Not business as usual

In an unconventional meeting held at GIBS Business School in Johannesburg, it was the attendees who were in the spotlight more than the speakers as they took time to get to know each other as part of the What’s Your Story? campaign.

Heartlines Consulting is fulfilling its mandate of changing how ordinary South Africans working in business spaces relate to one another, in order to find common ground, foster good working relations, and ultimately impact the performance of the business.

Speaking to attendees, Heartlines CEO Dr Garth Japhet explained how the What’s Your Story? campaign in the workplace is creating a culture change - where knowing each other’s story allows employees to connect more than just knowing each other’s CV.

“Our key issue is that in our county and all around the world, we ‘other’ each other, without really knowing one another. Whether it’s in America with the Republicans vs the Democrats, or whites and blacks, Muslims and Christians, you name it, we live in a world where people are increasingly moving into their silos,” he said.

“We started this initiative because we wanted to bring better understanding, because if I understand you, you become more human to me and not just a stereotype.”

In exactly one year since its launch event in November 2017, the What’s Your Story? campaign in the business sector has impacted the lives of over 1500 people, has had close to 100 engagements and has engaged 15 customers.

Heartlines Chairperson, Simon Lerefolo, revealed how the What’s Your Story campaign is making a greater impact nationally.

“Last year, a group of people who had been inspired by storytelling went to Parliament where we prayed and repented for all the sins of our nation,“ he said. “Heartlines is creating a huge impact in our nation because we need storytelling to make our nation different to what it is today.”

Perhaps the most anticipated story for the day was that of honoured guest speaker, Jay Naidoo, who has made an impact in SA history as a political activist, founding secretary general of Cosatu and minister in former President Nelson Mandela’s cabinet.

Jay shared his story about how his family had been evicted from their home when he was a child.

Feeling displaced and angered by the actions of the apartheid government, it was when he was a teenager in the Lutheran church that a visit from political activist Steve Biko inspired him to follow his own calling as a political activist.

He also shared intimate knowledge of former President Nelson Mandela based on their friendship and the challenges they faced bringing about political and societal change.

Of his time as secretary general at Cosatu, Jay said it was the stories of the workers that channelled him into a life of servitude.

“That’s when I began to understand that there is a tremendous difference between education and information as well as knowledge and wisdom…Storytelling is a fundamental process that takes place within us and between us that helps us tackle systematic issues and build bridges between us for a new nation,” he said.

“Part of our challenge as a nation, today, is that we don’t know where we come from or understand our roots; that’s why storytelling is important because we have a wound in this country that needs to be healed.”

https://youtu.be/YZv5rf49gH0

This project was made possible through the support of a grant from Templeton Religion Trust. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Templeton Religion Trust.