A barrel-maker, a winery and a CFO taught me the same thing

In three days, a barrel-maker, a winery and a CFO taught me the same thing: that a story, placed at the right moment, can unblock someone — without them ever knowing where it came from.

Three days, three stories

Tuesday, at Lactalis: a CHRO tells me how the group’s founder — a barrel-maker by trade — reinvented himself by starting to produce a handful of camemberts with a single employee. A pivot that eventually became one of the world’s largest dairy groups.

Thursday, I facilitate a leadership workshop at a wine cooperative. The story of the barrel-maker-turned-cheesemaker lands perfectly to illustrate what we are working on together: the capacity to reinvent oneself. In the room, a CFO impresses me with his ability to read people and get them to open up.

Friday, in an individual session with a different CFO, we are working on a belief he has carried for years: a CFO does not really have the right to be empathetic, or to feel emotions. I tell him the story I lived the day before with that empathetic CFO. Something shifts.

Connecting stories to each other

Part of my work as a sparring partner is exactly this. Connecting my clients’ stories to each other, without ever betraying anyone’s confidence. The faces change, the names disappear, but what matters remains — so that at the right moment, one story illuminates someone else.

I experienced this as CHRO too, when my greatest satisfaction was sharing a lived or confided story to help someone on my team grow, shed light on a leader’s situation, or crack a challenge that seemed impossible.