The Leadership Training Activity Book: 50 Exercises

SET AN EXAMPLE^193

Here are some frequent responses that might come up:

 We have a family Bible in which we record births, confirmations,

marriages, and deaths.

 We have a whole chart that lists our family’s genealogy.

 My mom saved all of my school papers and put them in a scrapbook.

 I have recorded my grandfather’s impressions of growing up.

 I don’t do anything, but I would like to some day.

“For those of you who do not record your history, these are very

interesting ways to do it.”

“The early histories of some communities in the United States, for

example, were written by members of the prevailing religious group.

People who were of another religion who played important roles in

building the community were deliberately left out of some of these

early. The contributions of some people (most notably women and

minorities) were not fully recorded. Would our company history go

toward making a difference there?”

Group responds.

Step 2: Introduce the idea of having a company timeline. Say, “Help me to put
up this timeline that records some of the outstanding achievements in
the company.”
“Pick up a few dots or stars, and go around and read the chart.
Mark ANY achievement that “resonates” with you. We’ll take about
20 minutes to do this; don’t worry if you don’t get to do it all. Start
at different points in the timeline, so that you won’t all be at the same
place at the same time.”

Step 3: After about 20 minutes, ask participants to go back to their seats. Say, “I
would like one volunteer at a time to go to a highlight on the chart that
was particularly moving and share why this is so.” Ask one or two more
volunteers to do the same.
If it hasn’t come out already, be sure to probe for an understanding
of how recently things have changed for the company. Ask, “Are any of
these achievements related to the history of leaders in the company?”