Episode 5: The O in C.R.O.W.: Finding Your Story Objective

Hello everyone and welcome back to the storytellers mind movie™ makers where we are going to study the science to the art form of storytelling so that you can realize more that you're a walking talking storybook and that your moments of ahas are the moments you changed and in business those are the moments that your own leadership strengthened.

So today I want to talk about the O in the C. R. O. W. acronym that was in episode three. So just to review, the framework that I try to teach executives is something that I've learned in improv, and it's known as C. R. O. W, and that's characters, relationship, objective, and where.

And every story has characters. Every story's characters have relationships, and so a really good storyteller learns to identify that and then be able to show the audience those relationships, not just tell us about the relationships.

So we'll talk about that a little bit more, but if you want more information on this, you can always refer to my book, The Storytellers Mind Movie™, Becoming an Emotionally Connected Leader Through the Power of Your Storytelling Skills.

So let's talk about O. And the O stands for objective. And really that's where the stakes lie as well. So the O is why are you telling the story? Like what was it about this moment in your life with that person or that situation that changed you so much that you actually entered a new timeline? You know, that you were not the same person going into that restaurant that you came out of.

There's lots of examples. So that's the transformation. And we will talk about the transformation hero's journey in a future episode.

But I think that when people are finding their stories, I always say go to your aha moments, the moments when you realize something because that is where you start.

Okay. You start with, the time that my mother showed me that I could be a successful young adult or the time I realized I had to be an entrepreneur and pursue this, this, this deal. Meaning there were specific things that were happening and that is an amazing story to craft and learn how to tell so that people learn more about who you are.

Okay. So I'm going to be in the storytelling style and I'm going to share a story that recently happened to me and then we're going to break it down. Okay.

So, this story, I'm not even sure what I want to call it. I think I'm going to be calling it see and be seen. Okay. And whenever I'm titling a story, I try to capture the essence of what the story is talking about. Okay.

So. It's about three weeks ago and it's about 9.30 at night. So it's here in Seattle, it's cold, it's dark, and I am headed home after doing some improv with a friend of mine.

And I haven't done that particular show in a while and I was just flying high on it. It was so fun to work with someone that was new to me in improv and really see how they were able to respond on stage, how I was, and how silly and fun it got to be.

I'm sitting at this stoplight. And in Seattle, Seattle is a very hilly city and I am about to approach 4th Avenue from 3rd, which is a steep hill.

And this area can be something that's a little, you know, got to be careful what's going around the corner. It's a good space, but sometimes you might run into something who or someone who might be, you know, pushing through some struggles. Okay.

And as I'm sitting at the light, I'm listening to some music and I see in across the street, the hill that I'm about to go up, there is clearly a homeless man in a wheelchair pushing himself backwards up that hill. And he has one leg. my God. What is going on here?

And as I'm sitting at the red light where there's no turn on red, I noticed a few people are walking. There was a couple of two young girls, probably early 20s, a gentleman I'd call the Gen X guy. I'm the Gen X woman. He's the Gen X guy. And then a younger man, probably definitely Gen Z, mid 20s, tall, looked strong.

And he looks over across the street and he just takes a right, goes the other way. The girls cross the street along with the Gen X guy and they're standing there. And I am like, this guy needs help.

And I pull my car over, I roll down the window, I stop it, I put on my flashers and I leap out. And I look to the girls who are just staring at me and I said, can you watch my car please?

I walk up to the man and I said, do you need any help? He goes, yeah, I need help. I'm like, fair enough. That was a stupid question. let's, let me, we gotta get you onto the sidewalk.

So I have at that time a wristband on because I fractured my wrist and I'm still healing and it's not 100%.

But I grab his wheelchair and I start to pull him back when the Gen X guy goes, can I help you? And I said, yeah, that would be great.

And we start to lift him and I'm like, I could feel it. said, and I show him my wrist. He goes, I got it. And he grabs the two handles and the gentleman who's in the wheelchair has literally, I'm not kidding, one tooth.

I know he was a veteran. I just know it. and he's got one leg and he is going inch by inch trying to get himself up that hill.

So when he got help, of course he knew he needed help and of course he was going to welcome it.

So the GenX guy pulls him over the sidewalk and at that point I go, think he's hungry because it's hard to understand him with very few teeth. And I know that there's a 7-Eleven nearby.

And I'm looking at my car and the girls are just standing there totally in shock at what they're witnessing.

And the gentleman goes, I've got it. I'll take them up to the top of the hill. And so at that point, I'm like, okay, I guess I've done what I can.

I got it going and now I've passed the torch to another soul that's gonna help this gentleman.

I go back to my car and the girls are just looking at me.

And one of them said, I couldn't tell if he needed help.

And I said, he needed help.

And I got in the car and I saw them kind of like look down.

And again, my words were not to shame. My words were really for all of us.

Because we need, especially in today's times, we need to see each other and not allow that voice of, stranger danger or, ugh, he's dirty. whatever could have gone on in any of our minds and it went in on all of our minds, I'm sure, because they all stood there and stared at it.

I jumped out, yeah, I'm not trying to be a hero here, but I didn't go further.

And so when I was driving home, I kept thinking, I wish I had gone to the 7-Eleven, but I was worried about my car and it's almost 10 o'clock at night and I got a half hour drive and all of this.

And we need to see each other. When he said, yeah, I need help, he knew we saw him. But did we?

That's the end of that story.

I'm going to leave it right there at that cliffhanger, if you will, because it's really a story that I want people to think about because we've all faced situations like that.

Mr. Rogers said, you know, when there's trouble, always look for the helpers. They're the ones that are running into the building.

And okay, yeah, I was for a moment a helper, but I didn't stick through it. but there was also an instinct that said that he's got it now. The Gen X guy.

And I wonder what kind of adventure he went on with him.

Did he just push him up to the hill and say good luck? Or did he take him to the 7-Eleven that was a couple blocks away?

What did he learn? How did he serve this veteran who has served our country?

So that story, the O, the objective, is a teaching story of a normal, weird moment that happens in life that we don't expect. but it changes us a little bit.

It also has the stakes of, you know, the stakes of will he get help or will he not?

Because he literally could have been run over. He could have been hit by a bus that did not see him. He was in the middle of the hill at night.

So there were definitely stakes there.

So those are what we're looking for when you're finding a story.

Now some of our stories, the O is going to be, you know, high stakes. It could be, you know, health, you know, sickness or health. It could be rich or poor.

But it also could just be, am I going to make it on time to that party?

And all the stress and the adventure that goes on in your head is you're trying to convince yourself you're not going to walk into a party completely frazzled and that you're going to show that you've got everything going on.

That's a lighter version, but it's still something that we go through as human beings. We're always saving face, aren't we?

So that's what I want you to think about when you're looking at your own life.

And especially as you're developing your own story library, because you're going to hear me say that a lot.

You need to develop your story library.

OK? What do need to develop?

That's right. Your story library.

Yeah. OK, you're getting it. This is great.

OK, so that's all I wanted to do for now.

So please, you know, Like, comment, share. We got to get this this out there to the world.

I'm hearing some wonderful feedback from you.

A lot of you are my friends paying attention. You're on my mailing list and you're like, some of you have given me advice as we're learning how to market our podcast. It's great.

So that's it for now.

You're a walking storybook.

And may I be one of the Sherpas to help you find out how amazing you really are.

And you will. when you start looking at yourself at a deeper level.

And that means you tell your stories and you tell them well.

Thank you. We'll see you at the next episode