[00:00:00] I know a lot of you might be thinking, like, I don't need to tell stories but yes you do. As
[00:00:04] a leader, as a self-leader, we all need to be able to connect with people and we connect
[00:00:09] through stories. That's what moves us.
[00:00:13] Hi, welcome to Reflect Forward. I'm your host, Kerry Siggins. I'm so glad you were here.
[00:00:27] If you are watching this on YouTube, welcome to my new office. I just got done with a big
[00:00:33] construction project on my house building a new addition and remodeling my kitchen. It
[00:00:37] has been so stressful. A lot of work and yeah, I'm finally in it. So I'm working from home
[00:00:43] today because my son is not feeling well. And so I decided to record this week's episode
[00:00:49] here and I lovely new office. I'm so excited to be here.
[00:00:53] All right, so today I want to talk about storytelling and leadership. So I just got back
[00:00:57] from an awesome story telling conference called Rock My Story put on by my dear friend,
[00:01:03] LaKita Clear, who is the founder and CEO of Clear Communication Academy. She's also my
[00:01:09] speaking coach and it was so fantastic. And I learned a lot. I participated. I was a
[00:01:13] speaker at the event and we hosted a live event where some of the participants could
[00:01:20] come on stage and tell their stories as a way to practice because I always say if you
[00:01:24] want to get better at speaking, you just have to practice. Say yes, yes, yes to every
[00:01:27] opportunity that you have to speak because it will make you better. And I wanted to share
[00:01:32] some of the things that were really key takeaways for me from this conference and why storytelling
[00:01:39] is so important in leadership. And I know a lot of you might be thinking like I don't need
[00:01:43] to tell stories but yes, you do as a leader, as a self-leader, we all need to be able to
[00:01:48] connect with people and we connect through stories. That's what moves us, right? When
[00:01:53] we watch a commercial on TV and it causes us to get emotional, a tear-to-roll down our
[00:01:58] face, it's the story when we watch a movie and we're so engaged, it's the story. Well,
[00:02:05] it's the same thing in business and leadership. People are moved by stories. They're not
[00:02:09] moved by facts and figures. Maybe a few people are but the majority of us want the story
[00:02:14] behind those facts and figures. We want to understand the hero's journey, we want it to
[00:02:18] see the vision, feel the vision. And so it's really important to develop your storytelling
[00:02:24] skills as a leader to be able to build those connections with people. So I want to talk
[00:02:30] a little bit today about some of those takeaways and why I think that it's so important
[00:02:34] for you to consider working on your storytelling, going to a storytelling workshop like this
[00:02:40] to get to be better at telling stories and maybe not feel so scared because it is vulnerable.
[00:02:45] It's vulnerable to get up and tell a story. So why? Why storytelling is so important? Number
[00:02:50] one, it boosts connection and engagement. We're all drawn to a good story, like I just said.
[00:02:55] And studies show that stories are 22 times more memorable than just facts alone. So as we
[00:03:01] want to connect with our teammates and our colleagues, we need to be able to tell stories.
[00:03:06] So let's say that you are talking about your company's goals or your company's values,
[00:03:12] engaging narratives. Why this value is really important? I tell a story of creating the
[00:03:18] Stone Age owner mindset, which is our set of values and success behaviors within the
[00:03:22] company. How do you think it act like an owner? And it came when we were buddy an employee
[00:03:28] go. And this person was what I call a toxic hyperformer somebody who does a job well,
[00:03:33] but is toxic to the workplace environment. And when we were letting him go, we said,
[00:03:38] we're letting you go because you're not a good teammate. You're good at your job, but
[00:03:42] you're not a great teammate. And he said, where does it say that I need to be a great
[00:03:45] teammate in my job description? And he was right. It wasn't in the job description. His
[00:03:50] job description was just filled with the tasks that he needed to do to perform his job well.
[00:03:56] And that was what inspired us to develop the owner mindset and really make sure that our
[00:04:03] values were clear and written into our job description so that everybody understands
[00:04:08] what's expected and how they're going to be successful within the company. And so that
[00:04:13] right there is a story. That is a story of how our values came to be when I tell that
[00:04:17] story to my team or to other leaders who are looking to build out their own set of values,
[00:04:24] they can get that. That's very visceral. Yeah, I can imagine like, ooh, that feedback
[00:04:28] probably stung. Yes, it did. And I took action with it. That is the power of storytelling
[00:04:33] rather than just saying one of our values is be a great teammate. This is what be a great
[00:04:38] teammate means. It really helps people connect with why something came to be, why that
[00:04:44] value was important. And people can connect into it and people can put themselves in my
[00:04:48] shoes and imagine what it was like for that employee to say that to me or put themselves
[00:04:53] in that employee shoe who shoes who was or put themselves in that employee shoes and
[00:04:59] saying, yeah, yeah, that's right. He was right. It wasn't in the job description and why
[00:05:03] are soft skills important if you're doing a good job getting your tasks done? So that's
[00:05:09] the power of storytelling. People can connect. People can engage. It's not just about communicating.
[00:05:15] It's about having your message resonate with your audience. It's making that emotional
[00:05:20] connection so that people feel like they understand it. They are part of a team. They're
[00:05:25] all pulling in the same direction, like whatever you're talking about, you need to inspire
[00:05:29] that emotion. The second aspect of storytelling and why it's so important for leaders to be
[00:05:33] good storytellers is that it helps you earn trust and credibility because let's face it,
[00:05:38] people tend to trust those they relate to. People want to relate to their leaders.
[00:05:42] They want to say that leader gets me because I look like that leader. I understand the trials
[00:05:48] and tribulations that that leader went through. They understand mine because they share similar
[00:05:56] experiences. If you want to build trust and credibility, we've personal insights and experiences
[00:06:02] into your narratives. It helps you break down barriers and it shows that you are not just
[00:06:08] this person, this leadership with this title that you are a real human being that you've gone
[00:06:13] through trials and tribulations and that you've had experiences that people can relate to.
[00:06:18] During this conference, one of the women said I have such crazy stories. How is anybody going
[00:06:25] to relate to it? People haven't gone through these similar experiences. Well, one, you don't
[00:06:30] know that. And two, it's not the exact details of the stories people conduct with. It's that
[00:06:36] it reminds them of something that they experienced. For example, my story of the employee saying,
[00:06:43] where does it say be a great teammate in my job description? They could imagine that they might
[00:06:49] have wanted to say that sometimes, sometime or they might imagine getting tough feedback like that
[00:06:54] from somebody else that inspired them to take action. It's not the details of the story. It's
[00:07:00] the feeling that it invokes and it's the experiences that your story reminds people of. People can always
[00:07:07] put themselves in the shoe of like, oh yeah, I remember when something similar happened to me.
[00:07:11] It wasn't just the exact same thing but something similar. So don't be afraid that the details
[00:07:16] of your story have to be exactly the details of somebody else's story. We connect and have that
[00:07:22] trusting credibility through shared experiences, not identical experiences. So show your team that you
[00:07:28] are in the trenches with them that you've gone through tough times that you've had to overcome
[00:07:32] adversity to get to where you are and help them see the why behind the decisions. And you will
[00:07:38] be more credible and people will trust you more because it's like yeah, that person's real. We all
[00:07:42] want to work with people who are real and we show that we're real through storytelling.
[00:07:48] The next thing that stories do is it helps inspire action and it helps people embrace change.
[00:07:54] The third thing that good story telling does is it inspires action and it helps people embrace change.
[00:08:01] I'm sure you've heard a story that made you want to do something. I know I certainly have.
[00:08:05] I do all the time and that's the magic of storytelling when you're inspired by this vision or
[00:08:12] a journey or a transformation and say, I want to do that too. It's not the details of the transformation
[00:08:20] or the journey that inspires you. It's the story behind it. It's the feeling and the emotion. So
[00:08:26] if you are a leader who's trying to inspire action and help people embrace change share story.
[00:08:33] Help people see the why? Help people understand how this benefits them and do it through a storytelling
[00:08:40] example. I'm a disruptive CEO and I am constantly trying to help my embolies embrace change because
[00:08:48] change is inevitable one, but there's just such this future type of company that we're trying to
[00:08:53] get to and it requires everybody being on the same page and wanting to achieve that same thing
[00:08:58] for us to do it effectively. And so I have to use stories. So I paint a picture of what the future
[00:09:03] looks like. What does our industry look like when there's nobody who wants to do this work? What
[00:09:07] does our industry look like when technology has taken over? And we can either stay the way we are
[00:09:15] and let the rest of the world take over our industry or we can be the ones in the forefront. We
[00:09:21] can be the ones figuring out the labor challenges in our industry and using technology to solve those
[00:09:27] problems. And here's what this looks like, but if we don't have people who want to do this work manually,
[00:09:33] we have to invest in technology that invokes feeling. Okay, I get it. I get why we're changing as a
[00:09:39] company and we're doing more technology work rather than some of the things that we used to do.
[00:09:46] That is an example of how you use storytelling to help people embrace change. Paint that
[00:09:51] picture of what that feature looks like. Tell us story of how you're going to get there. Tell us
[00:09:54] story of what's going to happen if you don't get there, people can relate to that. Frame it as an
[00:10:00] exciting chapter in your team's evolution and your company's evolution and it will help people
[00:10:05] feel more inspired to jump on board. The fourth aspect of storytelling is that it makes these
[00:10:11] leadership lessons stick. It makes learning lessons stick. Remember being captivated by stories
[00:10:18] as a kid? I mean, I certainly do. I'm still captivated by stories as an adult, but it's because
[00:10:23] they stick and there's a great book out there called Stories that that stick made to stick.
[00:10:30] Might actually even have it right here by the Heath Brothers. And it's all about how you make
[00:10:38] sticky stories so that people can learn lessons. So when you take lessons and you turn them into
[00:10:45] narratives, it helps people go, oh, I'm going to learn from this. I tell a story about the power of
[00:10:51] transparency all the time and how when we were making this big strategic change, we were afraid
[00:10:56] people in the industry were going to find out. So we created this war room and only the key people
[00:11:01] who were working on the strategic change were allowed in there and then we locked it at night because
[00:11:05] we had whiteboards everywhere. And this made people feel really left out. They were scared about
[00:11:12] the change that we were going through and lack of information. They were making up their own stories
[00:11:17] and in fact, a piece of feedback that we got on a survey after we did that change was someone saying,
[00:11:23] I felt like I was a mushroom. I kept in the dark and fed poop. And that really stuck with me.
[00:11:28] And I decided in that moment that I would always be transparent that there was nothing that was so
[00:11:34] worth keeping a secret like that to make my employees feel scared. That is a story that sticks
[00:11:40] about transparency. I could say, well, I learned how to be a transparent leader by making a few
[00:11:44] mistakes, by not being open and honest all the time. And it didn't go well. So I decided that I was
[00:11:49] going to be more transparent going forward. Who's going to ever remember that? But people remember
[00:11:56] in the war room, you were afraid of the message getting out so you lock the doors and only a few
[00:12:00] people were let in. And somebody said I was like being a mushroom and kept in the dark and
[00:12:06] being fed poop. Those are all details and emotion and vokin messages that helped those stories stick.
[00:12:14] And the final aspect of storytelling is that it helps build resilience and adaptability.
[00:12:19] In the vegas of challenges, and there's so many out there now, a story can be a powerful motivator.
[00:12:25] When you have to change, you want to tell a story. And leaders who can use stories to frame set
[00:12:30] backs as stepping stones as a way to leapfrog forward, it encourages that mindset where people see
[00:12:37] every challenge as an opportunity to grow and to learn where they don't have to be so afraid of
[00:12:42] being known because I'm not sure what's on the other side. If you tell a good story of how
[00:12:48] you're as an organization face something like that in the past and how it helped you become a better
[00:12:53] organization or how something like that affected you as a leader, it does build that resilience.
[00:12:58] It makes people say okay we can do this inspires that adaptability and that resilience that we are
[00:13:03] all looking for from our employees. Storytelling is so powerful, it's so important. It's not just about
[00:13:10] old fashioned telltelling, it's a leadership superpower that is used in modern business landscape to
[00:13:17] inspire action, movement change, connection, and it helps us inspire our employees and our customers.
[00:13:24] When you weave compelling narratives together, you can foster that more connected, motivated,
[00:13:29] resilient team. You can tell stories that make your customers want to do business with you. You
[00:13:34] can turn these visions that we have of being this great company, of being this great team into reality.
[00:13:41] And the best part is that everybody loves a good story. So why not make this part of your leadership
[00:13:46] strategy. Be a great storyteller, invest in your storytelling skills. If you want to be a better
[00:13:52] storyteller, I highly recommend that you call LaKita and talk to her or go to rock my story or take
[00:13:59] another storytelling seminar webinar, go to a storytelling event. There's all kinds of great books out
[00:14:04] there made to stick as one. There's another great book and I'll include these in the show notes.
[00:14:09] That's called Stories That Stick by Kendra Hall. That is a fantastic one specifically about storytelling
[00:14:15] in the business environment. You can get better at storytelling. It does take practice and it
[00:14:20] doesn't have to be perfect. Impact is what matters, not perfection. That's what LaKita always tells me
[00:14:25] about my speeches. So invest in your storytelling skills. Higher speaking coach, read speaking books,
[00:14:32] storytelling books, go to a webinar and it will really help you become a better leader that inspires
[00:14:38] action and change and makes you be worth following. All right, I hope that that was inspiring for
[00:14:45] you. I will include all those in the show notes. And if you ever have any questions about how to
[00:14:48] be a better storyteller, please reach out to me. I'm happy to brainstorm with you and check out my
[00:14:54] book, The Ownership Mindset. It is filled with stories about leadership and business and trials
[00:14:59] and tribulations and overcoming them. It's a great example of how you use storytelling to be able
[00:15:04] to move people, to inspire people to be better leaders. So you can find that on Amazon or my
[00:15:09] website at Carysigons.com. All right, with that I will leave you to your day. I hope you enjoy it.
[00:15:14] Please subscribe to this podcast if you like it. Share it with a friend. Tell others about it.
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