Chapter 3: Leaders wanted: calling all storytellers, raconteurs, and yarn spinners
So, now you know about the power of stories and storytelling to build a relationship to your audience, engage them, get their buy in and leave them with a message. A good storyteller may not be a leader, but good leader should absolutely be storytellers. In a business setting – good stories and how they are told can become part of the mythos and culture of an organisation.
It encourages the same outcomes that any leader needs to build – a personal, individual connection and sense of belonging to the organisation’s goals and outputs and more widely, an inspired and motivated team.
I’ve seen the use of motivational speakers hired externally for corporate conferences to give people that important warm and fuzzy feeling. They share their personal vulnerabilities and triumphs over terrible tragedies or to achieving the extraordinary. It leads to an uptick in the collective mood of feeling inspired and motivated (also there’s good money to be made out of a good story and telling it well).
But organisations should not have to wait for conferences or special events to use storytelling – inspiration, motivation and connection can be maintained throughout the team through thick and thin, because there is always a task or information to share which can be achieved using storytelling.
It may feel silly or unusual in your organisation but you don’t have to perform like Brian Blessed to use storytelling to effect. At Sysdoc we are already working with clients who recognise the impact of storytelling but need support in overcoming initial hesitations and to incorporate storytelling into leadership and personal working styles. It’s your story – we just help you tell it.
Get in touch to discuss how storytelling could be used to inspire and motivate to achieve change in your organisation. Jade Tipping is a Senior Consultant in the People & Culture capability at Sysdoc. When she is not working with clients to achieve transformation or cultural change, she is a voracious consumer of TV, film, podcasts and audiobooks. You can contact Jade at [email protected]
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