What is the toughest, most macho place to work? How about an oil rig?
When Shell Oil decided to build the largest oil rig in history, to drill deeper than any other rig, they trained their men dig deep. For those men, digging deep meant digging into their emotions.
This NPR report tells the story of how one man brought emotional connection to an oil rig. Harvard and Stanford’s researchers studied how, from opening up, these men made more money for Shell and had a reduction in accidents of more than 80%.
The reporter asked if what the men learned was how to be emotional like a woman. The man who brought the trainings to the men and a researcher who questioned them both said no; they said the men simply learned to be themselves.
Men don’t need to learn to connect to our feminine side. We need to learn to connect to that part of our masculinity that we lost. This story reaffirms what we’ve watched happen time and again for more than 20 years with men in our men’s groups.
Listen to the story. You can skip the first part, which is about another topic.
Would you risk being vulnerable to your co-workers? What are you missing from not opening up like these men did?
