The Power of Storytelling

For the last year, we have had the privilege of building and delivering a development program on storytelling that is reshaping the way sales leaders, their teams, and senior executives connect with one another. The program was conceived from the desire to tap the wisdom already in the firm. We used storytelling to unearth this buried treasure and within it, built a best practices model. Today, the firm is seeing increased productivity, a deeper sense of commitment to the business and a powerful connectivity between colleagues and clients.

In this project, we have led over 800 executives through the storytelling training experience. We provided the model, the setting and opportunity to practice constructing and telling stories. These are success stories, life stories, along with stories of challenge and overcoming the odds. As an outgrowth of this program, we have heard reports of significant increase to the bottom line, new strategic partnerships and a re-focus on personal direction. So what is it about an organization-wide storytelling project that has the power to shape individual and collective thinking?

Social science has long understood that powerful persuasion occurs when our message weaves together an emotional, ethical and logical appeal. A good story contains all three.

• Emotional: Conflict & Vulnerability

We are already storytellers even though we may not think of ourselves as one. Most of us appreciate a good story and can tell when we’ve heard one. This is likely because of the story’s conflict, critical in storytelling because it drives a narrative and the search for resolution. It also reveals a more vulnerable, human dimension to the storyteller, fostering likability and a sense of emotional connection. When people connect emotionally they listen with greater attention, and are more likely to integrate and remember what they have heard. Entering into this connection with others, the listener engenders a state of “WE.”

• Ethical: Relationships & Cultural Wisdom

People who feel a sense of connection and purpose tend to be happier and more productive. Our business environment provides us with numerous relationships all inside a specific cultural framework. Sharing stories within that culture deepens our emotional connection to others, to the business and to the brand. Aligning cultural values with communication that supports those values, the story becomes an engine for the business.

• Intellectual: Learning & Best Practices

By including a learning opportunity in the story model, we leverage existing best practices and create a forum to cascade knowledge through the organization. Leaders value the chance to discuss specialized strategies and approaches to thorny business issues. New thinking and behaviors emerge. When the boundaries of “I-ness” and competition subside, new horizons of collaboration and learning begin.

By sharing our stories, we are transforming experience into meaning. The stories we tell others are shaped by our awareness. In turn they shape opinion, frame thinking, and forge many precious opportunities to see beyond ourselves. Every workforce is an untapped bank of talent, knowledge, and good will for both colleagues and clients.

Imagine the possibilities.