When spoken word artist Minton Sparks (left) launched her first story-telling session as part of our work with one hundred leaders at St. John's Regional Medical Center and later at Northridge Hospital some caregivers were skeptical. What would story-telling have to do with better caregiving, some wondered?

  At the end of the sessions, everyone understood. When leaders share personal stories with each other, barriers among team members come crashing down. In their place, new relationships are formed that strengthen caregiving and reinforce the highest values of loving care.

   "Take ten minutes and write your thoughts on why you became a caregiver. Then share them with the person next to you."

   Next to me sat a burly man whose demeanor projected a cool professionalism. He was a "stranger" to me.

   Ten minutes later, I asked him how he became a caregiver. His response stunned me. "I was a sniper in the army," he told me. "I shot people during skirmishes in Somalia – like you may have seen in the movie 'Black Hawk Down.' One day, I decided I wanted to care for people, not shoot them. I became an army nurse. That is my true calling."

   He is now a nurse at St. John's bringing love to people in need every day. The moment he told his story, he was no longer a "stranger." He was a team member living Love.

   Nearby, the man in charge of resperatory therapy rose to share his story. "A relative called recently to tell me she found a box in the attic with my name on it. Inside were eighteen statues of saints. What did they mean? she asked. My mother sent me a statue every time I was hospitalized with asthma. Eighteen hospitalizations for eighteen attacks. Now I help people who have trouble breathing like I did."

   Many organizations suffer from team dysfuntion. How does the sacred relationship of caregiver-to-caregiver improve? How do caregivers overcome suspicion and occasional resentment towards fellow workers? What causes one team member to step forward to help a colleague?

   Fellow caregivers consistently feel closer to team members who share their stories. Closed energy opens. In fact, if we could truly see into the hearts of others we would always feel more love and understanding.

   Story-telling is one of the beautiful ways St. John's President and CEO Laurie Eberst, Chief Operating Officer Kim Wilson and Senior Director Grace Ibe help advance the work of Radical Loving Care among the thousands of caregivers they lead. It is also one of the many reasons the organization they lead is fast becoming one of the top Healing Hospital Systems in the nation.

-Erie Chapman