Why should leaders tell stories?

One of the best opportunities leaders have to build immediate trust on teams is to tell stories. Great leaders are strong communicators. Some of the best leaders I ever had were great storytellers and communicators.

Why should leaders tell stories? Because stories can convey emotion, humor and learning. They are interesting, captivating and memorable. They can be inspiring, motivational and life changing. People relate to stories and generally love them.   

I recommend leaders strive to tell one story in every meeting that they faciliatate. Make the story relevant and educational. Punctuate every story with learning. Explain to those listening how what you told them relates to something you want them to learn. It is also important that leaders learn how to tell stories. The more effective leaders are at telling stories, the more trust they will create in those they lead. It really works. For a more detailed post from this blog on how to collect and tell stories, click here.

"There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories."

~ Ursula K. LeGuin

If you believe someone would enjoy and benefit from this post, please share it. Just hover your mouse over the below "Share/Save" button and you will see lots of options for sharing it with friends including email, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Thanks!

 Become a fan of Teamwork and Leadership on Facebook (It’s New)

http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Teamwork-and-Leadership/231831681570?ref=ts

Mike Rogers

Comments

[Keith Knox]

Thanks for sharing. I completely agree but think it goes beyond teamwork and leadership. We have entered the relationship age and story telling truly connects people.

[Mary Pat]

Nice, Mike. I think stories make a leader a real person.

I also love Ursula LeGuin!

Best wishes,

Mary Pat

[Jim Grigsby]

Legends are stories passed from generation to generation; it is in our DNA to love a great story.

Telling stories also humanizes a leader. Lincoln and FDR were immortalized partly because they communicated through stories.

Great discussion Mike!

[Connor Jordan]

If I tell you a fact, you'll learn something.

If I tell you the truth, you'll believe me.

If I tell you a story, you'll remember it.

[Wayne C. Church]

Throughout history leaders have been telling stories for all the above reasons and because people connect to the speaker better when the appropriate story is told. I once gave a presentation about 1) asking for help from the wrong people and 2) getting the job done by yourself. The point is that there are often leaders that don't lead well, they don't reach down to try to bring people up. There are leaders that have surrounded themselves with work and rings of protection. There are leaders that let themselves get so busy that they don't have time to assist other people is success. The story that I selected to tell in that speech was "The Little Engine That Could" a children's tale. It made all the points I wanted to make and yet was a connect to most people's childhoods. Stories do that, they connect the audience to a memorable event.

Stories can also target specific audiences within audiences. My favorite storyteller was Jesus. He used stories (parables) to make his points and yet there were groups of leaders that did not have a clue about what he was talking about and the people did. He showed that true wisdom could be hid from the smart.

Finally, stories can be fun. I teach defensive driving to people who get tickets in Arizona and have for 19 years. The classes are fun, the ratings are very high and people remember the stories a lot longer than the dry facts. By the first week in April 2010 I will have taught this to 51,000 people in 1200 classes. My average score per class is 4.8 on a scale of 5.0.

[Mike Rogers]

Thanks everyone for your posts. Stories are the way each of us communicate one to another throughout the day. It is a natural way for us to communicate. That is why I believe it can be so effective for leaders to use. It is in our DNA - great points Jim. We do remember them more than just the facts - thanks Connor and Wayne. And they bring in that human element - thanks Mary and Keith.

[Jack Bruce]

Mike,

I am going to take your suggestion to "tell a story at every meeting." This is a simple, but very valuable point that you make here.

Thanks for sharing,

-Jack
http://twitter.com/jackwbruce

[Mike Rogers]

I am glad you will do this Jack. You will see it will make a big difference in terms of trust.

Mike