Q
How did you use your MBA to shape
your life story?
I have great respect for all the work that all of you
guys are doing in taking two years of your life to
learn the language of business and what happens
through that immersion. I also respect the social
capital and the relationships that are forged and
built here, and how both of those will continue to
serve you through the rest of your career and what
it means to be an alumni of AGSM
For me doing a mini-MBA, right out of liberal arts
and studying at Dartmouth Tuck School of Business
allowed me to quickly learn the language of
business. This was when I was entering the world of
not-for-profit. The world of social enterprise. Being
able to speak the language of business gave me
the ability to enter that world and contribute out of
the gate. I spoke a language that was of great value
and of great currency back in the late 90s when the
businessfication of the non-profit and social change
world was just beginning.
So this idea of learning the language of this world
you want to be part of, is a really powerful tool
for advancing in any career. And for me learning
the language of business has served me really
well. Not only in my first career, but also now in
the work that I do in teaching business storytelling.
Learning the language of business is, in certain
ways, a universal language that makes my work
and teachings universally accessible.
Q
What is your biggest success story?
I actually tend to resist that kind of question, because
I don’t really define myself in those terms. For me,
doing work with story is a humble path.That’s a big
part of why I love working with narrative, because
it’s really looking at the essence of our humanity
and there’s always another chapter of the story. We
may work with Google and Greenpeace and NASA
and sometimes there are really big high-stakes
projects and there are things that really touch my
heart, yet I’m really just a midwife to other people’s
stories. So it’s not really for me take ownership for
other people’s success. I measure the path more
so based on the quality of those interactions, a
constant refinement of the teaching and how the
teaching lands and how teaching and that body
of work is growing and finally how our community
around that work is continuing to grow.
Q
Is there anything about the journey of
GetStoried that you would like to share?
It’s a messy one. There is the front-of-the-stage
story that the world always sees and there is the
back-of-the-stage story that’s the messy story. The
journey of GetStoried has been one of lots of ups
and downs. Anytime you’re working on something
that is so deeply personal you’re inextricably linked
within the story. There’s many chapters to the story.
GetStoried was birthed at a necessity when I went
through a divorce and was a hundred thousand
dollars in debt and lost my previous business in
the world of storytelling and needed to start over.
So I wrote and self-published a book in 90 days,
from the first word in paper to having it for sale on
Amazon, and that launched GetStoried.
So there are moments like that and there are other
moments where I’ve been so sick that I couldn’t walk
twenty feet and was just several weeks away from
shutting down GetStoried and going on disability
and sort of throwing in the towel.
There are other stories, like the last ten months
of being a nomad, and being on Story World Tour
and teaching across four continents, from North
America to India, Europe and Australia, bringing
the message of storytelling, how you can use it as
an innovator and as a change agent and drawing
together that tribe, and so many of us who are
on that leading edge in bringing forward our own
stories.
Q
Do you know what the next chapter is to
the story of Michael?
I’m in it right now. The last 10 months of becoming
a nomad and teaching and living around the world,
it was a dream deferred for twenty years. It’s what
I’ve always wanted to do. I was always doing it in
certain regards. I was always teaching in many
cities around the world with different clients, but
to actually give up eighty per cent of my worldly
possessions and to live out of two small bags and
to be on a journey where I’m learning how to be at
home wherever I am. That’s been a personal place
of growth and practise for me. In certain ways,
there’s something archetypal and timeless about
that, the travelling bard. It’s like being a modern
sanyasi, except doing it with a lot more comfort. But
this notion of stripping away a lot of the noise, so that
I can focus my attention in more directed ways; that
has been a really exciting part of being a nomad.
Discovering the universality of life experience and
the exciting ways people are innovating and leading
entrepreneurial ventures in all four corners of the
earth, the collective story that’s emerging and then
looking at it through the unique culture lens of each
place; that’s been deeply rewarding and enriching
and I’m working in service to that right now.
STAR
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