on displays around the community, or earn rewards for creating ripples. Watermark has shared an example of one of these stories: visit
vimeo.com/325240946. The provider has gotten associate feed-
back to make participation a simple and natural part of a workday—and it’s part of managers’ and supervisors’ job to respond as much as possible. For instance, an associate who discovered
a resident liked birdwatching might go to a supervisor and tell them they want to install a bird feeder outside the resident’s window. The supervisor would purchase the bird feeder but allow the associate to tell the resident. This keeps the associate front and center with the resident, Farris points out.
Ripples in action While the Ripples program encourages storytelling, what associate Pam Waters shares sounds more like poetry: “7-Up cake, old-fashioned pound cake, bread pudding, strawberry caramel cheesecake…” Waters has been the baker at The Foun-
tains in Boca Ciega Bay, a Watermark com- munity in St. Petersburg, Fla., for fi ve years, working 4 a.m. to noon to create what res- idents call stellar desserts. They ask for her in the dining room, so they can personally off er praise. And she makes custom dishes for residents on special diets: “Just because they can’t eat something doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get dessert,” she says. What makes her story a ripple—and
what she was recently honored for at Wa- termark—is that she brings the same giving spirit to the surrounding area. She buys quantities of food from local stores, takes her car to neighborhoods or people that need a little extra help, and gives it away. No questions, no judgment. Just helping people who, as she says, “might need to choose between buying food and paying the light bill.” “Pam is what a ripple looks like,” says
Fountains executive director Suzanne Burt- zlaff . She has been an executive director at the community for 13 years; some of her staff have been at the community for as long as 30 years. Though she knows her commu-
PRO TIPS ON CREATING A STORYTELLING CULTURE
If you’re a fan of The Moth Radio Hour, you might have heard Ritija Gupta’s story about her grand- mother’s food.
But in addition to performing, she’s a communications consultant—with an MBA from Columbia Business School and a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University. She coaches leaders at corporations including Ameri- can Express and Google on how to tell a good story. She’s currently leading the live show “Mistakes Were Made: Stories About Failure.”
“Trustworthiness can really diff erentiate a company in a way that drives greater attraction and retention,” Gupta wrote in an email interview. “When we trust an organization or a brand, we tend to gravitate toward it. Storytelling can defi nitely help build greater trust and memorability with people.”
If you’re nervous about telling stories, Gupta writes, “We actually tell stories all the time, and we may not be aware of it! So you’re probably better equipped than you think.”
Gupta advises:
• Have a few prompts ready. Sometimes people already know a story they want to tell, but if you or someone you’re interacting with is struggling a bit, try asking them about a moment when they were most proud, or what the best part of their week was last week. Ask them about a book or movie that really touched them.
• Think about the "why" of the story—what do you want your listener to take away from it?
• Use and encourage details. What made this particular moment memorable? For example, did someone say something funny? Was there a familiar smell or sound? The more we can immerse ourselves in what you experienced, the more we'll connect with you.
• Finally, ensure that there is tension and a pivotal point to your story. If a story feels “fl at” to you, think about the climactic moment and bring us there. Why was this important to you? For example, if your story is about running a 10K for the fi rst time, why did the race matter to you? And what were the struggles you had to overcome to get there?
“Sometimes, a story can bring home the value of a message more meaningfully than pure data.”
nity well, she has learned new things about staff and residents since starting the Ripples program. Managers’ meetings open with the question: Did anybody hear a good story? Farris says that kind of discovery is hap- pening in other communities, as well. “You
fi nd out what is important to associates,” she says. Through the stories, she says, “You fi nd out what makes them want to get up every day and pour themselves into the lives of the residents they serve.”
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