Blog Series: The Power of Storytelling for Leaders – 1

The power of storytelling for leaders in the public and private sector.  #Storytelling

Pulitzer Prize winning historian Barbara Tuchman is said to have mused about her work: “There is no trick to it; it’s just storytelling.” She was being characteristically modest, but correct that there is no trick. Great storytelling requires hard work, attention to detail, and a clear understanding of the needs of the audience. As a leader your skillful use of storytelling can bring about and sustain change in an organization because of its deep capacity to communicate ideas to both our cognitive and our emotional core.

“Stories are the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal.”

– Howard Gardner, Harvard University

Storytelling Clarifies The Vision and Mission of an Organization

Why does this ancient art matter today? Storytelling clarifies the vision and the mission of an organization. It reinforces the intent of the leadership. It brings on board those who need to know the way ahead. It makes them champions and advocates for change by helping to inspire that change. It elucidates, teaches, and motivates. It guides us to see if we are asking the right questions, have the right assumptions, goals and objectives by providing examples of where we should go. Storytelling is all about addressing organizational challenges.

Lewis Carroll understood this well when he set a famous scene in Alice in Wonderland. Alice faces an unresolved intersection in her journey. She says to the Cheshire Cat, “Would you tell me please which way I ought to go from here?” The Cheshire Cat responds, “Well, that depends on where you want to go.” Alice replies, “I really don’t care where.” And the Cheshire Cat answers, “Well if you don’t know where you are going, then any road will get you there.” This classic parable speaks to the critical importance of having a strategy. It is memorable because it is told through the medium of a simple story.

Storytelling Helps to Address Challenges

Storytelling helps leaders to address the strong challenges of organizational culture. Edgar Schein, a distinguished scholar of management at MIT, writes about ways to change culture through both reinforcing and embedding mechanisms. He writes that one of the most important reinforcing mechanisms in the transition to a new culture is to use stories, myths, and legends. That is a key role for all leaders, all of the time. The importance of the role of communicating new ideas through storytelling cannot be overstated – it is a hallmark of many successful organizations. Stories which are analogies, examples or vignettes from history reinforce the mission and vision of a leadership team. They also strengthen the framework and the importance of an organization’s culture by establishing norms and values. Leaders can also use stories to signal and simplify strategic intent; in doing so they capture the imagination and the support of the whole team. The power of an interesting, arresting, and relevant narrative, told with skill, and used to strengthen an idea about the future of an organization is fundamental to success in all disciplines, from the military to sports and in business. Stories told well strengthen the brand and illuminate marketing themes and messages. They can sustain a coherent and consistent voice which internal and external audiences will both identify with and support. New forms of social media demonstrates the enduring and highly successful capacity of storytelling through forums like TED talks and in the fundamental premise of YouTube. Both are short duration, powerful means of communication which reach out to and transcend all generations.

Big data analytics are essential to business leaders, but used alone they can dull the senses of the team. Academic discussions, reports, and conferences may be precise and evidence based, but they can quickly lose an audience, especially given the nature of instant communication patterns among Millennials and Post-Millennials. Organizations which are trying to convey change or address innovative initiatives through hundreds of slides can miss the mark and lose customer understanding and support. For any organization to succeed there must be a belief and a confidence in the leaders’ vision. Effective storytelling connects that vision; it links the imagination and the loyalty of the team with the purpose and the intent of the leadership. It compels, persuades, and unifies, when done to standard.

Storytelling Drives Organizational Change

Annette Simmons writes that “Storytelling can be a powerful tool when you want to drive organizational change…leaders must be able use stories to motivate their employees to achieve more than they thought possible. What exactly makes an effective story? Good leaders use stories on almost a daily basis. They tell stories that “cast” them and their organizations as agents of change, rather than defenders of the status quo. As a leader, you cannot eliminate fear, abolish uncertainty or avoid the prospect of change for your company. But you can leverage these emotional navigational stakes to your greatest advantage by telling a purposeful story…Research on memory conclusively shows that all the critical details, data, and analytics, are more effectively emotionalized and metabolized by the listener when they’re embedded in a story – and they become significantly more actionable. Stories let people decide for themselves – one of the great secrets of true influence. Other methods of influence – persuasion, bribery or charismatic appeal are push strategies – stories are pull strategy.”

(copyright Annette Simmons)

Storytelling Exercise for Corporate Leaders

As the leader in your organization, how can you better use storytelling to align your vision with your leadership team?  Or, with those who are are direct reports to your leadership team?

Consider utilizing the exercise below to help develop a positive story that will help to drive forward your vision for the future:

1. Identify an successful event within the organization, or, an accomplishment by its personnel.
2. Detail the actions leading up to and following the event in chronological order.
3. Develop a 5 minute and 2 minute version of the story for use when speaking with your internal leadership team and personnel.

 Contact us to share how this exercise has helped to build value among your leadership team through storytelling.

The Power of Storytelling for Leaders Part 2

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