UTIPEC is an alternative union of the Oil & Gas industry in Colombia. They call themselves alternative because their philosophy is different from the traditional unions the country has known; each one of its pillars is the antithesis to the traditional schemes. Through their work, speech, attitudes and leadership, the UTIPEC is on a mission to tell their industry and country a completely different story about what it means to practice unionism in Colombia and what relations between employer and employees could and should look like.
In 2017, when we were first introduced to the organization, it was hard not to be impressed by how much they had already accomplished in six years, but their president and his key leaders were also aware that in order to continue writing this new story, all of their leaders needed to be skilled in storytelling skills. So we began on a project that had two objectives: to align their philosophy in easily understandable narrative terms, and to train a group of leaders in a variety of storytelling skills so that they could hone their social-emotional skills and lead countrywide initiatives based on their storytelling knowledge.
This group of 25 leaders was passionate and eager to grow, after 4 months of weekly formation sessions in storytelling skills for leaders, and a culminating event where they presented their group initiatives, not only the president, but outside community leaders praised the growth they had seen in these leaders and the innovative initiatives which were being presented. UTIPEC continues to thrive, their leaders are still masterful at telling their Story and the work with their stories and their philosophy continues.
