Share

Why storytelling works

Lead with a Story: A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives That Captivate, Convince, and Inspire , by Paul Smith

IMAGINE walking into your CEO’s office and suggesting that all senior leaders go on a storytelling course.

In most companies, it would not receive a warm welcome. Storytelling is considered far too imprecise to be professional, which is why we revert to charts, diagrams and PowerPoint presentations. Besides which, it has an immature ring to it.

There was a time, notes author Paul Smith, when a personal computer was “considered a toy and unworthy of a place on any serious leader’s desk”. That has long passed, and Smith explains, so too should our suspicion of storytelling.

Nike refers to all their executives as “corporate storytellers”, and the University of Notre Dame and DePaul University are teaching storytelling as part of their management programme. Other companies that use storytelling as a leadership tool include Microsoft, Motorola, 3M, Saatchi & Saatchi, Berkshire Hathaway, Disney, Costco, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Southwest Airlines, FedEx, Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, and the World Bank.

Storytelling was part of a leader’s repertoire in the past. Celtic culture had bards and druids, Norsemen told sagas, Mongolians and Siberians listened to the tales of the shaman, and the Ute tribes of America made accomplished storytellers their leaders.

The reasons for the importance of storytelling are hardly surprising. Communication is successful when it is impactful and memorable. To prove this point, consider when last you returned home and shared with your partner an outstanding PowerPoint slide. Then consider when last you shared a story.

The value of this book lies in three areas. The first is that it has a collection of over 100 usable stories. The second is that it describes how to create good stories. Finally, it describes where to use stories to increase your leadership effectiveness. The book presents five leadership themes together with insightful stories to deal with these issues.

Three stories presented in the book illustrate the value.

Story one

There is a much-used story of three men laying bricks. A passer-by asks each one what he is doing. The first says he is just laying bricks. The second describes the dimensions of the wall he is building. The third explains he is building a cathedral.

An argument breaks out between the first two about an extra brick one has laid. The third bricklayer explains to the other two that since they will be plastering, the extra brick does not matter, and they can start with the next layer.

The story (complete with the added argument) can be used to get a group to see the value of a clear understanding of the purpose of their work. Without an understanding of the purpose, the bricklayers might well have wasted time doing what did not need doing.

“If you understand the overall objectives of your organization and how your work fits into it, it not only helps you do your job better, it enables you to help others do their job better,” explains Smith. The story explained or discussed achieves this best.    

Story two

When the first grader heard that the bus he takes home had changed, he was stressed. There are so many buses, and getting on the wrong one would be a mistake easily made.

When the dad noticed his child could not sleep after hearing of the change, he took him from his bed and dressed the little boy in his school clothes as if he were at school. “Pretend you’re in class, and the teacher says it’s time to go…” They went through the process together. When they had rehearsed a few times, and the boy felt confident, he went to sleep.

A complex change in an organisation will likely elicit the same stress reaction. Sharing the story with change-agents will allow them to tackle the appropriate response to their context with understanding.   

Story three

A metaphor can capture the power of a complete story.

In May 2007, then-CEO Scott Ford of Alltel concluded the takeover of his firm. In his presentation to the new owners, he was expected to give a detailed presentation on how to run the company.

Instead, he showed only two pictures. The first picture was of a tightrope walker on a cable crossing the Niagara Falls. Against this slide, Scott explained to the executives that “running this business was a constant balance between providing the level of customer service their subscribers demand and delivering the cash flow required for a good return on investment”.

The second slide was for the benefit of the staff, not the new owners. It was a picture of a man getting into a yellow taxi in New York City. Scott explained that an acquisition is like waiting for a taxi. You might well have to wait a while, but when one comes, you had better get in. There may well not be another for some time.

Later the same company received an offer to purchase from Verizon for $28.1bn. The current executive contacted Scott to solicit his opinion of the offer. Scott said nothing, and waited for the executive to break the silence with the answer to his question: “This is the yellow cab, isn’t it, Scott?”

Story four

A comedian told of a frustrating phone call. Although he had moved out of his apartment, he had not received his deposit and had been waiting for six weeks. He called the apartment manager’s office and asked the assistant, Sally, to find out when the money would be paid.

She went off to ask her manager and returned to tell the comedian, very matter-of-factly, “Your deposit will be returned when those funds are released.”

“It wasn’t her response that got the audience rolling in the aisle laughing. It was the startled look of disbelief on the comedian’s face as he dramatized his reaction to it,” explains Smith. She clearly did not understand the manager’s message but gave it nevertheless.

This story provides a shorthand: don’t be a Sally. You cannot explain something until you understand it yourself. This is a story that could often be used!

Storytelling is simple, and anyone can master it. Unlike other management fads, storytelling has always worked, and always will. Everybody, regardless of age, race, or gender likes to listen to stories. Stories can spread without any additional effort on the part of the storyteller.

Psychologist Jerome Bruner asserts that facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they are part of a story.

Readability:     Light -+--- Serious
Insights:        High -+--- Low
Practical:        High +---- Low

 - Fin24

*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy and is the author of Strategy that Works. Views expressed are his own.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
19.00
-0.3%
Rand - Pound
24.11
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.61
-0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.38
+0.4%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.6%
Platinum
901.60
-0.1%
Palladium
998.41
-0.8%
Gold
2,154.06
-0.3%
Silver
24.96
-0.3%
Brent Crude
86.89
+1.8%
Top 40
65,526
-1.1%
All Share
71,751
-0.9%
Resource 10
52,809
-1.0%
Industrial 25
99,160
-1.3%
Financial 15
16,511
-0.7%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders