8 Ways to Strengthen Your Team With Positive Narratives

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Boost your team members’ visibility and confidence, and see their performance rise.

"This is Larry!" announces your new boss, Marvin, slapping you on the back and smiling as he introduces you around the office.

Meeting colleagues for the first time should be an exciting moment, but instead your heart sinks further with each introduction.

For one thing, your name is Barry, not Larry, but worse follows. "Larry's got experience," Marvin reports. "15 years at Davis & Sons, but his whole department was laid off and now he's with us." Marvin means well, but he's unknowingly painting an unflattering picture, leaving Barry with a tainted reputation before he's even started.

The stories we choose to tell about those around us have a big effect on how people are perceived. In this article, we'll look at how you can use what organizational behaviorists Jane Dutton and Julia Lee call "narratives" to raise your team members' profiles, and to create a more positive image of them.

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