Page 48 - Priorities #68-Summer 2017

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From Student Storyteller
By Kelly Sargent
When Father Maurus read Terrence Gargiulo’s ’86 first two books, he said to him, “Terrence what you have managed to do in these books is make the values of our Christian faith for business people real and practical without evangelizing.” Terrence considers Father Maurus’ ob- servation to be the greatest testament his work will ever receive. It’s at the heart of his mission today. “It’s why I get up in the morning and why I am at Accenture, a company of 400,000 plus people that touches the largest organizations in the world,” he expressed.
Terrence is not only a published author of eight books with titles like, The Strategic Use of Stories in Organizational Communication and Learning and In the Land of Difficult People: 24 Timeless Tales Reveal How to Tame Beasts at Work, he also holds the unique job title of Chief Storyteller at Accenture. What does a Chief Storyteller do exactly? “I’ll let you know when I figure it out!” he jokes. Terrence explains that as the nature of work is changing, the world of “Big Data” and with Artificial Intelligence, augmented realities, and robotic automation, we are being challenged to move from transac- tional modes of work to more personal interactions. According to Terrence, “Stories are fundamental to how we communicate, learn and think. Stories
are the most efficient way of storing, retrieving, and conveying information.” Through his research and consulting, he has learned how to use stories as powerful vehicles to tap into people’s experiences and in the process help people to hear each other and themselves in deeper ways to promote reflection and learning in organizations.
Terrence’s talents do not end with being an author and Chief Storyteller, he is also an accomplished fencer. Fencing is one of the reasons that brought him to Priory.
In 1982 Terrence came to Priory due to the close proximity to San Jose State where he trained with an Olympic fencing coach. He is thankful for the support that Priory provided him as he pursued his dreams of being an Olympic fencer. “Without the Priory’s unbelievable support, I would have never progressed as a fencer,” he said. “Oh, and the monks even tolerated my disturbance to their early morning prayers as my classmate William Schneider (class of 1986) and I egged each other on with loud yells of encouragement during our frequent 6:00am sprint workouts on the field.” Hard work and dedication paid off for Terrence as he was selected as an alternate for the 1996 Olympics fencing team. Terrence was humble in the selection,
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