A521.1.4.RB_Matthew-Napu Manglona_Stories in Your Organization
A story that I would like to share in reference to what my
organization has dealt with will have to be about the Guam Army National
Guard’s deployments overseas. Being a National Guard unit we usually take the
back seat when it comes to deployments as our primary missions are safe keeping
our home front in cases of natural disaster and unrest. It is my organization’s
goal and vision to deploy their soldiers worldwide to assist and conduct the
same operations like our active duty counterparts in the best interest of our
country. I remember when our Director of Operations and our Adjutant General
gave us a speech and shared with us their stories on making history as the
youngest National Guard unit in our nation to deploy over 600 plus soldiers to
Afghanistan. The Adjutant General at the time gave his story when he remembered
that during his time as a young officer, that there were less than 300 soldiers
in the whole organization with limited resources, training, and equipment to even
be considered to deploy anywhere. O’Leary stated that “Stories help individuals
make sense of the world and help leaders provide context. Stories enable a
person to see issues in a new light and help inspire people to action.” (2012 pg.
11)
Being the youngest Guard unit in the nation really puts a
chip on our shoulders whenever we leave the home front to assist in deployment
operations. Reason being is because we try to establish a name for ourselves
when really, no one knows where Guam is. Our Director of Operations who is an
Infantryman gave a great speech before the biggest deployment of an Infantry
unit was set off. He was our former Battalion Commander. He knew the soldiers
inside and out, he knew our priorities, he knew our work ethic, and he knew our
strengths and weaknesses as a unit. (Denning, 2011) He was able to connect with
us, he knew how to approach the dialogue of an incoming dangerous mission. I
specifically remember him saying “On April 3rd, you will make
history, we will make history, go out and be historic. Bring back each other,
and share your knowledge with the incoming soldiers and soldiers who stayed
behind. You make us proud most of all you make your family proud. “Maseha
Na’aian Yan Manu (Any time, Any where).” That got the unit going and ready to
depart.
The stories from our Adjutant General and Director of
Operations really hit the hearts of our men. Us as Chamorro People take great
pride in serving our nation and most of all our tiny island of Guam. We stand
for hard work, passion, and respect. O’Leary states “Great storytellers
build a mental picture in the mind of the audience, based on their needs,
history, and experience.” (2012 p.18). Denning states “They connect with their
audience by stirring up images, sounds, and smells “in the context in which the
story took place” (Denning, 2011, p. 7) which we truly felt from those two
individuals.
The stories impact moved us in the
direction of growth and improvement. We knew what he had to do and how to do
it. I felt that their storytelling was a great source for the
organizational learning as well in that they communicated our organizational
values and related events or actions of themselves and others. It played a
significant role in our organizational change as it laid the foundation of a
historic run and set the standard to achieve even more. Their stories basic to
the process of organizational socialization and change and are in integral to
the storage and retrieval of organizational memory (Shekari, 2011)
References:
Denning, S. (2011). The Leaders Guide to
Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business
Narrative. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
