The Impact of Storytelling for Leaders on Aligning Mission and Purpose

CheeTung Leong: [: 00:00:00

And it's a real pleasure to have him in the studio today to discuss that sense of mission with me.

Dustin Lacasse: Thank you. Much appreciated.

CheeTung Leong: Dustin it's really interesting what you guys do at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Can you share a little bit more about the organization and your role in it?

Dustin Lacasse: The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is an international nonprofit conservation organization. And we really have. Kind of two front doors, like we which we like to call them here, which is our San Diego Zoo and our San Diego Zoo Safari Park. We do a lot with integrating wildlife health and care and science and education to really help develop sustainable conservation solutions.

nderful organization to be a [: 00:01:00

I get to work with a lot of our leaders through leadership development. I oversee our performance management process as well as succession planning, a team member engagement, as well as all of our interns, externs, and fellowships that we, have within our organization that really allows individuals from all around the world to engage with us and some of this really important conservation work that we get to be a part of, which is You know, absolutely fascinating, but also so critical to really making sure that all life thrives across the world.

working with these teams to [: 00:02:00

CheeTung Leong: Just to understand a little bit more about the conservation mission that you guys have, is that limited to just, animals, or does that go across flora and fauna?

Dustin Lacasse: Yeah, so not just animals, but, we have such a really great dedicated staff that also work from a horticulturalist perspective, right?

So not only Species survival, but also plant survival at the same time. How do we work with endangered plant species in order to ensure their survival at the same time? But it's really all about, working with our guests and those who interact within our organization to ensure that they have the tools and resources that they can leverage and utilize and that knowledge.

Be successful at this larger [: 00:03:00

How do we work with communities to help ensure that they are offsetting with these different varied wildlife? To ensure that they are not continuously adding to a particular problem, but they're working to help solve those problems within their own area.

CheeTung Leong: It's such a broad mandate one that I guess wouldn't have been immediately obvious just looking at the name of the organization.

The other thing that I picked up on was you mentioned you guys are an international nonprofit. So how broad is this span geographically in terms of the teams and the missions that you guys are running?

s across the world. So there [: 00:04:00

We have hubs in, South America and Africa and in Asia and Australia, and then what we call our ocean hubs, and even here in the Southwest all with specific, species that we actually work with and certain plant species at the same time. So we do try to focus our attention on these larger hubs to help ensure that we are.

Dedicating the resources not only, of course, to, understanding what is transpiring within those areas, but also working, like I mentioned, with those communities to help achieve success within those various species. We do have a huge really international impact working across the world in different communities in different countries in order to help, sustain wildlife and plant populations that are unfortunately on the decline.

And hopefully working within this space, we can have a positive impact and really helping change the course of what is transpiring within some of these very specific regions.

CheeTung Leong: So [: 00:05:00

So you have. Quite a lot of work cut out for you in the role of L& D.

Dustin Lacasse: Oh, absolutely. It's just a great space to be in. Working for a non profit, and it's very mission and purpose driven. No matter what non profit that is, of course I just have the privilege and luxury to be working for I feel at least, world's best non profits.

Or across the world sitting [: 00:06:00

It is so fulfilling to work for a nonprofit in this type of space to ensure that, the work that you're doing just continues to add to the success of the larger organization as a whole.

CheeTung Leong: How do you think about the kind of skills that you need to equip your teams?

Whether they're at one of the two front doors or whether they're in the field, whether they're in corporate there's a huge amount of diversity there. And when you think about things like performance, engagement.

like, how do you think about [: 00:07:00

Dustin Lacasse: One of the things that I absolutely loved when I first came into this position, but Also, within my other roles with nonprofits I really took time to live the day in the life of our team members. I physically really became a part of their departments throughout a course of time.

I spent time working with our wildlife care teams, our horticulture team. I worked in some of the other roles, like our garages, right? Helping them. Build engines. And it really just provided me an opportunity right to really be on the ground to listen to team members. I think it's so important for anybody in a leadership role to really have a good ear right towards what is actually transpiring on the individual contributor level.

d they feel would be a value [: 00:08:00

It's a really listen, and I think being a leader within any space, particularly in an L and D space, it's so important when you're thinking about curriculum design or leveling up from a skill set perspective to truly understand what is impacting different demographics and then really taking that to the next level.

After I had an opportunity to really live the day in the life of Our team members. I also had opportunities to work with our leaders one on one to have really comprehensive conversations and really in depth conversations around really the competencies that are so critical for the roles that they oversee where they feel the industry is moving towards, what are some of the changes that are impacting our industry?

tes to, to change across the [: 00:09:00

What are those dynamics that are going to help Really provide the value that is necessary so we can have, sustained impact in the work that we're trying to achieve, while also at the same time, thinking about what those future skills need to be and how we actually get there. What are the things that we need to think about? Where, where do we have a really solid foundation at this moment? What are the skills, right? Our teams are currently leveraging and utilizing. Yeah. And then, of course, how do we provide them areas of opportunity and development? So that way they can continue to grow, but also develop the skills that are going to be necessary in order for us to continue to be successful in doing the work that we're doing.

ink listening is going to be [: 00:10:00

CheeTung Leong: You definitely have described how you need. To have that breadth of skills that you need to cater for and also, I guess you have to distill a certain amount of common skill sets that drive maybe the soft skills of communication and interaction within the organization. So all of that seems to have stemmed out of listening.

The other thing that we talked about was. communicating the other way. So speak besides just listening, leadership in the organization needs to communicate the mission and purpose of the organization, and particularly in the non profit setting. That is something that Everyone in the organization is driven by and needs reinforcement and, you got to top up their fuel tanks of mission and purpose every once in a while.

How do you go about doing that?

Dustin Lacasse: One of the great things about working at a nonprofit is you normally are already going to be working with people who are so gravitated to a purpose, right?

hat I get to work with on an [: 00:11:00

But I think from a leadership standpoint, it's really important to understand how you communicate and set that vision. So that way it's sustainable,. How do you connect your individual contributors within an organization who are on the front lines, who may not always see how the work that they are doing, directly connects to the outcome that you are looking to achieve as a nonprofit organization?

I think good storytelling is a huge part of that,. How do you wrap people up in a vision that you have, ? How do you wrap people up in a place where they can really gravitate towards what you are trying to achieve? Of course, that's setting the right expectations right off the bat.

ganization. Very similar to, [: 00:12:00

So I think, of course, utilizing that good storytelling skill is going to be essential and a really good cornerstone for you to really kind of wrap individuals up in a vision and purpose that really gets them really excited to really be a part of a larger a purpose.

I think leaders really do have that larger accountability. Of course, here in my space, I get to help set those expectations to work with our leaders to develop those skill sets. So that way they can. Have those effective conversations like they can,. Go into that conversation and really feel solidified in their ability to really make sure that their teams are really grasping onto, a larger vision.

ally do think it starts with [: 00:13:00

And that's developing those skill sets in our leader. So that way they do feel comfortable and confident and being able to have those direct conversations, but also lead their team successfully. Through whatever purpose they're trying to achieve within their own personal space, within this organization, whatever those accountabilities are that are aligned to them, making them feel really successful, in the space that they're currently within. By just giving them the tools and resources in order to drive what that communication actually needs to be in order for everybody else to wrap their hands around it and have a really good sense.

the larger mission of, that [: 00:14:00

CheeTung Leong: I'd love to double click a little bit on the storytelling aspect. There's a movement that is slowly growing within leadership circles that recognizes the need to build that muscle of being able to tell good stories. How do you approach that?

in the organization? What does storytelling look like within your organization?

Dustin Lacasse: It's a really great question because we don't start with just our leaders. So our team members are exposed to storytelling at an earlier stage within their careers. And I think this is important for all nonprofits, even some even for profits, right to really start exposing team members and an individual contributor level to some of these skill sets.

those competencies that are [: 00:15:00

So that way, when they do finally become a leader it's that foundation that we then get to build off of because really when you become a leader. With an organization that leverages storytelling, it takes it to the next level. So when you're an individual contributor, it's all about understanding, how do I craft a message bring in all different pieces of information from our mission to our purpose to the work that we're doing externally to really be able to communicate to a guest.

thin your organization, have [: 00:16:00

For what you're actually doing. So it's really about developing that skill set as an individual contributor. So that way, when you become a leader, we can level off of that, and continue to provide the skillset. So that way you have the opportunity not only to do it yourself, but to be able to coach and train your teams, and continue to upskill them and refine that skillset as a leader within the organization itself. So that's where that competency becomes a little different. As an individual contributor, you really want to start to think about, what does this actually look like for each individual role?

And of course, you want to take it role by role because there are different essential functions usually that align to different spaces. And of course, they're going to leverage knowledge in different ways within different aspects of your business. So for us, when we think about guest facing roles this is where we really start to.

ly good impact with our team [: 00:17:00

Are scientists or how do I work with individuals who may not be directly guest facing but still develop that skill set it, it starts to morph because, storytelling is not just for, maybe the, the individuals who are, coming into your organization, but also the individuals who are working within your organization.

How do you get individuals right to really grapple on to your mission and your purpose? And really find value in working for your organization and staying engaged within your organization. And I think that is where, you really need to start to think about from your own organizational perspective,

e with themselves? As they're[: 00:18:00

Or, of course, how do I work with individuals who are coming into our organization in order to get them wrapped up in our messaging and become almost brand ambassadors. And then when you start to really get into the leadership piece and this is the piece that I have a huge direct connection with.

It's really all about how do I know. Work with my teams to coach them successfully to do these types of things. But also, how do I mirror these skill sets so that way they can see how successful it can actually work for them. As they continue to leverage and utilize this particular skill on multiple levels.

ther his own self assessment [: 00:19:00

And we're going to include this. As a download in the show notes so Dustin, maybe if you could talk us through, I really like how you covered things like emotional intelligence, that clarity of vision and purpose and communication, all these different elements of storytelling. And you've put that together in a very neat

Self assessment tool that leaders can use to not only diagnose. Their own team, but also figure out like what is it that they can be doing differently? How would you recommend leaders other HR professionals who listen to this podcast they use this tool?

Dustin Lacasse: I put together this tool in order to really help ensure. A leader has the opportunity to see things from multiple angles. I think before you even start leveraging tool, it's really important that you have good self awareness and self management. I think those two things definitely go together hand in hand that allow you to have a really good base understanding of who you are, right.

Your authentic self within [: 00:20:00

I think when you start working through this, you start getting into more of that social awareness or that relationship management component. All really directed under a larger umbrella of what I consider to be extremely important components of emotional intelligence. I think one of the great leaders of emotional intelligence, Daniel Goleman, was really helpful in structuring what this process really should look like for individual leaders as they continue to work through, some of the competencies that are so critical for a leader to understand and have in order to drive their own success, but also an organizational success.

oundation of social awareness[: 00:21:00

It goes back to the mission and purpose of an organization. Is a vision for your particular space connected back to the larger organizational mission and purpose, ? Is there a direct connection that you can easily make with your team so that way your team understands exactly where you want to go as a department?

As it relates to the larger whole, of course, storytelling really becomes a cornerstone to this process. And I think, utilizing good storytelling techniques can really help wrap your team into a mission and vision that you have particularly created that then aligns to the larger organizational's mission and purpose.

anism. But some of the other [: 00:22:00

So that's things like stretch goals. How are you creating goals for your team that allow them the opportunity to continue to develop themselves professionally, ? There's no good way of truly developing unless you put yourself in an uncomfortable position. If you continue to be, put into a position where all you're doing is maintaining, there's not really a development opportunity through that process.

So how do you provide those opportunities for development for your team? Leveraging stretch goals are a really great component of that. But also really thinking about the skills that your team currently has. Everybody on your team is a value add. It's really going to be up to you to really determine, are they in the right role with the skills that they currently have?

hat they really leverage and [: 00:23:00

And does that team member have a solid foundation that you can then build off of that will help them achieve success in the long run as an industry continues to morph and change? I think it's so important from a leader standpoint to really be strategically thinking. To remove the blinders, a lot of leaders,

within any space that you're working on, get so fixated sometimes on the day to day responsibilities that are handed to them by an organization for their particular department that they lose the ability to step back and they think and to think about the You know the decisions that they're making and how it impacts other departments, how it impacts the organization as a whole.

ss that that really asks you [: 00:24:00

And what do you really need to do in order to be successful in getting your team to that next level, ? And of course, that's through multiple modalities, whether that's stretch goals, whether that's consistent recognition or really, looking at your team and providing them, that recognition that they need as individuals in order to continue to do the work that is going to be required of them and to feel valued to want to move that needle forward but also at the same time, are you Leveraging a coaching model that, works towards, that appreciative and constructive feedback aspect.

Of course, all organizations, really need to think about what kind of coaching model might work best for them. We leverage a very specific coaching model internally here that just works for us, of course. But it's all about, on the spot appreciative or constructive feedback.

[: 00:25:00

Strategic thinking, I can't stress that enough, but that is really one of the most critical components a leader can really have to ensure that they are really thinking about the future, and I'm not caught off guard, . You're being more proactive than that reactionary mindset that some leaders may find themselves in certain cases.

ink about their own personal [: 00:26:00

CheeTung Leong: Thank you so much for sharing that very useful tool with us, Dustin, and walking us through how to use that. We're almost out of time, so if people wanted to find you to ask further questions around this tool or if they have other areas of trying to build their own storytelling capabilities within their organizations, what's the best way for them to be reaching out to you?

Dustin Lacasse: They can definitely find me on LinkedIn. You can easily just search for my name on LinkedIn. I'm the only Dustin Lacasse on LinkedIn, so it makes it very easy to locate me. And of course, I'm more than happy to provide any good best practices that I have been able to curate through my own leadership journey.

CheeTung Leong: Thanks so much for hanging out with us today, Dustin. And for those of you listening, thanks for listening. Hope you enjoyed the show. Please leave us a review, and stay tuned to the HR impact show where we'll continue to have more leaders sharing their best practices with you.