The Art of Influence: How Storytelling Transforms Leadership

"Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence. At its core, leadership is about storytelling."

~ Lolly Daskal

Where have all the story tellers gone?

My youngest daughter is in university, focusing on creative and professional writing. She has been working on a historical piece for the past few weeks, recounting her great grandfather’s military service in the Netherlands. Each time she asks me to review the piece, I am gripped by her gift for storytelling.

As an avid reader, I derive immense joy from a well-crafted story. In business, I am much more engaged with companies that have rich backgrounds to share, inviting one to become part of that heritage. However, I fear that we are losing the ability to tell great stories.

The great storytellers have helped us preserve history with their ability to narrate a tale, and a passion to capture moments in vivid detail so that we don’t forget.

As leaders, storytelling is an essential skill to connect with the core of our teams. When we intertwine the right level of detail, inspiration, vision, and purpose, we can enlist the hearts and minds of our team members. Yet, as an audience, it is imperative that we stay engaged in the story long enough to grasp the vision.

Social media has depleted our attention spans, conditioning our audiences to pay attention for mere seconds before feeling the urge to move on.

Now, more than ever, leaders need to cultivate their storytelling skills. If we are to break through the glut of short-form, attention-stealing media, we must be able to capture the hearts and souls of our teams by:

The Motivation:

This entails carving out the time to understand each team member beyond surface details. Do we comprehend their core values? What keeps them up at night? What excites them at work and beyond? Who or what holds their utmost attention? Knowing the answers to these questions helps us connect deeply with our teams.

The Destination:

Every story needs an ending. Even choose-your-own-adventure tales lead to a conclusion. As a leader, you must be clear on the destination—the vision of the future state we aim to ascend to. The more vividly and descriptively you can paint this picture, the greater the likelihood of your team envisioning themselves there as well.

The Hero:

Your team needs to see themselves in the story. If you can make them feel like they are the heroes on this journey, they will feel more enlisted in the success.

The Villain:

Every great story needs a villain. Who or what is the obstacle we are trying to overcome? How can the mission our team is on help conquer this villain to create a better world? Who is the competitor that stands in the way of our ultimate success, and how will this new journey we’re on give us the unique opportunity to succeed?

The “WHY?”

We all love Simon Sinek’s "start with why." There’s a good reason for it. Ultimately, people want purpose. If we aren’t helping our team members see the clear “why” in our story, it will fall flat. So take the time to find a why that connects the dots. And if you can tie this back to their values, you stand a greater chance of enlisting them.

The Delivery:

You need to know how you will deliver the message. The reality is that you will have to tell this story over and over again, in many ways, forums, platforms, and occasions. So you need to have the passion and the clarity to ensure that you are delivering the message consistently and effectively for each occasion and platform. Always be mindful of your purpose, and you will be better equipped to engage.

Closing Thoughts - Cats on Tik Tok

It may be challenging to steal attention from cats dancing on TikTok, but the leader who understands the power of storytelling stands a greater chance of breaking through the noise. But that means taking the time to care about the story. I will close with this quote from Steve Jobs, one of the modern-day storytellers:

"The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come."