Storytellers have the ability to connect others to a powerful vision and mission and help them see how everyone contributes to a part of the whole. Today, leaders are recognizing that it is through narrative, rather than numbers, that they have the best opportunity to forge these connections. Today, successful leadership is quite simply inseparable from effective storytelling.
Whether you’re speaking to an audience of one or 1,000 – on a sales call or a stage; a talk show or around a meal – those who connect with their listeners best do so through great storytelling.
Numbers do matter, and leaders must be responsible for the bottom line. However, over time, bottom-line conversations begin to feel cold, only motivating teams to work hard enough to keep their jobs safe. Numbers will accomplish little to attract and keep stakeholders — customers, new teammates and, believe it or not, even investors — attached to your project.
For that, you need a powerful and easily consumed story. Brands are complex puzzles of which most people experience only small pieces. Stories put the pieces together and reveal a magnificent picture that people can gather around. Research has shown that character-driven stories produce chemicals in the brain that strengthen empathy and a willingness to act on that empathy. Build your story around people — or better still, around a person.
