29/07/2026
The stories we tell in times of change can sync up organisations, or sink the whole ship if we’re not careful. 🔗⚓
PF’s Sarah West shares a reflection on emotional agility:
“Recently, I was deep in a coaching conversation with a leader navigating a significant organisational restructure.
She described how a colleague from a different part of the business had approached her with something said in a meeting.
This leader then connected it to a separate conversation from her own department.
Within minutes, two unrelated moments had been woven into a much bigger narrative about what was happening across the organisation.
Neither stopped to question whether the thread of truth had become tangled.
It turns out, a few leaps of logic *had* been made. This resulted in weeks of stewing, de-railed conversations, stalled plans, and a whole lot of energy spent on a complete non-issue.
I’m sure you’ve something similar play out in your own organisation.
📚 We are a storied species.
We make sense of the world through the stories we tell ourselves and the ones we share with others.
In times of change, we connect the dots, fill in gaps and interpret what we hear through our own experiences, concerns and expectations.
🔗 Sometimes those stories create shared understanding and help us move in sync.
⚓ Sometimes they fabricate alternate realities that cloud truth, weigh us down and keep us stuck.
During my certification as an Emotional Agility Practitioner earlier this year, Susan David described this pattern as getting “hooked”.
We become hooked when our own thoughts, emotions and self-narratives begin to feel like facts.
We can be hooked by other people’s narratives too.
Emotional agility asks us to pause and inquire: ⚪️What do we actually know?
⚪️What meaning have we added?
⚪️What else could be true?
These questions help us stay anchored in truth before an untested story snags us - hook, line and sinker.”
🪝 What stories are you sharing in your team, and how are you staying anchored in truth?
📸 Featured: a fantastic shot of the team at ‘s Emotional Agility Practitioner accreditation course this year!
