CHAPTER 9
CRAFTING NARRATIVES ABOUT PURPOSE
Rick Garrelfs, who was a leader at Rabobank for eighteen years, told me about an experience he developed to help high-potential employees understand the meaning of their work. Working with a consulting organization, Garrelfs and his team told the sixty employees: “At 5 a.m., be at Eindhoven [a city in the southern part of the Netherlands] Central station.” They did not divulge any further information to the participants, which naturally caused some curiosity and concerns. Some of the people called and protested, “But the trains are not running at 5 a.m.” or “I live far away, so I will need a hotel.” To which the team responded by saying: “Yes, that is correct” to retain the curiosity.
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