Leader as Storyteller

December 12, 2016

Let me tell you a story. Nothing perks up an audience like those few words because we are wired for story. It is in our very DNA as we have told and listened to oral stories from the very beginning of human history.

Stories are also the most entertaining and effective way to convey information and persuade others in business because they create an emotional as well as an intellectual connection. This emotional component is important because it is what stimulates us and keeps our attention.

Although we may think we are purely rational in all our business dealings, the truth is we regularly make decisions based on our feelings and only justify them through logical explanations. Advertising has long relied on the fact that we rely more on our emotions than information in order to make brand decisions. One could certainly argue we increasingly choose our elected officials based on emotion rather than factual information.

Without an effective story that has both an intellectual as well as an emotional component, it’s difficult to stand out or make a lasting impression.

Think about the number of times you’ve been in a conference room where the speaker runs through a slide deck with numbers, words, images, data, charts and graphs in order to convince you of something. Does it make you sleepy just thinking about it? No wonder so many welcome the distraction of our cellphones.

If instead the speaker would begin by telling a compelling story that appealed to our emotions and also drive the main message, the slides could merely be used as a way to further justify the point. In this way, the story engages the audience in both the head and heart.

Consider how effective storytelling is used elsewhere:

  • Newspaper, television and radio news stories so often begin with an individual’s story to explain a larger issue and demonstrate its effect.
  • TED Talks would not be nearly as effective were it not for storytelling because the speakers draw us in by telling a personal story to convey a universal truth.
  • Every U.S. President since Ronald Reagan has highlighted an individual citizen’s story and included him or her in his State of the Union address in order to put a face to an important issue or policy.
  • Think about any great speaker you have heard and how, more than likely, the speaker told a compelling story that pulled so effectively at your heart-strings.

“This is because stories do much more than entertain,” says Paul Smith, author of Lead with a Story. “They actually engage your audience’s brains, creating an experience in which they learn a lesson, share a belief, and envision results as if they were there.”

In his book, Smith provides 21 of the toughest leadership challenges with stories to help navigate each of them. The book also identifies six key elements that are integral to help turn a good story into a great one. These elements are metaphors, emotion, realism, surprise, style, and how to put your audience into your story.

As a leader, you need to use storytelling as a way to rally the troops and convince others of your ideas. Stories enable your audience to relax and be entertained while you persuade them. Stories enable the speaker to connect with others, building trust and establishing rapport. And effective stories have a way of leaving a positive impression on the speaker and on the speaker’s message.

In Tell to Win, author Peter Gruber says the ability to tell a purposeful story that can truly be heard is increasingly in demand. “Moreover, in this age of acute economic uncertainty and rapid technological change, it’s not the 0’s and 1’s of the digital revolution, but rather the oohs and aahs of telling to win that offer the best chance of overcoming fear or compelling listeners to act on behalf of a worthy goal.”

No wonder some forward-thinking business schools like Notre Dame and DePaul University have added storytelling classes to their management curriculum. And companies such as Kimberly-Clark have held two-day seminars to teach its 13-step program for crafting a story. 3M is now using “strategic narratives” rather than bullet points. Procter & Gamble hired Hollywood movie directors to train senior executives on storytelling techniques.

So rather than fill your slide deck with emotionless data, tell a story that begins with a compelling challenge, then engage your audience with a struggle to overcome, and finally provide an eye-opening resolution that calls them to action.  As a leader, the more you are able to incorporate good storytelling into your communication, the more effective you will be at convincing, inspiring and motivating your people.

 

Failing all the way to Success

October 7, 2012

“Your attitude towards failure determines your altitude after failure.” – John C. Maxwell

When he was just seven-years-old his family was forced to move out of their home and off their farm. Like other boys, he was expected to work to help support the family. When he turned nine, his mother died.

At the age of 22, the company he worked for went bankrupt and he lost his job. At 23, he ran for state legislature against 12 other candidates. He came in eighth.

At 24, he borrowed money to start a business with a friend. By the end of that first year, the business failed and local authorities took his possessions in order to pay off his debt. His partner soon died, and he assumed his partner’s share of debt as well.

When he turned 25, he ran for state legislature again. This time he won.

At 26, he was engaged to be married, but his fiancée died before the wedding. The next year he plunged into a deep depression and suffered a nervous breakdown.

At 29, he sought out to become speaker of the state legislature. He was defeated.

When he turned 34, he campaigned for a U.S. congressional seat. And he lost. The next year he ran for Congress again and this time he won.

At the age of 39 when his term ended, he was out of a job as his party had a one-term-limit rule.

The next year he tried to get a job as commissioner of the General Land Office, but he was denied. At 45, he campaigned for the U.S. Senate and lost by six electoral votes.

When he turned 47, he was one of the contenders for the vice-presidential nomination at his party’s national convention. He lost. At 49, he ran again for the same U.S. Senate seat a second time. He lost again.

Two years later, at the age of 51, after a lifetime of failure, disappointment, and loss, Abraham Lincoln was elected the sixteenth president of the United States.

Given his leadership in presiding over and ending the Civil War, preserving the Union, ending slavery, and rededicating our nation to the ideals of equality, liberty, and democracy, you could argue he was our most successful president.

This story, taken from Paul Smith’s Lead with a Story: A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives that Captivate, Convince, and Inspire, is steeped in challenges far beyond what most of us ever have to endure.

The point of this and other stories where characters demonstrate unbelievable resilience and perseverance is that achieving success may very well require setbacks and failures. And it is often only through how we react to our failures that determine whether we can ultimately go on to be successful.

Without failing, you’re not living. Here’s a video that provides a look at many famous failures.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career and I’ve lost almost 300 games,” said Michael Jordan, arguably the best basketball player of all time and someone who failed regularly. “Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

The great inventor Thomas Edison was reported to have performed some 9,000 experiments before coming up with a successful version of the light bulb.

And when things go wrong there is typically enormous opportunity for learning. There is the need to honestly appraise what happened, identify who was responsible, to own what was our own part, and then to find creative and sustainable solutions so that it doesn’t happen again. This is as true for individuals as it is for organizations.

It has often been said that if you’re not learning from your failures, you are very likely repeating them.

“The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure,” says John C. Maxwell, author of Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success.

Clearly without the experience of failing, it is hard to know how to succeed. It’s as if that taste of disappointment enables us to persevere.

Lincoln’s persistence to succeed despite a lifetime of failure, disappointment and loss helped him reach the highest office in the land and a lasting legacy of one the greatest leaders of our country.

Make it a habit to embrace your failures as learning opportunities that enable you to reach your successes.