I have put together a guide for community and organizational leaders to emphasize the necessity of psychological safety in spaces where folks are asked to share their stories. I have been wounded by leaders myself- leaders whom I witnessed misusing stories shared by marginalized voices in ways that caused harm. So, I ask leaders who are well-intentioned in their heart to engage with this mini series, as well as with the broader topic in general.
As someone who has been focused on social exclusion and marginalization due to my profession, as well as due to lived experience, I know the power that sharing our stories holds for combating isolation and building community. Yet, I have also seen the other side. I am very well aware of how stories can be received, how they can be re-arranged, picked apart, left out to support a certain mainstream narrative, a status quo. This harms communities and individuals along the way. I have seen it done in spaces that, supposedly, upheld diversity, equity, and inclusion…
I have seen an upsurge in the calling for the sharing of one’s story within organizational or collective settings in order to build social connection or inspire social change. A lot about the benefits of storytelling for fostering psychological safety has been shared, while not as much has been shared about the psychological safety needed before stories are shared (with notable exceptions within some non-profit organizational settings). As part of the “be your authentic self” discourse, the “power of a story” narrative has become the protagonist, while the much needed conversation around the “power imbalance inherent in storytelling” makes a rare cameo appearance at best. It seems the mainstream narrative concerns itself more with benefitting from the storyteller, with not as much thought given to how the storyteller may be affected in the process.
Storytelling can have individual but also collective benefits. At an individual level, integrating life events into a personally coherent story aids in identity development (e.g., identity as a member of an organization). This inner narration of our experiences guides our construction of the self (the who, how, and why behind our identities). Storytelling is also a social act. In addition to making sense of one’s own life events, narration helps to communicate to others insight and learned lessons while building emotional connection and trust. While people can empathize more with the story of an individual, it is harder to do so with the experiences of a collective faceless group.
Despite these benefits, there are potential pitfalls of having individuals share stories in a setting where the foundational work has not been done. The fact is, storytelling occurs in a context marked by power differentials. If the page is uneven, the ink gets spilled and smudges. Asking folks to embellish our chapter while they face a risk of their words becoming scattered in the process is not a novel (pun intended!) occurrence. There is grave danger in utilizing storytelling to build psychological safety without considering what psychological safety is already in place. The potential harmful effects of neglecting this much needed situational assessment can include retaliation, grief, helplessness, burnout and more. This can be exacerbated in situation where the storytellers originate from inside the organizations (e.g., organizational members, volunteers, employees) rather than from outside of it (e.g., external speakers).
Knowing how to build a trauma-informed storytelling experience is crucial for leaders who are well-intentioned and desire to build a stage on which the spotlight illuminates opportunities for connecting rather than signals a chance for targeting. While diving into the minute details around trauma-informed storytelling is beyond the scope of this particular post series, I want to highlight some of the essential points about the power dynamics inherent in storytelling within collective settings. In addition, I will offer actionable steps that can be utilized in building the scene for safer social sharing within collective spaces. This information will be helpful for leaders who are considering to start a storytelling process that is more inclusive and equitable.
Click here to start Part 1 of the mini post series here. Here is also a brief pdf that reviews, at a glance, important points related to psychological safety addressed in the following posts.
Also, for a creative take on stories and why they are important to identities and one’s life journey, check out this video with narrative and music composed by me (Click on “CC” for Subtitles)