Tell Us A Story

People have always said to me that I need to write a book because I have such interesting stories. Well, when you live life instead of just trudging through it, interesting things are bound to happen. And if other people can learn from my trials and tribulations then I feel like I have provided a bit of something relevant to the world at large. But what does this have to do with agility or culture change in an organization?

People Need to Relate to You as a Leader

Well, people need to be able to relate to you as a leader. This does not mean that every time someone says something you roll out the “when I was your age” type of story, but it does mean that your experiences, successes and failures can lend themselves to enhancing decision making or direction for others. Here is a real-world example from my own arsenal.

Aren’t You Going to Tell Us a Story?

Several years ago, a team came to me with what seemed to them to be a big issue. They felt a bit stuck and not sure which way to turn. I said “well, it sounds to me like you all need to get on a call together and break the issue down into manageable parts and then work on a solution.” And one of the more junior members said “Hold up! You aren’t going to tell us a story?” I said “well I wasn’t going to tell you a story. I think you all need to talk this out.” And he said “But when you tell us a story that helps us figure out where to start.”

And it dawned on me that I did use storytelling quite often to pinpoint a theme or issue or highlight a potential solution. And it wasn’t that my stories provided a step by step analysis and troubleshooting for a problem at hand, but the team found some comfort in knowing that most problems are not new ones and there are solutions at hand with just a little thought and collaboration.

And there must be something to all of this, because I know someone who teaches storytelling to businesses and several who are in storytelling groups who perform (a bit like stand up comedy but storytelling). People like to hear stories especially if they can relate to the topic and even more importantly if they are the center of it and can give it their attention and absorb what is happening without necessarily being caught up in the middle of it. And my particular stories span three decades in the technology sector through many careers and roles.

Can You Visualize It?

Another technique I use when a topic or theme is being introduced that may be hard for people to understand from their own point of view is to create a scenario where they can visualize something else that would evoke similar emotions or reactions. For example, when I conduct my sessions on giving everyone a voice in collaborative settings, I ask the participants to think of something that if asked to do it evokes very strong emotions of dislike or fear. And to think about the sensations that just thinking about doing that particular thing elicits. Then I give them the scenario that is relevant to inclusion. I don’t use scenarios that require a new understanding of terms or concepts. I ask them to think about the emotions from the thing they don’t like to do in the context of someone in a meeting being called on when they are extremely shy. And from there we equate emotions to the situation. By doing this, people can in a way put themselves in the other person’s shoes and where they may not normally have empathy perhaps being able to change how they see the person and how they interact with that person.

Let Me Tell You a Story Today

So here is my story for today. It is one of knowing when to change and knowing when to stand firm. We as a business community often put a lot of things before professional development. Employees are not encouraged to take time away from their daily routines to take classes, attend conferences, or participate in workshops. In many cases, they are made to feel guilty for doing something. So, the inherent method of conducting training is in what is referred to as the masterclass. The concept is that you cram as much into the time (usually 2-3 days) as possible so that the people attending feel like they are getting value (or at least quantity) for the money. And I was no exception to this rule. I created my teamwork program as a masterclass. In 2 days we were going to cover a range of topics from value-added meetings to writing corporate policies. And my programs were always packed with so much material that it could make one’s head spin.

So in April of 2020 I was off and running with yet another masterclass. And wasn’t it the perfect time for one on teamwork. After all people were being sent home with laptops and a hope that the Wi-Fi signal was strong enough for video conferencing. And everything was moving at the normal forced pace. We were whipping through instruction, practice, Q&A and so on. And then I got a message that hit me like a punch in the face. “This program is great but my brain was full at lunchtime so I am not sure I absorbed anything after lunch. I feel like I need to take the second half again.”

What?!? But I taught so many critical topics in the second half of the day. What did this mean? Did everyone feel this way? And then it hit me. If this person, who knew my teaching style by the way, was overwhelmed then I was the problem. How I was teaching was overwhelming, not thorough. It wasn’t me providing so much information that they felt they were getting value. It was me over teaching so that I felt like I was valuable. So what could I do?

And Group Coaching Programs Were Born

Well I happened to have some virtual networking sessions around that time and met someone who introduced me to the concept of group coaching. It was intended for people to be able to work with more people than they can in 1-to-1 coaching sessions, but it opened my eyes to a new way of teaching my material. And this time my focus was on actually providing sustainable value not bombarding participants with my plethora of resources and my copious volumes of information. I spent the next few months in lockdown rewriting all of my programs and rethinking how I showed up with the people who wanted to share in the knowledge I wanted to share. And of course you all know that includes many stories as examples.

Businesses have used storytelling, imagery, and visualization when selling their products since the beginning of time. If your product doesn’t tell a story to which the customer can relate then they don’t have the connection that drives them to buy. The same is true in leadership. Communication is at the heart of all work in an organization. So if your teams can relate to you as a leader and what you want them to understand and embrace as the mission of the organization then they will carry the mission forward from a place of understanding and appreciation.

For an example of storytelling in business that might help you think about how you can relate it to leadership, check out this video with Sara Blakely talking about how she created her product.

Are you ready to work with your team to create the culture that you want? Join us for one of our group coaching programs on teamwork and collaboration where we cover this and many other topics.

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About the Author:

INDRA A. BOOKS

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