trauma, it's sharing its beauty, its love, its grace, its service, its ability to uplift and inspire, because that's who we truly are. I don't care if you're the most horrible schmuck on the planet. And that's what everybody's general consensus is about you. You have a radically authentic part of you. And usually when people's consensus about you is that you just bad news bears. That's because it's so covered up by all your limiting beliefs and your ego and your past and your trauma, that no one can access that part of you. We can't see it, we can't connect with it. So all we get, or where we're interacting with is all your yuck, all your ick. So when we're trying to be radically authentic, it's actually much harder than trauma dumping. Trauma dumping is easier. All I have to do for that is remove my filter and oh my God, you'd be amazed at what would come out right. Radical authenticity involves you to do the work, to get through all of your living and beliefs, get through all of your shoulds, coulds. Oh, I'm not that kind of girl. I am that kind of girl. I'm not that. What is that kind of girl? I'm not even a girl. Oh my God, what does this mean? Get through all of that into the part of you that knows, right? In the book, "Spark the Stage", it's divided into thirds. And the first 3rd is exercises on how to get to that radically authentic self. I'm a horrible meditator. I'm like a type a. And like quieting your mind. It feels cruel to me.
00:26:22 - Salvatrice Cummo
Type a lesser. Yeah, I'm gonna use that too. Thank you.
00:26:27 - Aleya Harris
You're welcome. Any and every sound bite you'd want to use, free to use for me. But I know that that's what so many people's recommendation is to get to that part of you that if you are, I think it's the Christian faith, that still small voice within you, because the radically authentic self is not loud. It's gonna let you go through all your stuff and it'll be there when you're ready to listen to its infinite wisdom. But it's not gonna yell at you, so you have to get down to hear it. So I use and I talk to you about hypnotherapy, breath, work, chanting, writing things that don't involve you, quiet your mind, but still get to that place. And when you do that work, you start having conversations where you actually probably talk less, listen more, connect better, hear things, take actions, change your behavior, and people start seeing you showing up in a way that is for the greater good, for the good of all, the good of the highest concerned. Right? Hear phrases like that because that's how you act now. That's how someone who's operating from their radical self behaves. Now imagine if everybody in your company behaved that way. What kind of culture is that? It's a really good one.
00:27:36 - Salvatrice Cummo
It's a really good one. And I imagine that it would also navigate through toxic environments as well. Like, that's a whole nother layer.
00:27:44 - Aleya Harris
It's a whole nother podcast episode.
00:27:45 - Salvatrice Cummo
That's right. Because I would imagine that there's other just layers of work too. It's like not only are we leveraging the storytelling to get through the toxicity, but you almost have to address it before you do. That's a whole. You're right, a whole nother podcast. But I want to kind of shift gears just a little bit about the workplace and how we continue to go through the rise of remote work and, well, how you see a role in creating more awareness, attention around storytelling in the workplace culture. And how is it changing the future of work, you think, given the rise of remote work?
00:28:26 - Aleya Harris
Yeah. Well, the challenge with remote work is that you have to be more intentional about sharing your story and listening to other people's stories. You don't get what we called when I was a vendor partner at Google, casual collisions, where you just running each other, getting lunch, or grabbing a soda, and you just begin talking. That has gone away and that's increased people's sense of loneliness, disconnection. Now I'm just turning on my laptop for that paycheck, or maybe not turning on my laptop for that paycheck, which was a whole, whole different thing, right? And people are not connected to a general story. This is an unpopular opinion. Only because I've worked remotely for like twelve years or something like that. So when the pandemic came, it didn't really rock me. And so I traveled to see clients and I travel to speak, but I'm not in a workplace environment, so I had a lot of practice with the intentionality of it. Most people's response to the lack of intentional storytelling was spending crap, tons of money to get people together in person. Often, which I'm not against. Like, you want to hang out with me and you gonna fly me out to Florida, which is where everybody seems to get together.
00:29:38 - Salvatrice Cummo
It's so weird.
00:29:39 - Aleya Harris
It's so weird. I think it's just like, anyways, I digress. If you want to do that, that's fine, I'll show up and I'll be my normal glowing self. But how much was that? As opposed to then creating a communication structure that allows us to constantly have reiterated what the story is we're trying to tell how what we're doing fits into it, sharing what we did today, how does it incorporate into that story. It's how your meetings are structured, it's how your management reviews are structured. It's all the way down to how your one-on-ones start. Right. Inviting people into the story, the types of questions you ask. If you can train your management team within every meeting to begin with, the same three questions that touch on what is the problem that we solve as a company, and what did you do today to solve that part of the company on your journey to solve solving that? Where's your ogre? Where are you getting caught. What are your villains? They could be external, like, Sally just doesn't give me the paperwork. Or they could be internal, like, I'm feeling a sense of fear because this project is challenging me to step out of my comfort zone. Right. You could also train them to ask a third question, which is probably what we all want to know. But what does success look like? Let's get on the same page. If you did that with regularity, people would be sharing things and they would to say thing, well, success looks like for me here, and I'd be, like, doing it voluntarily. My challenge is this. Oh, I have that same challenge. Let's communicate. Oh, maybe let's put some 15 minutes on the calendar for our coffee chat about that. Right. Intentional storytelling. A storytelling. A story. People really complicate it. Story has a beginning, middle, and an end, and has a problem and a solution that makes it a story.
00:31:23 - Salvatrice Cummo
That's it?
00:31:23 - Aleya Harris
That's it. So if you can tell me the project has a beginning, middle, and end, and we have a problem. We have a solution. Well, that's it. Well, what's the problem that's coming up in the middle? The problems coming up in the middle is I lack the, I don't know, project management skills that I need. And I feel comfortable enough telling you that because you're constantly asking me for what my problem is. Internal. External. Right. You're curious because a story is not a story. If there's no reader, there's no audience. It's kind of like if a tree falls down in the woods, did it make a sound? That kind of thing. If a story is told and no one hears it, does the story really matter? You have to be a storyteller and a story listener at the same time to create a good culture, and that truly is a good leader. I'm creating an environment for you to tell your story, and you know that I actually care about the beginning, the middle, and the end of it.
00:32:20 - Salvatrice Cummo
I love that.
00:32:21 - Aleya Harris
And you can do that without flying people to Florida.
00:32:24 - Salvatrice Cummo
I know we're coming really close to time, and I feel like you've already answered this question, but I'm going to ask it anyways because I ask it of all of our guests, is what would be one thing you'd want our listener to know about our conversation? Like, what is that one thing you want them to walk away with?
00:32:44 - Aleya Harris
Your story deserves to be heard. I've had people go through "Spark the Stage", my course, lawyers, former air force commanders, commanded thousands of people, people that have transcended the odds learned new languages, moved to new countries. Almost every single one of them in our first session said something along the lines of, yeah, I mean, I joined, but I'm just not sure if my story really matters. Like, does anybody really need to hear it? Is it really going to make a difference? Does it matter? Yes. Your story deserves to be heard, and it deserves to be heard from you. Because no matter how many people are telling a story of divorce or overcoming or abuse, it does not matter because no one told it as you yet. And you could be the one that people exactly need to hear it from for them to have their transfer. And by not telling your story, you're robbing me and everyone else of their transformation.
00:33:44 - Salvatrice Cummo
I love that. Thank you. This has been such a delightful conversation about storytelling, workplace culture. I adore you so much. You already know that. But I already. And if you don't, I'm telling you now, we adore you.
00:33:56 - Aleya Harris
I knew, but it's always good to hear.
00:34:00 - Salvatrice Cummo
Thank you so much for spending time with me. Greatly, greatly appreciated. And if our listener wanted to connect with you, what's the best way they can connect?
00:34:08 - Aleya Harris
They should go to aleyaharris.com. you can join my free masterclass. You can buy my book. You can join my course. You can just schedule a call to say, hey, girl, hey. You can also follow me on Instagram, aleyaharris, or LinkedIn. Like, I'm popular there. I'm actually more popular on LinkedIn than Instagram, which if you had told my college self that, like, would never have believed you. So come and hang out with me and shoot me a message. I'd love to talk to you. Make sure you say that you heard me on Salvatrice's podcast because otherwise I might just, like, think that you're trying to sell me, like lead generation or something.
00:34:45 - Salvatrice Cummo
Will do. Will do. We'll definitely put that into the show notes. Such a pleasure. Thank you so much. See you again soon.
00:34:53 - Aleya Harris
Yes, ma'am. I. Bye for now.
00:34:55 - Salvatrice Cummo
Bye for now. Thank you for listening to the Future of Work podcast. Make sure you're subscribed on your favorite listening platform so you can easily get new episodes every Tuesday. You can reach out to us by clicking on the website link below in the show notes to collaborate, partner, or just chat about all things future of work. We'd love to connect with you, all of us here at the future of work and passing a city college wish you safety and wellness.