The Partner Channel Magazine_Winter 2018

Imagine how different education would be if online was first, and we were going to the classroom model. We would have
to ask ourselves, where are these students going to live? In the reverse, we have to ask ourselves, is it okay if a student lives
on campus and doesn’t go to class, but takes class from their dorm room? Either way, the heroes (students, faculty, and
administration) are returning home a changed person and ready to see the problems differently. What does your business
adventure need to see differently because of a journey that had bumps and bruises along the way?
Rebirth: Once again according to Liz Bureman, rebirth stories generally focus on villain protagonists who redeem
themselves over the course of the story after spiraling deeper into villainy and meeting a redemption figure. The best
examples of rebirth stories are “The Christmas Carol” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. They usually involve a
leader or person who has become jaded, villainous, and is met by a crisis, climax, or dear soul (like Cindy Lou Who
or the three ghosts) and decides to return to a good solid place. I am not sure how to directly say this other than being
direct: Sometimes leaders, particularly senior leaders, stop seeing themselves for who they have become. Maybe they
have become leaders so fixed on the bottom line that they can’t see their culture falling apart or the decline in employee
satisfaction. Maybe they have become the leader that when confronted with a hard decision, they hide in their office
and continue to scapegoat (by firing or blaming) their other leaders or teams. One of my clients recently went through
a flurry of senior leader terminations. Now, not all of them were unjustified; however, one should ask if there is a need
for rebirth in the processes, expectations, etc., and what is causing these leaders to be unsuccessful? Maybe the senior
leader team needs to return home and ask themselves, how can I change and take accountability for my hires’ success?
Scapegoating is a prime precursor to the rebirth plot line. As a team, if this is your plot line, I would ask yourself, “What
are my blind spots? Am I willing to solicit anonymous feedback and input and really listen? Where am I exposed
and wearing no clothes as the emperor, but not willing to admit I’m wrong or part of the problem?” These are hard
conversations and hard information to digest; however, in the spirit of the Johari Window model, which indicates we
all have blind spots, why not have the courage to be the hero in the story and address those openly?
Tragedy: The last plot line is tragedy. I left this for last on purpose. The popular TV series “Breaking Bad” is a
tragedy plot line. A good guy gets caught up in something bad, and bad things start to snowball. Targeting human
primal fears, this plot line grabs our fears and makes them real. They are even more real when the characters in the plot
line are everyday people like ourselves. How can you as a business storyteller use tragedy as one of your plot lines? It is
the preventative plot line. Leaders should always ask themselves and their team, “where have we gone astray? Where
are we bending the rules or the expectations or the guidelines too much and as a result, are crossing the line?” Don’t get
me wrong: I love rules (my rules), but sometimes those rules need to be challenged because they may not be serving
us well and could even be leading us to a dark place. We have a line in my family with my teenagers, “Awkward doesn’t
mean you don’t talk about it; it just means it’s awkward. Period.” This is the spirt of this conversation.
So, what are your plot lines? And what are the conversations you are having around them with your teams, your
customers, and your customer networks, online and in person? Most writers have writer circles where they talk
about their plots, their struggles, their successes, their next steps. Businesses should have writer circles, too, where
they are willing to write the story instead of having their story written for them. Aim for a best-seller. Why not?!
Editor’s note: Pam is another presenter and writer who I’ve known – and been in awe of – throughout my career.
Pam has this pragmatic way of thinking that translates so well into actionable thought. Tandem to writing here over
the years, she’s created a department at a university located in our Fargo-Moorhead area. She might not say singlehandedly,
but let’s be honest, it’s Pam. She made it happen. Thank you, Pam, for sharing so graciously of your talents
and time in the magazine, at events, and in person. You have a gift, and I’m glad I was able to share it here.
ADVERTISER INDEX
Altec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Business Computers (Time Matrix) ........... 41
Corporate Renaissance Group ................ 3
DataSelf ................................... 17
DSI ....................................... 13
Dynamic Budgets ........................... 26
Dynamic Communities ..................... 11
Emergence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
FASCOR ................................... 6
ImageTag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
k-eCommerce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Liaison Software Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27-28
MetaViewer from Metafile .................... 4
NMB Solutions ............................ 46
Paramount WorkPlace ...................... 33
StockIQ Technologies .................... 27-28
Vicinity Manufacturing, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
56 WINTER 2018 | THEPARTNERCHANNEL.COM