It’s like a switch deep inside me. I can turn it on, but it’s more common for me to turn it off.  

Two whole years had passed by since we had last seen my dad. I had just arrived in Florida, along with my two young children, when my dad called to say that he was driving through the area. I was thrilled. He then went on to mention that he could only stop by long enough to have lunch. Only lunch? Only an hour or two of the day? I felt the loss and sadness begin to well up, so I threw my switch to the “off” position.

A new family invited us to have dinner at their home recently. Because we didn’t know each other well, they asked us questions about our life in North Africa.

Their genuine questions invited us to share our story.

Afterwards, we mentioned to them that it had been a long time since we had told our story to someone. It felt good!

We all have stories to tell—fun and not-so-fun stories from our daily lives, encouraging testimonies of changed lives, tough stories of loss and grief that have built up over the course of years, and sometimes, traumatic stories and crisis experiences that we have been forced to walk through.

Whatever story we carry, there are multiple benefits of telling it to others.

Crisis! It appears out of nowhere and tosses us into a dark valley of confusion, stress, and chaos.  Whether it’s receiving shocking news from back home, experiencing a terrorist attack in a nearby city, or owing a huge sum in unexpected taxes, we experience similar reactions. 

What’s that expression? “Hindsight is always 20/20.”

If only we had eyes to see. If only we had eyes to see inside our team. If only we had eyes to see the health of our team.

If only we could have seen the weaknesses, the gaps . . . perhaps we would have been able to save our team, our work, our project, and ourselves from all the pain and hardship.

Our team was young and grew fast. We went from four to ten in six months. We had colleagues ranging from age 19 to age 60—some with decades of overseas experience and some without a single day.

We needed help, and we didn’t know it.

We needed eyes to see. We needed a tool, a resource, a coach.

Our team didn’t make it. Only a few months after growing exponentially, our team and our project exploded and died. There were casualties along the way.

It could have all been avoided.

If only we would have known. If only we could have seen. “Hindsight is always 20/20.” If only we would have known the path to take, the road to walk on to build a healthy team.