Page 32 - Priorities #50 2011-June/July

32
Q&A
An interview by Sean McClain Brown, Director of Communications
Terrence L. Gargiulo ‘86, MMHS is an
eight times author, international speaker, organizational development consultant and group process facilitator specializing in the use of stories. He holds a Master of Management in Human Services from the
Florence Heller School, at
Brandeis University, and is a
recipient of Inc. Magazine’s
Marketing Master Award, the
2008 HR Leadership Award
from the Asia Pacific HRM
Congress. He has appeared on
Fox TV, CN8, and on CNN
radio among others. In addition,
he’s quite an accomplished fencer, some of his accomplishments in fencing include: Member of four US Olympic Festival Teams, ranked in the Top 16 in the United States for seven years, 3rd Alternate for 1996 Olympic Games.
SMB: How did you get interested in focusing on stories as a way of fostering learning and communication in the workplace?
TLG: I have always been driven to understand how we connect to others and ourselves. I marveled at the prowess of my father’s conducting. I felt an electricity connecting composer with conductor, orchestra with conductor, and audience with orchestra. I witnessed the power of my mother’s voice bringing music alive with the
artistry of caressing words with her breath and spirit. And peak experiences on stage as a child and peak performances as a competitive fencer offered me other glimpses into this mysterious realm.
I’ll never forget one of my first classes at Brandeis University. One of the requirements was a two-semester humanities class. I must confess I was less than excited about the class. It looked as though it was going to be a waste of time. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
I ended up in a class being taught by Professor Luis Yglesias titled “Imagining Who We Are.” Professor Yglesias began his class by reading Shel
Silverstein’s story, The Giving Tree. It’s a simple story about a boy and a tree growing up together. The tree is always there for the boy. In the end the tree even gives its life so that the boy can build a home for himself with its wood.
As he finished, the entire class sighed sentimentally. But Professor Yglesias did not stop. He returned to the first page of
Listening with the Ear of Your Heart An Inteview with
Terrence
Gargiulo ‘86