How to harness the power of storytelling

Sharing your story might make you feel vulnerable, but it can help build connections that will move your organisation forward – Jennifer Black, chief executive of Special Group London gives her thoughts.

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Management Today

There’s a lot of talk about the use of storytelling in business leadership right now. According to a study published in a 2018 edition of the Journal of Leadership Education, the role of storytelling is directly linked to leadership effectiveness.

Stories can be connected to a leadership purpose: to motivate others, build trust, build your brand, transmit values, get others to work together, share knowledge, tame the grapevine, and lead people into the future.

The benefits of storytelling

Accomplished leaders use storytelling to improve interpersonal relationships, communicate strategy and build culture. It can create common ground among teams and unleash the drive towards creating a shared vision of the future.

Storytelling gives a sense of shared learning and should lead to the development of mutual understanding. It can be used to model excellence, develop organisational culture, support strategic management and strengthen employee loyalty.

At its heart, successful storytelling builds deeper connections. Many of the best stories used by managers and leaders are about journeys, about being on a mission together, where everyone is invested in success and when everyone pulls together.

Storytelling can also play a central role in engaging external stakeholders. To raise capital and increase investment you need a good story about your company’s success, if you want a high profile and a healthy bottom line you need to be able to tell a good story about your company and what it sells. Being able to tell a story about your company’s purpose and values is essential for recruitment.

How to tell a good story

Every good story charts a change – a change in circumstances, emotions or actions. It needs to be detailed enough so that the listener can make connections. It needs to be engaging and it needs to be authentic. Stories should be shared to drive empathy and trust and people need to believe in them.

Audiences are hard-wired to seek out great stories – so keep them happy, and on board. The most compelling stories have a simple narrative at heart; think Aesop’s Fables and the Greek myths. Keep your stories simple and focused, using one main message or theme to connect with your audience.

Make the audience the hero: it’s the most crucial component in storytelling for business. It means your stories should focus on what your customers need and want, rather than what you personally think is interesting. In the words of EM Forster, ‘only connect’.

You can use visual storytelling, as visuals are processed faster by the brain and are retained longer than simple text or spoken word. Visuals are a shortcut to emotional engagement. You can add visuals such as screenshots, charts and graphs, memes, and quote images to your content.

At their core, stories are typically about overcoming adversity, and conflict keeps things interesting. As a simple example, take the story of Little Red Riding Hood. It contains a status quo (‘the way things are’) – our protagonist travels through the forest with a package for grandma; a conflict, or adversity – in the shape of the Big Bad Wolf; and a resolution – the woodsman comes to the rescue. Story structures should follow this same template, while providing an inspirational or affecting payoff.

For some managers, sharing their own stories can be tricky. It can make you feel vulnerable, because you’re trying to build a connection with others and create empathy, in order to move things forward.

The more of our own stories we can share, the more of ourselves we bring into work and the more effective our leadership will become. Authenticity is key and when used well, stories build trust and understanding, lead to reflection and can ultimately initiate change.

What could be more powerful?