Storytelling in business? Some years ago as a hard nosed CEO, I would have considered this ‘fluff’, nice but not really serious. Today I look at stories as a very effective tool to get critical messages across about change, strategy, and purpose. Recent research in neuroscience suggests that our brain is far better equipped to process and memorize stories than facts and figures. And how many of you have been suffering through endless and pointless powerpoint presentations?
Over the last years I have been using story telling as part my work with executive teams. The anthropologist Joseph Campbell has provided us with a wonderful framework, the ‘Hero’s Journey’, that we can find in most Hollywood movies, fairy tales and also in our own lives: we are called to an adventure that takes us to the underworld, the unknown, where we have to deal with a series of challenges and temptations. Passing through these exams of life transforms us and subsequently we come back to the known world stronger and better prepared. Quite often an ally, a friend, gives us guidance and support during the difficult task. Sharing personal hero’s journeys is not only a great learning experience, but it also allows bonding within an executive team. Human life consists of a sequence of hero’s journeys and when we share them they create insight and wisdom. And therefore it is easily understandable that our ancestors in many different geographies and culture have been using stories to pass on the wisdom of their people.
Stories or ‘narrative cases’ as some executives would prefer can also be very powerful to communicate a change story, the identity or the purpose of a company, your values or the direction where you want to take the company. As a CEO you need to make sure that your story is credible and relevant and comes across as authentic. Personally I find stories about a company’s purpose the most impactful: when a CEO can talk about how the companies’ medicines save lives, how the services make a difference in people’s lives, how they provide mobility and connectivity. Can you tell the story of your company’s purpose? And, what’s your story?
For some guidance about story telling in business check out Stephen Denning’s book: the leaders guide to story telling.