Want to Get Your Team Onboard? Try Storytelling
How Stories Increase Engagement and Commitment
Human beings are hardwired to listen for and create stories. Take the following dot points:
· Giraffe
· Ocean liner
· Crate
· Tasmania
I’m willing to bet you just made up a story in your head using these dot points (mine is that an ocean liner crashed and a Giraffe in a crate washed up on the shores of Tasmania). In reality, I’m sitting at my desk and picked some words at random and my brain automatically used those words to craft a story.
The power of purposeful leadership
Leadership plays a crucial role in inspiring and guiding teams towards success and a great leader can motivate and inspire their team members to lead better lives and achieve more than they ever imagined. One thing great leaders have in common is a clear sense of purpose and the ability to effectively communicate their vision and inspire their teams to work towards a common goal.
Purposeful leadership is about more than just achieving targets or meeting deadlines. It is about creating a sense of meaning and direction for the team, and helping everyone understand how their work contributes to the bigger picture. When leaders can articulate their purpose and connect it to the work of their team members, it creates a sense of shared purpose and fosters a greater sense of motivation and engagement.
In our increasingly volatile world, the ability to use storytelling to connect and lead people through troubled waters has never been more important.
The importance of storytelling in leadership
Storytelling is a powerful tool that leaders can use to communicate their purpose and inspire their teams. Stories can engage people on an emotional level, making them more memorable and impactful than facts or figures alone. By using storytelling techniques, leaders can create a narrative that resonates with their team members and helps them understand the purpose behind their work.
When leaders tell stories, they can create a connection with their team members that breaks down barriers and creates a sense of understanding.
When leaders don’t tell a story, teams lose hope things are going to improve or don’t understand why something is happening. They can’t connect to a purpose if they don’t understand how they’re going to get there.
Crafting a compelling narrative for your team
To create a compelling narrative that resonates with your team, it is important to consider their needs and values. Each team is unique, with its own set of goals and challenges. As a leader, it is crucial to tailor your story to the specific needs and values of your team members.
One tip for creating a compelling story is to focus on the impact and outcomes of the team’s work. Highlighting the positive impact that the team has on customers, stakeholders, or the community can help team members see the value in their work and feel motivated to continue striving for excellence.
Another tip is to use vivid and descriptive language to bring your story to life. Paint a picture with your words, so that team members can visualize the goals and aspirations of the team. This can help to create a sense of excitement and inspiration, as team members can see the possibilities that lie ahead.
All good stories have a story arc. This graphic from Jennifer Haskin is a beautiful example of how to structure your story.
Use the below prompts to help you craft your story:
- Where are we now and what are the problems we are facing? How will you demonstrate empathy?
- What are we going to do and what will be problems we’ll experience?
- What will be the turning point? The worst part and the turning point at which things start to improve?
- What will happen as we start to improve?
- What is our end goal and what will it be like when we get there?
In a simplified example, it should look something like this:
“I know right now we’re doing it tough (empathy) while we’re understaffed and we’re not able to respond to our customers as quickly as we’d like. Not to mention a lot of our people are working extra overtime and feeling tired (our current problems).
The good news is that we’ve introduced new accelerated hiring practices and have approved additional FTE to enable forward recruitment (what we’re doing).
I’m not saying it will be perfect and it’s still going to take time once they join to get up to speed (problems we’ll experience).
However, in 6 weeks’ time we’ll have a fully resourced team who are operating at 60% capacity which is a lot more than we have now and from there every month we’ll have more capacity (turning point).
Importantly, if anyone else leaves, I hope they don’t I might add, we’ll have a replacement ready to go (starting to improve).
By the 3 month mark we’ll be resourced to full capacity and back to living our purpose to the standard that I know you want and inspiring, protecting, and restoring our customers’ dreams (connection to purpose and end result)”
The role of authenticity in storytelling
Authenticity is crucial in storytelling, as it helps to build trust and credibility with your team members. When leaders are authentic in their storytelling, it creates a sense of transparency and honesty, which fosters a greater sense of trust within the team.
To be authentic in your storytelling, it is important to be genuine in facing into challenges and opportunities without pretending that everything is fine or you’re already at the end goal. Avoid using generic or clichéd stories, as they can come across as insincere or disingenuous. Instead, focus on sharing stories that are meaningful and that illustrate the values and purpose of the team. Don’t be afraid to share that you don’t have all the answers and the team’s importance in how you get to the end result. That’s part of the story and demonstrates your authenticity.
Overcoming resistance to change through storytelling
Resistance to change is natural, as people are often resistant to new ideas or ways of doing things. However, storytelling can help to overcome this resistance by creating a sense of empathy and understanding.
By sharing stories that illustrate the challenges and obstacles that come with change, leaders can help team members see they are not alone in their concerns or fears. This can create a sense of empathy and understanding, which can help to alleviate resistance and create a more positive and open mindset towards change. It opens the door to team members being part of the change rather than victims to it.
Measuring the impact of storytelling on team performance
Measuring the impact of storytelling on team performance can be challenging, as it is often difficult to quantify the emotional and psychological impact of storytelling. However, there are several ways that leaders can measure the effectiveness of their storytelling efforts.
One way to measure the impact of storytelling is through feedback from team members. Regularly soliciting feedback from team members can help leaders understand how their stories are resonating with the team and whether they are having the desired impact.
Another way to measure the impact of storytelling is through observing changes in team performance. If team members are more motivated, engaged, and productive after hearing a story, it can be an indication that the storytelling had a positive impact.
Leading with purpose through storytelling
Purposeful leadership and storytelling go hand in hand. By using storytelling techniques, leaders can communicate their purpose and inspire their teams to work towards a common goal. Storytelling helps to engage and motivate team members, create trust and connection, and reinforce shared values.
Overall, storytelling is a powerful tool that leaders can use to inspire and engage their teams. By harnessing the power of storytelling, leaders can create a sense of purpose and meaning for their team members, leading to greater motivation, engagement, and ultimately, success.
If you want to inspire your people and make effective change, being able to tell a good story is a critical part of your toolkit. Remember, if you don’t tell a story, people will make one up anyway.
If you’d like to know more, book a discovery call and I’d be happy to talk to you more about storytelling and how you can incorporate it into your leadership toolkit.
