This semester the subject BCM313 ‘The Future of Work’ has been beneficial in understanding my own hopes for the future of work. I’ve been further exposed to the power of storytelling, by listening and reflecting on the stories of my own and others. This encouraged me to uncover the values I unknowingly possess, and identify values in others that I can carry into my future working life.
Deciding who to interview for my final assessment was difficult, as I assumed I had to choose someone working in the marketing and public relations field. With lack of exposure to the industry as of yet, I was unsure of who to approach. However, with some guidance, I knew not one, but two people close to home that were perfect candidates!
I conducted a narrative interview with my dad Rowan and sister Kristen, one who started and runs a business, and the other who runs a business. Although their field of work doesn’t directly relate to my degree and ultimate career path, the way they conduct business does. They are incredibly hardworking, driven and successful and I took this as an opportunity to listen to a business owner and entrepreneur, in hope that one day I can start my own business or work for myself.
Interviewing them allowed me to apply some of the narrative techniques we have been studying including outsider witnessing and the absent but implicit. These techniques helped me observe how they responded to each other and learn the values they gained from the stories of frustration, change or disruption that they shared from experiences working. Overall I aimed to explore how they managed their values journey and how my dad’s values, work ethic and business modelling have influenced my sister and I.
Applying the outsider witness practice in my interview enabled me to delve deeper into their preferred identities, as it is difficult to maintain an identity claim in isolation. Having my dad, sister and I in the interview helped us reflect on what we hope to claim for ourselves and the values we wish to live our lives by (Carey and Russell, 2003). Through the absent but implicit I listened to their stories of hardship to learn of the values gained and those that I resonated with most.
Resilience –
Despite setbacks, both Rowan and Kristen have managed to overcome challenges and continue to thrive. For Rowan, when the company he worked for was about to fail, he said “the opportunity was put in front of me to see if we could salvage something from the ashes”. Rather than focusing on the failure, he focused on the positive, building the company back up alongside his business partner. For me, this sums up my dad perfectly, always bouncing back after difficult times and striving for the very best. Like me, Kristen as an outsider witness acknowledged resilience as a value in dad that stood out. Kristen also demonstrated resilience following the challenges of covid and teaching her dance classes online. She said herself, resilience is a value she believes she has gained from this time, and although it “wasn’t ideal as a dance teacher, teaching online helped her communicate better with the students”.
Leadership –
Rowan and Kristen’s strong interpersonal skills have allowed them to become great leaders in business. Rowan experienced drought in rural NSW, a notably hard time for him. He managed this tough time by being the good leader his staff and clients needed. “If you’re down your staff are down, you’ve got to try keep a bright outlook on things so they have a belief things will get better”. I admired how much dad thought of those around him, although he was struggling himself. This strong leadership has encouraged me to be more proactive and take initiative when people around me need it most. “If you throw in the towel, they’ll throw in the towel” connected with Kristen and she expressed that “watching him be a strong leader, have the great people skills he has in dealing with his staff and clients is something I look up to the most”. How dad runs his business, talks about his staff and clients, and communicates to them, has influenced how Kristen runs her own business. Dad’s approach to business certainly has been a model of behaviour for both my sister and I, and leadership is a value I consider to be crucial value in reaching success.
Integrity –
This value dad regarded highly, evident in every story he told. Integrity dad gained early on in his career, saying ““honesty and transparency, if you combine those two things to say integrity that’s paramount”. Having 100% faith in your partner, total trust, and good communication will make things work”. This made me think back to a moment Kristen reflected on, when she shifted from a partnership to being a sole trader. She suggested being “more open in discussion with your business partner, making sure you communicate well with each other in what you think should happen and what they should think should happen and finding a common ground”. This taught be a valuable lesson to always be open and honest with anyone you do business with, as everything else will fall into place.
Delivering my interview presentation to my peers allowed me to gain further perspectives as to what values or statements others identified.
- “Salvage something from the ashes”
- “Honesty + transparency = integrity”
- “The prospect of failure is not an option”
- “Surround yourself with the right people”
- “It’s not a race – but it is a race”
- “Sunrise to sunset” as opposed to a 9-5”
These quotes perfectly reflect resilience, leadership and integrity, all the values I aim to instil in my own future of work. Listening to the experience of two people so close to me has motivated me to follow my passions, stay driven, work hard and be honest with people along the way. In my future career, there may be changes in the tools used to work, the ways people conduct work and when we work, but the values we possess should remain consistent.
References
Carey, M, Walther, S & Russell, S 2009, ‘The Absent but Implicit: A Map to Support Therapeutic Enquiry’, Family process, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 319–331.
Carey, M. and Russell, S., 2003. Outsider-witness practices: some answers to commonly asked questions. The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, [online] Available at: <https://narrativepractices.com.au/attach/pdf/Outsider_Witness_Common_Questions.pdf> [Accessed 25 October 2021]
Georgia Woods 