MODERN LEADERSHIP
is about sharing personal, authentic
and relevant stories to get your
message across in a way people
understand and care about. Here
are four reasons why I believe
storytelling is not a fad and will be
around for a long time.
People want meaning and relevance
Information overload is not new
and it is not going away. People do
not want more information; they
want to focus on the material that
is relevant and meaningful to them.
Successful storytelling that shows
consideration for your audience is a
perfect way to do this.
Employees are looking for
real leaders
Generation Y will be the most
dominant generation in the
workforce by 2020 and they aspire
to be lead differently. They are not
looking for leaders who are perfect
and have all the answers, they
are looking for leaders who are
authentic and are prepared to show
vulnerability. A personal story has
the power to show vulnerability and
emotion in a safe and structured
way. Consequently, leaders who
are prepared to show vulnerability
through personal stories gain
commitment and credibility.
Emotion trumps logic
Great sales people have known
for a log time that humans are
emotional beings and that we buy
on emotion and justify it by logic.
In comparison, business people
have been trapped for decades on
the premise that logic will build
credibility and influence people.
Sadly, what they fail to realize is
that logic just informs people.
Therefore logic alone will not
change behaviour or mindset that
is often required for successful
leadership. Good leaders
understand the importance of
emotion when managing people by
demonstrating the courage to share
authentic and relevant personal
stories.
Employee engagement is still
a challenge
Companies place high value on
measuring employee engagement.
It is one of the very first scores
leaders look to when they receive
the results of employee opinion
surveys because they know how
important this metric is. Storytelling
has emerged as a way to genuinely
engage people around company
purpose, values and strategy.
Storytelling in business is growing
in popularity because it is one of
the most powerful communication
skills you can learn. If you are not
on-board yet, maybe it’s time to
focus less on figuring out how to
make kale taste OK and more on
learning how to share stories.
Gabrielle Dolan is the best selling
author of Ignite: Real leadership,
real talk, real results. Her latest
book Storytelling for Job Interviews
is available now via online stores.
Gabrielle is considered a global expert
in Business Storytelling, with popular
online training programs for storytelling
in business and storytelling for job
interviews. To find out more visit www.
gabrielledolan.com
July 2016
ModernBusiness
9