Origin story

Everyone has an origin story. This photograph from 1926 is half of mine.

It shows my Grandad Tom (highlighted) with his Dad and brothers who were showcasing the family window cleaning business.

I’d heard Dad talk of Uncles Charlie, Alf, Ted and Dave but have never met them or even seen a photo of them until he showed me this.

Tom and his wife (my Grandma) May named my Dad ‘David’ and that is now my middle name, such is the tradition in the north-west of England.

I often say on stage that I get my entrepreneurial spirit from my Dad’s side of the family and the ‘they were window cleaners’ line always gets a laugh (particularly as I’m usually dressed in a jacket and tie, the very antithesis of a window cleaner today!).

I’m really proud of my origin story. The family were poor and worked hard to make ends meet. Theirs was not a life of privilege, it was a life of back breaking work in all kinds of British weather!

When I share my origin story, it creates a connection with others and encourages them to share theirs. These bonds generate behaviours of vulnerability, honesty and empathy and help to bring teams closer together. We are, after all, just human beings trying to do the best with what we have, based on where we’ve come from and driven by where we want to go.

I use the origin story exercise in workshops and it starts conversations that are often hard to stop! What’s your origin story?