by Janice Molloy and Vicky Schubert

The leader of a small software development firm was frustrated. A tall, barrel-chested man with a German accent, he had been unable to overcome his employees' perception of him as a dominating authority figure. Despite his efforts to cultivate an open and approachable leadership style, his mostly female staff seemed intimidated. To shift the dynamic, he agreed to experiment with a group process methodology, combining collaborative conversation and storytelling.

The intervention started with an appreciation exercise. With the whole staff seated in a circle, one at a time, each team member held an object and, for three full minutes, the rest of the group expressed what they appreciated about him or her. The experience was profound. People got feedback they had never heard before. When the women began appreciating the leader, he allowed himself to get teary. At the end of the meeting, for the first time, the women saw him as a big, soft-hearted man.

The leader closed out the session by telling a story. He said, "I grew up near Frankfurt during the war when all the men were gone. I was a little boy and all around me were my mother, my sisters, my grandmother, and my aunts. I realize that I've tried to recreate my family by hiring almost all women on this staff. I've learned that I have had a lack of clarity about how I relate to women, and I've been the object of your lack of clarity about how you relate to me. But now that I know my piece and you know your piece, I think we're going to be fine." And all the women said, "Yes, we are!"

With this story, Christina Baldwin illustrates her reasons for being a champion of the use of circle and storytelling in organizational settings. An accomplished teacher, speaker, and facilitator, Christina co-developed the group process methodology known as PeerSpirit. For over twenty years she has contributed to the emerging body of knowledge around journal writing, group processes, and spirituality. Her groundbreaking book, Calling the Circle: The First and Future Culture (Bantam, 1998) has introduced thousands of people to a practical, hands-on way for convening their meetings in circle and tapping collective wisdom.

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