Is Storytelling a Secret Code for Leaders?
Bruce Gibson
CoachingbyBruce.com
During a recent coaching session, my corporate client expressed an interest in tapping into the secret code of communication that executive leaders seem to have. He said that he feels like the outsider not knowing the right language. This conversation invokes images of the new kid sitting alone at the school lunch table while the cool kids laugh and enjoy themselves at a crowded popular table. What my client was referring to is neither secret data nor a secret handshake. It is the art of storytelling, communicating in a compelling way that draws other people toward you.
I am aware of the elements of a good story: create a hero, add struggles, keep it interesting, and end with a relatable call to action. What caught my attention in this coaching session is how my client linked storytelling to a secret language, something that is given to leaders and against which followers have no protection, like a spell. I am reminded of the movie Babe, when the pig protagonist learns a secret password ("Baa Ram Ewe... Baa Ram Ewe...") that enables him to gain the trust of sheep in a sheep-dog competition. Certainly, I wish to believe that this isn’t simply the manipulator and the manipulated. I choose to see effective leadership communication through storytelling as an authentic exchange of ideas and energy that conveys more than facts—reason, passion, context, and sweat-equity.
Leadership itself is often presented almost solely as an issue of inner conviction. While inner work is required for full leadership development, teams will not just start lining up to follow a leader who’s got it all together. Reality is if a leader’s inner commitment to change is to have any effect, he or she has to communicate it to the people they aspire to lead (Denning). However, storytelling is more than a collection of the right words or an essential set of tools to get things done; it’s a way for leaders – wherever they may sit – to embody the change they seek (Danschawbel).
Transformational leaders generate enduring enthusiasm for a common cause. They inspire people to want to change, so that positive energy sustains the change over time. But if the “what” of transformational leadership is reasonably clear, the “how” has remained almost totally obscure. How exactly do leaders communicate complex ideas and spark others into enduringly enthusiastic action (Denning)? If a sleepy lecture is on one end of the spectrum, an instructional PowerPoint in the middle, and an engaging story on the other extreme, what accounts for the different results and levels of engagement with the listener? Why do some audiences drift off while others are ready to join a movement?
Consider the psychology involved between the person telling the story and the mindset of the listener. Giving reasons for change to people who don’t agree with you isn’t just ineffective. A significant body of psychological research shows that it often entrenches them more deeply in opposition to what you are proposing. Confirmation bias is a concept first noted by Francis Bacon almost four hundred years ago: “The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion . . . draws all things else to support and agree with it." The traditional approach of trying to persuade people by giving them reasons to change isn’t a good idea if the audience is at all skeptical, cynical, or hostile. This will likely activate the confirmation bias and the reasons for change will be reinterpreted as reasons not to change (Denning). You can’t just order people to “get motivated” or to “start loving your job.” The human brain doesn’t work that way. But you can lead them there with a good story (Danschawbel).
Brain research also shows that we remember information much better when it is embedded in a context that addresses our emotions. If we receive essentially fact-oriented information, our brain gives up quickly. Getting information through narration stimulates us to remember the message more easily. That is why more and more leaders have started to realize that boring PowerPoint packs with graphs and numbers have lost their impact (Krauthammer).
In his book, The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative, Stephen Denning explains the different sequences between traditional communication and storytelling. Effective leadership communication involves a shift from the traditional approach; describe problem >> analyze problem >> give solution. Instead, successful leaders communicate by following a new sequence: get attention >> elicit desire >> reinforce with reasons. They get attention, because if people aren’t listening, speakers are wasting their breath. Storytelling leaders stimulate desire by getting their audience to want to do something positive. Only then do they reinforce with reasons. If reasons are given before the emotional connection is established, they likely trigger confirmation bias. By contrast, if the reasons come after an emotional connection has been established, they are embraced by listeners already searching for ways to support a decision they have in principle already taken (Denning).
This sequence of communication can help a leader inspire enthusiasm for an idea, if he or she has a realistic story to tell and the audience hears an authentic message. The meaning of a story emerges from within. When a story reaches our hearts with deep meaning, it takes hold of us. Leaders establish credibility and authenticity through telling the stories that they are living. When they believe deeply in them, their stories resonate, generating creativity, interaction, and transformation (Danschawbel).
Pastor Fred Craddock explains the challenge in being an openly vulnerable storyteller. “Storytelling is difficult because all communication is difficult. Communication is difficult because taking what is profoundly important to me and moving it into the public arena is like holding open house in a prayer room. Therefore it is important that I re-experience that story at the time I'm telling it” (Craddock). The story—and the storyteller—must be trustworthy, realistic, and authentic. If transformational leaders are to inspire enduring enthusiasm for change, they simply must tell the truth (Denning).
Creating an authentic connection through narrative helps leaders approach organizations as living organisms that need to be tended, nurtured, and encouraged to grow (Danschawbel). The storyteller is not speaking to people, but speaking for them. The narrative helps the leader provide a voice for his or her audience. Pastor Craddock recalls that “The mark of a good story is when it's over people say, ‘As you were talking I was thinking about when …’ Ah, now you're stirring the story. You're not just tapping more in; you're calling more out. Good storytelling speaks for the congregation and evokes their own stories. It's just a matter of saying I respect the listener and I want to take them with me” (Craddock).
Storytelling is useful in far more situations than most leaders realize: inspiring the organization, setting a vision, teaching important lessons, defining culture and values, and explaining who you are and what you believe (Danschawbel). A leader must be willing to tap into a certain open vulnerability in order to make an authentic connection with his or her followers. The ability to think narratively (i.e., narrative intelligence) reflects a recognition that the narrative aspects of the world matter because human goals matter, and narratives encapsulate human goals (Denning).
Storytelling is not a secret code for leaders. It is an authentic style of communication within reach of anyone who desires to inspire others to change. The simple and timeless truth is that people are willing to follow a leader who is able to depict a future worth belonging to. An appealing and engaging story is probably the most effective way of depicting that future (Krauthammer).
Works Cited:
The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative, by Stephen Denning
http://www.stevedenning.com/Books/secret-language-of-leadership.aspx
http://www.preachingtoday.com/skills/2005/august/132--craddock.html
http://www.krauthammer.com/articles/winning-hearts-and-minds-%E2%80%93-storytelling-for-leaders
http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/dinamic-content/media/Praxis/Storytelling%20is%20at%20the%20heart%20of%20leadership.pdf
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2012/08/13/how-to-use-storytelling-as-a-leadership-tool/#2d58901e7ac9