Storytelling can increase your leadership effectiveness

It is said that stories were more crucial to our development as humans than opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs let us hold on. Stories told us what to hold on to.

Humans are a pattern-seeking, story-telling species. We are addicted to stories. Even when the body is asleep, the mind stays awake all night telling itself stories.

Like most children, I loved stories as a young boy. One of my favorite things to do was to snuggle up close to the warm radio (those vacuum tubes really put out a lot of heat) and listen to “The Lone Ranger,” “The Cisco Kid,” and other adventure shows. I also read a lot of historical biographies. Learning history was fun as long as it was wrapped up in exciting stories.

As a teenager and during my college years, I was a fan of radio commentator Paul Harvey. He was famous for his idiosyncratic way of delivering news, with dramatic pauses and peculiar intonation. But it wasn’t his style of delivering news that attracted me. What I liked most was the way he told stories. He never told a story just for the sake of telling it. For him, the story was always a means of making a larger point. And because he was on the radio, he had the advantage of stopping in the middle of a story to make time for an advert break and leave the listener in suspense. Then he would return with his trademark line: “And now… the rest of the story.”

Some of Paul Harvey’s stories were funny. Some were moving. Some ended with a surprise. But all of them had a point worth remembering.

As a young journalist covering business and politics, I deliberately positioned myself at one side of the room so I had a good view of the speaker and the audience. From this vantage point, I noticed something very interesting. The audience was generally attentive. But when a speaker said something like, “Let me illustrate this with a story,” dozens (sometimes hundreds or even thousands) of faces would tilt slightly up and forward. On a single face, such a movement might not be noticeable. But when many faces made the same movement at the same time, it was noticeable. At first I thought it was my imagination, but then I observed it. And indeed, the mere mention of an upcoming “story” seemed to produce a noticeable increase in engagement.

Leaders have always told stories to help people adapt to change. Stories shape perceptions and can create a shared response to circumstances. Stories can help people muster the courage and imagination to tackle difficult challenges.

Here is an example.

A man had graduated from high school but for some reason had never learned to read and write. He applied for a job as a janitor but was rejected because he could not fill out the application forms. Desperately in need of money, he set up a market stall in the village square where he sold flowers and plants. Years passed and his business expanded. He had stalls in markets all over the country and became very rich. One of his employees suggested that he write a book about his business success. The man confessed that he had never learned to read and write. “But imagine,” said the employee, “what you would have done if you had been able to read and write!” “Oh, that’s easy,” said the man. “I would have become a janitor.”

Moral: Creativity does not depend on education. You never know where an obvious setback can lead you.

As CS Lewis said, “You cannot go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

We all strive for a happy ending. Our lives are about creating stories worth telling. Good stories are invitations to something bigger than ourselves. The purpose of a good storyteller is not to tell people how to think, but to give them questions to think about. And a dose of inspiration to do better and be better.

This is a fundamental task of leadership.

Which stories can you use to your Leadership effectiveness?