What to Do with a Few Good Aces (and Without)

We talked about trust. I used an example of playing-card hands. I said something like, "Let's pretend you and I are playing this game of TheHighCalling, and I deal you this hand." I showed my Team a poorly-dealt hand and asked if they trusted me— that I was really interested in having them succeed at the game.

Well, heck no.

Then I showed my Team a different hand, of high cards.

"Would you trust me now?" I asked.

Well, heck yeah.

We talked more about trust. I told a story about a company that literally saved millions of dollars in an acquisitions deal, because of high trust between the two merging companies. We did some role plays and then we were done.

Almost.

I handed each person an envelope and told them there was a promise and a challenge inside of it. The promise? I gave them each an ace, as a symbol of how I hope to work with them; I want to deal them good hands. The challenge? That they think about how they might deal aces to each other and the Network we serve.

Of course, to give this symbolic gift, I had to take aces from five packs of new playing cards. Which left them unusable. Or so I thought.

Sometimes... even if no one gives you an ace, you can still make things happen. I smile when I see what my Sonia did with a few good unwanted playing cards...





Card Shirt Design, by Sonia, 11.