Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

...In a business climate obsessed with PowerPoint presentations, complex graphs and charts, and lengthy reports, storytelling may seem to some like a soft way of getting hard stuff done. It’s anything but that. Steve’s experience with storytelling is, in fact, supported by the data.

Research shows that when leaders want to communicate standards, stories are a much more effective means of communication than are corporate policy statements, data about performance, and even a story plus the data. Information is more quickly and accurately remembered when it is first presented in the form of an example or story....

In our experience, it's rare for a diverse group of headstrong Executive Education participants from around the globe to agree on anything. Our research has shown that more and more leaders — from organizations that range from computer-networking giant Cisco Systems to Hindustan Petroleum, a large India-based oil supplier — are using the power of organizational conversation to drive their company forward.

 

I love this article! Why? Because it reframes leadership, organizational change, and employee engagement as a conversation. Finally!

 

The authors don't directly mention storytelling, but if you are going to have a meaningful conversation, you know that storytelling is going to be a part of it.

 

Actually, promoting conversational storytelling is what I've practiced for years in my org development work. And it's a natural for anyone connected into business storytelling.

 

This notion fits perfectly with the emerging recognition that stories -- and stories told in conversation -- are the path to change, effective leadership, and engagement.

 

I like the research the authors shared, also. This article lays the foundation for where and how to engage in conversations/storytelling that make a difference. And don't forget to read the comments at the end of the post -- there's lots of good info there, too!

 

Enjoy this different perspective. 

Via janlgordon