How the art of storytelling can be harnessed to effectively motivate and engage talent
Our lives are full of stories: stories about what we have done, what we are doing, or what we are going to do. Nations are built upon the stories that shaped them: the heroes and the villains, the leaders and the followers. Newspapers, TV, theatre, music and film are all vehicles for storytelling, and the workplace is no different. Our organisations are a product of the stories that have got us to where we are now, and the stories we tell about the future.
For business leaders, the power of storytelling is a key leadership skill, one that is often underestimated. It’s not a regular MBA ingredient, but it is a powerful, vital communication tool that can engage and motivate your people, as well as unlock their potential.
We all tell stories – often without thinking about it – and the very culture of our organisations is a complex web of these anecdotes, unwittingly establishing what is and isn’t accepted in the workplace and what happens to those who contribute in ways that stand out.
We can all learn how to harness the power of storytelling to enable defining acts of leadership, both in ourselves and in others. Managers and leaders can start this process by considering the following questions:
- When would a story be the best way to communicate?
- Who should it be told to?
- What is the desired result of telling the story?
- Where and how should it be told?
- How can the story’s potential be maximised?
The most important aspect of storytelling as a leadership skill is the authenticity you bring with it and the clarity of intent you have behind it.
Contact us to find out more about how Impact can help you develop storytelling as a leadership skill in your organisation.