Why Is Storytelling Important for Leaders?
Stories create meaning: Stories give context, purpose, and direction. They describe not only what is happening in more vivid and engaging ways, but they also give meaning and a larger purpose to what is being done daily. As one famous quote goes (citation unclear), “Whoever tells the best story wins.”
Stories humanize us: Granted, although AI can create stories in our current world, good stories that share your authentic experiences are an incredibly effective way to show your character and credibility.
Stories engage feelings: Good stories are more than just facts given in a different order; they’re powerful avenues for evoking strong emotions in the listener. Think about the last time a movie made you cry or laugh, or a documentary moved you to take action. If you need to win hearts and minds for a change initiative, it starts with winning their hearts.
Our brains need stories: This isn’t purely emotional — researchers have spent years studying how our brains respond to stories. They’ve found:
How Can Storytelling Be Used in Business?
There are a few elements that make stories good AND memorable.
Character: Good stories need a character to root for. Also, when done well, the listener starts putting themselves in the shoes of the main character.
Setting: Listeners need to be able to visualize the story in their minds. Anchoring the narrative to a time and place makes it more real to them.
Problem: Without a problem or a crisis, you just have a set of data. Every good story begins with a problem, an issue that compels the character to action. Talking about how great you were or how a team never ran into any issues may be true, but it is mostly uninteresting and dull.
How to Make Storytelling Into Leadership Storytelling
Still, despite all these important elements and background details, storytelling alone doesn’t necessarily translate into leadership storytelling. After all, you can recount the Lord of the Rings story to your team, but it may not have its intended effect. So, how do you craft a leadership story?
First, you have to recognize whether your current situation needs proof or persuading. If you need proof of your claims, that calls for data. However, in times of uncertainty or chaos, most people need persuading — whether to go along with a proposed course of action or to engage with something. This is the exact situation that leadership storytelling is built for.
In these situations, you need to add another element (in addition to the ones noted above) to your story — you need to answer the “so what” question. Commonly referred to as the “What’s in it for me?” framework, your story needs to be explicitly clear about the lessons learned and the transformation or realization.
Unlike traditional stories, which often are left up for audience interpretation, leadership stories require you to explicitly tell the listeners what you want them to take away.
Using Stories to Inspire and Motivate
Employees today are bombarded with so much information, especially in our digital age. What we all crave as humans is meaning and connection. Stories have the power to do that. Stories have the power to show our vulnerability, our authenticity, and our credibility. This ability to be real can create a trusting relationship that is far more powerful than any corporate line.
I encourage you to start small; start by telling your own stories, what you’ve learned, what you struggled with, and how you overcame — or didn’t overcome. Start by listening to others’ stories. Before you know it, you’ll find your own voice as a storyteller — and as a leader.
