There are plenty of ‘recommended’ skills for professional success that get lashed out at senior professionals every now and then. While many are talked about, fewer still are explained in terms of how-tos. Storytelling seems to be the latest buzzword and a new skill for professional success, and yet very few people tend to explain how this can be implemented in business settings, especially for managers who may not naturally take to storytelling in the work context. We tried to decipher this in our post!
“You have a vision for an enterprise in your head, but it is only powerful when you have it into a story – a story about where you have been, where you are going, about how you will behave along the way. Then, you persuade everybody in the organization that they are part of the same story. Your story has to describe how people are going to feel when they reach at destination point, so that they feel the journey is worth it.”
– Quote from the book “Language of Leaders” by Kevin Murray
Senior managers are taught and conditioned to believe that business communication must be clear, rational, and objective, with no place for emotion or subjective thinking. Yet it is observed that the most powerful, persuasive communication has a strong human element to it, often conveyed through stories.
These days there are many distractions we are prey to – mobile phones, Internet, social media, emails; it is very difficult to hold on to public attention let alone in recall. But, stories immediately connect people with their memories and values.
Through storytelling, senior professionals and leaders frame a current experience through the prism of context and character. They illustrate desired behavior/values by taking the listeners into an alternate universe and allowing them to draw their own inferences and take action based on those deductions. Research states that stories serve as incredibly powerful change catalysts in influencing organizational behavior, more potent in comparison to statistics or analysis.
The key principle of corporate storytelling is always to change behavior and achieve results, so while choosing your story, make sure you have answers to the following questions:
- What’s the purpose? Be clear about what you want to achieve.
- Who is your audience? Who do you want to influence and what do you want them to do.
- What is in it for them? – The accrued benefit to their action.
- What is the key takeaway? Know what you what them to take away, but don’t make it your message. Let them work it out for themselves, as it is easier for them to process a thought and arrive at a conclusion and take decision action than mindlessly following instructions.
There is 3 types of stories leaders ought to have in their tool-kit: Stories that challenge, enable, inspire and encourage the desired change.
1. The ‘who am I’ story
This story gives people an insight into the leader’s journey to his present. It is designed to take you on a journey of self-discovery and create empathy with your team. It is also useful to reveal past mistakes and tough decisions that reveal your vulnerabilities and serve in establishing a emotional connect with your audience.
2. The ‘Future’ story
Create the space and potential for tomorrow and extol what needs to be achieved. Play on the journey that needs to be undertaken towards a brilliant future.
3. The ‘Values at work’ story
Celebrate the heroes in your team and organization for going beyond the call of duty and those that practicing the values that you want the entire organization to reflect.
Not everyone is adept at storytelling and creating compelling stories. Where do you source the stories? How can you transform and influence behavior in the your team by playing the storyteller?
- Start by identifying the stories in your organization. What obstacles did your company overcome to be where it is today?
- Who are the legends in your organization? What is the legacy they leave on the culture and what leadership lessons can you draw from their example. Are there any stories of them you can pass on?
- Ask the veterans to share stories of the days gone to the newcomers for them to get a sense of place, its history and culture.
- Every team has its own heroes and anecdotes of triumphs and tragedies will also serve as future pointers. When I joined my last team, I was told of our managing editor having erased our entire database while trying to delete one single document. It took 3 months for me to stop rechecking thrice at least before pressing any button while working on that database.
Stories have the potential to encourage heroes around you, as well as make a Hero of you. Reflect on how you can use the medium.
