The Stories That Are Waiting to Be Found
What makes someone’s stories visible to them?
A weekly question to ponder what matters in your WorkLife.
Each question is drawn from the School of WorkLife Question Banks.
This is the question I want you to sit with today.
What makes someone’s stories visible to them?
Let’s explore the question through a character I created.
Rachel.
Rachel is the main protagonist in the Story Lesson: How to Create Strategic Influence Through Purpose-Driven Storytelling.
Her story is featured in the episode: The Stories Behind the Stories: Rachel.
Rachel’s story was told in WorkLife Stories: How to Create Strategic Influence Through Purpose-Driven Storytelling — if you haven’t already, reading that story will help you understand what becomes possible when the right question makes your own stories visible and go deeper with this question.
Rachel’s Question
For four years Rachel had been getting her clients to compliance.
But not to the conversation that mattered.
The one where sustainability stopped being something that had to be done.
And became something that made them stand out.
Once Rachel shared her own story — her grandfather’s workshop, the philosophy that waste was just value waiting for its right application — something shifted.
Not only in how clients saw Rachel.
In how they saw themselves.
The Story That Had Been Sitting There for Five Years
The food producer had been focused on disposal costs.
Managing waste as efficiently as possible.
Getting compliant.
Moving on.
Rachel asked one question. Tell me about a time when you found value in something others considered waste.
And the story that emerged had been sitting there for five years.
Excess vegetable trimmings from their processing line.
A local farmer who had asked if she could have them for animal feed.
What started as a favour had become contracts with three farms.
What had cost money to remove was now generating fifty thousand pounds annually.
That story had always been there.
Rachel’s question made it visible.
And once it was visible — everything changed.
Not the compliance.
The identity.
We’re not just managing waste, the operations manager said. We’re a company that finds value in what others throw away.
That reframe — from disposal problem to brand story — opened three new revenue streams.
Positioned them as sustainability leaders in their industry.
Made them distinctive in a market where most competitors were simply compliant.
The Success Story They Had Almost Forgotten
The construction materials supplier had been thinking about regulations.
How to meet the new requirements without disrupting operations.
Without losing competitive pricing.
Rachel asked about their journey.
And what emerged was a success story they had almost forgotten.
A building project where reclaimed materials had generated significant media attention.
A developer who had come back five more times.
A reputation for heritage conservation that had been building quietly for years.
That story had always been there too.
Treated as a speciality sideline.
Never recognised as a strategic direction.
Once Rachel’s questions made it visible — the company stopped planning for compliance and started planning for market leadership.
They became known not for meeting requirements.
For a distinctive approach to sustainable building that no competitor could replicate.
Because it was built on who they actually were.
What Makes Stories Visible
That’s what Rachel discovered about making stories visible.
The stories are always already there.
In the work people have done.
In the values that have quietly guided decisions for years.
In the successes that were celebrated once and then forgotten.
What makes them visible isn’t explanation.
It isn’t a framework.
It’s a question asked from genuine curiosity about what’s already there.
Rachel’s grandfather had taught her to see value where others saw waste.
That instinct — turned outward toward her clients — became the thing that made her irreplaceable.
Not because she understood sustainability better than anyone else.
Because she helped people see their own story differently.
And once they saw it — the business impact wasn’t incremental.
It was transformational.
So the question isn’t just Rachel’s.
It’s yours.
What makes someone’s stories visible to them?
In this question, you can also be the someone.
Today’s question is from Creating Three Fundamental Stories That Define Your Identity: Success, Failure and Passion Stories Question Bank — from the section Supporting Others’ Story Development.
Deepen the practice with the WorkLife Compass Guided Programme:The Art of WorkLife Storytelling: Creating Three Fundamental Stories That Define Your Identity Programme Crafting Success, Failure, and Passion Narratives with Powerful Beginnings, Engaging Middles, and Memorable Endings
Work With Me: Individual WorkLife Coaching, Commissioned Learning Resources, Speaking Engagements and Organisational Partnerships.
Support This Work: Your support makes a difference and helps me to continue creating resources that are accessible to everyone. Thank you. Carmel
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