storytelling and the art of leadership
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL
Storytelling and the art of leadership
Richard Hall
![Page 2: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL2
Context: contemporary leadership
What leadership behaviours improve engagement?– Model the way– Inspire a shared vision– Challenge the process– Enable others to act– Encourage the heart
The Leadership Challenge (Kouzes and Posner)
– Showing genuine concern for others
Transformational Leadership Questionnaire (Alimo-Metcalfe)
![Page 3: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL3
The leadership challenge
Communication is key
A majority of management / leadership time is spent in ‘communication’
Studies of organisational discourse tell us that:– Organisations are constituted in and through discourses– Leadership is achieved and reproduced in and through
discourses
![Page 4: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL4
The case for stories and storytelling
Stories have a unique capacity to achieve sensemaking, emotional activation and motivation
(Good) stories are:– Engaging– Moving– Compelling– Memorable– Provocative– Confronting– Human
![Page 5: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL
Some leadership stories
![Page 6: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL6
Stories about ‘who we are’ – Identity
Steve Jobs
After Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 he told an in-house meeting of senior managers that Apple had to get back to basics and more clearly define what the company really stood for.
![Page 7: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL7
Stories about ‘who we are’ – Identity (Steve Jobs)
Steve Jobs introduced the now-famous ‘Think Different’ marketing campaign, which featured famous identities who had changed the world. For Jobs, this campaign highlighted Apple’s core belief that “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do”.
![Page 8: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL8
Stories about change and ‘turnaround’ – Strategic Vision
Jeff Clarke
Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012. But Jeff Clarke, who took on the job of Kodak CEO in 2014 is busy telling a new story about the turnaround at Kodak, with the company now turning a profit.
![Page 9: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL9
Stories about ‘why we do what we do’ – Persuasive Communication 2
John Wood
John Wood was as a senior marketing executive for Microsoft in the 1990s.
![Page 10: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL10
Stories about ‘why we do what we do’ – Persuasive Communication
A year after a holiday trek through the Himalayas and seeing the poor conditions of one of Nepal’s most remote schools, John Wood returned with 3000 donated school books. Wood then left Microsoft to establish the global non-profit, Room to Read.
![Page 11: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL
Conclusions, tips and take-aways
![Page 12: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL12
Conclusions
Leadership communication is about sensemaking
Stories help people make sense of complex and important things
Unlike three-word slogans, stories can communicate subtlety, ambiguity, uncertainty… and be empowering
![Page 13: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL13
Some classic techniques
Use characters so that listeners can identify and personalise
Use rhetorical questions to engage and empower Employ Two-Part Contrasts (TPCs) for impact Refer to Lists of Three (LOTs) Repeat key phrases at strategic points to build
momentum Be flexible in the telling
![Page 14: Storytelling and the art of leadership](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062401/58f185191a28ab482f8b4573/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
MONASHBUSINESSSCHOOL14
Some final tips
Think about telling a story
Practice your story– Setting– Characters– Plot or intrigue– Mood and tone– Theme, values and ideas
The greatest leadership stories are about PURPOSE