Written by David Beattie
Stories underpin great communication. They motivate us, connect us, and make us relatable to others.
The human race has advanced tremendously as a species through our ability for storytelling. In Yuval Noah Harari ground-breaking books ‘Sapiens’, ‘Homo Deus’ & ‘21 Lessons for the 21st Century’, Yuval explores how essential storytelling is to humankind, the role it has played in building modern day society, the stories we tell each other and how we collectively buy into these stories. Storytelling is one of the major factors that differentiates us from all other animals.
Concepts such as money, companies, governments, countries, legal framework, sports, which are the pillars of today’s world are based on fictional stories. None of these are physically real, they are human constructs - the power in these constructs comes from the collective belief in them.
From a leadership perspective, in his book 'The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell', Paul Smith has categorised the 10 most powerful leadership stories that leaders should have in their kit bag:
1. Where we came from (A Founding Story)
2. Why we can’t stay here (A Case-for-Change Story)
3. Where we’re going (A Vision Story)
4. How we’re going to get there (A Strategy Story)
5. What we believe (A Values Story)
6. Who we serve (A Customer Story)
7. What we do for our customers (A Sales Story)
8. How we’re different from our competitors (A Marketing Story)
9. Why I lead the way I do (A Leadership Philosophy Story)
10. Why you should want to work here (A Recruiting Story)
“What stories you tell is more important than how you tell them.” - Paul Smith
Become a storyteller with your people to influence, relate, inspire and align thinking within your teams.
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