Blog Series: The Power of Storytelling for Leaders – 2

Who are some great storytellers?

All of you know someone that you have read or heard speak in your own lives, whether in your family or in school or at a public event. I think of four exceptional storytellers as examples. Doris Kearns Goodwin writes remarkable, provocative, and captivating accounts of American history in classic storytelling narratives based on scholarly research. David McCullough has produced brilliant anecdotal narratives of American heroes who engage our intellect and imagination. And there is the storytelling of two exceptional soldiers – Dwight David Eisenhower and Colin Powell. President Eisenhower was a brilliant storyteller in recounting his leadership experiences through books like At Ease – Stories I Tell My Friends. Former Secretary of State Powell has just published another compelling series of his own leadership lessons in It Worked For Me: in Life and Leadership. You will know what great storytellers to study and model so you can best engage, persuade and inspire your teams.

General Norman Cota

I recently revisited the coast of central Normandy in northwestern France. Seventy one years ago on 6 June 1944 the largest military operation in history took place – Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Europe. There were many stories of heroism, sacrifice, leadership. Few combine all three like that of Brigadier General Norman Cota. He was the son of a railroad telegrapher from Chelsea, Massachusetts. At West Point he played football with another cadet by the name of Dwight Eisenhower. As an officer, Cota learned his craft well, leading soldiers and studying the campaigns of the Peloponnesian Wars, the teachings of Clausewitz, and the signs of growing strife in pre-war Europe. He would go on to serve as a principal military advisor to General Eisenhower for the D-Day plan. There he expressed his unvarnished candor and concern about the need for tactical surprise; he was critical of Overlord’s daylight landing approach. The afternoon before the assault he told his staff as the Assistant Division Commander of the 29th Infantry:

“This is different from any of the other exercises that you’ve had so far. The little discrepancies that we tried to correct on Slapton Sands are going to be magnified and are going to give way to incidents that you might at first view as chaotic . . . You’re going to find confusion. The landing craft aren’t going in on schedule and people are going to be landed in the wrong place. Some won’t be landed at all . . . We must improvise, carry on, not lose our heads.”

The official account says that General Cota landed with a part of the 116th Infantry Regiment, of the 29th Division, in the second wave, approximately one hour after H-Hour on the Omaha sector known as Dog White. His landing craft came under heavy machine gun fire as well as mortar and light artillery fire; several soldiers were killed immediately upon leading the disembarkation. He is remembered for personally rallying the shell-shocked, pinned-down survivors and opening one of the first vehicle exits off the beach. Observing an intense firefight between some US and German troops, Cota asked “What outfit is this?” Someone yelled “5th Rangers!” To this, Cota replied “Well, damn it then, Rangers, lead the way!” And that has become the motto of the Rangers to this day.

By the end of the war Norman Cota had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and the Purple Heart for his physical courage, and earned a well-deserved reputation in the US Army for his moral courage. This story of courage and leadership under fire is an example of a rich narrative that affirms organizational values, and establishes a way to cite something important that happened in the past which continues to be useful to the future of a culture. It speaks timelessly to the values of initiative, resolute leadership in the face of external stress, and ‘keeping the main thing the main thing’. Similarly, that is why the stories of Ernest Shackleton, the great British Polar explorer, continue to resonate with audiences around the world even today. Those stories of undaunted leadership remain relevant to us and still have value in our own day to day organizational challenges. Arguably, the most compelling storytelling in the news this fall is the drama, hardship, and danger represented by the mass refugee crisis that has taken place in a historic journey from the embattled Mideast and North Africa to the continent of Europe. The cold story is about numbers, but the greater compelling story is about the human soul.

Alan Mulally

When Alan Mulally took over an embattled Ford Motor Company, he told the story of his new vision again and again in simple terms that gave his employees confidence and optimism about their future. It was masterful, simple, and relevant storytelling in the brief and repetitive way that spoke about one team pulling together in a crisis. Ford rallied, and its many external audiences from suppliers to dealers and from customers to the automotive media embraced the power of the story in a way that helped to generate its ultimate success.

Leaders who use the power of storytelling have much to gain. They can keep consistent focus on the vision of the company, and affirm faith in the near term intent of the leadership, strengthen brand loyalty, and build support from the organizational team at every level. Leaders can also use storytelling to resolve conflicts and reaffirm company values. Two final considerations for leaders to best employ the capacity of storytelling: first, investing in a highly competent Director of Communications with a bright and innovative supporting staff pays great dividends in any organization. The quality of communications, especially storytelling, is often a reflection of a quality leader assigned that critical responsibility. The right person can make all the difference; the converse is also true. Finally, leaders themselves must be central in choosing, writing, and telling tell the most powerful stories, and they must tell those stories again and again to make their point. The leader’s voice must be authentic and candid in telling their organizations what matters, how the team should move forward as one, and personally convey that vision in compelling stories.

The writer Janet Litherland sums it up well: “Stories have power. They delight, enchant, touch, teach, recall, inspire, motivate, challenge. They help us understand. They imprint a picture on our minds. Want to make a point or raise an issue? Tell a story.”

The Power of Storytelling for Leaders Part 1

 

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