Story for Leaders

Story for Leaders

“You're never going to kill storytelling, because it is built into the human plan. We come with it.” Margaret Atwood

We live in a complex world, where the “free” access to information/ideas/people is far ahead than in the past. In this context, organizations are becoming more and more like “communities”. As a result, the role of leadership in organization has changed. The traditional “hierarchical” model is basically over, and leaders’ role is about helping people to see through the complexity and understand the way forward.  

As a result, “storytelling” is a fundamental skill for leading in the Digital Age. And David Pearl makes the best use of his eclectic background as performer, writer, director, broadcaster, consultant, experience engineer and advisor to top CEOs and their board, by providing wise and practical advice in this arena.

“Telling stories” is key for giving a meaning to our work, to provide a direction and it is more fun than, let’s say, “planning”. In actual fact, the author argues that business planning is now too “structured” (=rigid) to face an ever-changing business environment, while stories provide the required “flexibility” to quickly adapt to change and focus again.

There is a beginning, a middle and an end in every human story. And leaders MUST provide a narrative, to give a perspective and boost motivation and energy within the organization. In addition, every business has a “Story Ecosystem”, generally built on the 3F Stories (Fear, Fantasy, Formula). Tim Smit making the Eden Project a reality or Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal and Tesla, creating the space travel company SpaceX, can be considered as leaders being able to give a narrative to a dream

The book provides lots of practical suggestions/techniques/examples/exercises to become a leader with “storytelling credentials”. I particularly like the “Seven Story Must-Haves” – a Hero, a Why, Allies, The Nemesis, Highs and Lows, Choices/Choices and Surprise -  as they really provide a very solid structure on how to design and tell stories within your organization. And I can think about many “corporate stories” I have personally experienced (from launching a new brand to face the latest organization re-shuffle) in which the Seven Must Haves showed themselves in full glory!

I also like the basic (but fundamental) tips that Pearl provides on how to handle business presentations. Nothing particularly revolutionary - Start Well, Be Specific, Be 3 Dimensional, Right Tale at the Right Time, It’s Personal – but I bet most of the readers of this review have suffered of long hours of meaningless PowerPoint presentations, including the classic “flow charts” where it is practically impossible to understand where the “flow” starts or ends. And… I also include myself among those how made this criminal offence, and more than once, unfortunately!

In a nutshell, telling a story makes leaders (and ourselves) stronger and able to face a very dynamic World but also to shape the future. So, the question is, when a story really ends? Maybe never… Warmly recommended.
 

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