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KEYZINE: An e-zine for LEADERS:
ABOUT THE PEOPLE PART OF BUSINESS
Volume 24, March 2003
Publisher: © Key Associates, 2003
http://www.mkkey.com
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This Issue: "The Leader as Storyteller"
Contents:
"The universe is made of stories, not atoms."
- Muriel Rukeyser
"The first law of story-telling. Every man is bound to
leave a story better than he found it."
-Mrs. Ward Humphrey
"Talking with one another is loving one another."
-African proverb from Kenya
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WHAT'S HOT IN LEADERSHIP
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LISTENING TO CORPORATE LEGENDS
AS A GAUGE OF THE ORGANIZATION'S
CULTURE.
SPEAKING IN VISUAL LANGUAGE, AS
THE MIND THINKS IN PICTURES.
PAINTING THE FUTURE AND LIGHTING
THE WAY FOR PEOPLE.
TELLING STORIES THAT EXEMPLIFY
VALUES AND GOALS, e.g., the Team as Hero.
LEARNING THE TOOLS OF BUSINESS
THEATER. PRINT, VIDEO, ONLINE AND
LIVE IN-PERSON STORYTELLING TO
FACILITATE CULTURAL CHANGE.
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MAINTAINING YOURSELF AS A LEADER
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In this time of war, a suffering economy, and business
survival challenges, it is easy to feel discouraged.
Instead of handing out statistical reports or stacks
of facts, use words to lift people up, not load them down.
Portray and celebrate your history, strengths and
victories with customers and employees.
If the stories going around in your organization are
negative and cynical, counter them with stories in
a style and tone which allows people to learn, to
feel hope and pride, to see solutions and values in action.
If you are dry on stories, borrow some. Adapt
them and improve upon them. Some of the works
cited below are rich in leadership parables, e.g.,
Cheaney & Cotter (1991) and Armstrong (1992).
Or take the existing stories in your organization
and put a new "spin" on them.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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What are some of the aspects of good story-
telling?
*Speak with passion--from the heart
*Inspire--breathe life into your story
*Keep it simple and brief (1-7 minutes)
*Make it universal
*Arouse emotion
*Speak in word pictures, stimulate the senses
*Grab attention and spell bind
*Use friendly, non-threatening language
Is there a formula for constructing a story?
Koppett (2001) suggests a Story Spine
using these sentence stems:
Does the leader have to start all the stories?
Impossible. The stories are already there. Peg
Neuhauser (1993) suggests that leaders continually
talk about the key values and goals of the organization,
then other people pick up on these themes and start
their own stories. Or find the stories already
being told that emphasize these themes. The
key is to encourage people to retell these stories,
make up new ones and keep people focused on
the important values and goals.
What is Video Mistake Debriefing ?
(Okay, no one really asked this question. I just
wanted you to know about this novel use of storytelling.)
When a mistake or error is made that has significant
consequences for an organization, this method is used
to recreate the scenario, complete with staff actors,
costumes, and real settings. Then the incident is
acted out and taped for analysis, so all can learn how to
avoid the mistake and improve the process for the future.
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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
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Key Associates offers a Leadership Development
course, which encompasses story-telling as a
preferred mode of communication.
See http://www.mkkey.com/courses2/LeadershipCourse.htm
Free articles and facilitated exercises at
http://www.mkkey.com . For example, one
appears on Cultural Story-weaving at
http://www.mkkey.com/publications2/Pubstoryweave.htm
Learn the Story Theater Method
http://www.storytheater.net/?source=overture
Weaving passion into performance--
dynamic solutions through storytelling and theater
http://www.thestorynet.com/
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OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES
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The National Storytelling Network is having a meeting
in Chicago, July 9-13, 2003:
http://www.storynet.org/
Pick up some stories for telling
http://www.web.net/~story/stories.htm
Buy books, tapes, CDs and stuff at the Storytelling Store
http://www.storytellingstore.com/
Another Internet Storytelling store
http://www.story-telling.com/
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ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS
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Armstrong, David M. Managing by Storying Around ,
Doubleday Currency, 1992.
Batalden, Paul & Gillem, Tom. Hospitalwide
Quality Improvement Storytelling. Hospital
Corporation of America, 1989.
Campbell, Joseph. The Power of Myth . Doubleday,
1988.
Cheaney, Lee & Cotter, Maury. Real People,
Real Work: Parables on Leadership , SPC Press,
1991.
Denning, Stephen. The Springboard: How
Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era
Organizations. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001.
DePree, Max. Leadership is an Art. Dell, 1989.
Fulford, Robert. The Triumph of Narrative:
Storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture.
Broadway Books, 2001.
Gabriel, Yiannis. Story-telling in Organizations:
Facts, Fictions, and Fantasies. Oxford University
Press, 2000.
Gluckman, Perry & Roome, Diane Reynolds.
Everyday Heroes , SPC Press, 1990.
Lipman, Doug. Improving Your Storytelling:
Beyond the Basics for All Who Tell Stories in
Work or Play (American Storytelling). August
House Publications, 1998.
Livo, Norma & Rietz, S.A. Storytelling:
Process and Practice. Libraries Unlimited, 1992.
Maguire, Jack. The Power of Personal Storytelling:
Spinning Tales to Connect With Others.
J.P. Tarcher , 1998.
Neuhauser, Peg C. Corporate Legends and Lore:
The Power of Storytelling as a Management Tool.
McGraw-Hill, 1993.
Sawyer, Ruth. The Way of the Storyteller. Penguin
USA, 1977.
Simmons, Annette. The Story Factor: Secrets of
Influence from the Art of Storytelling. Perseus
Publishing, 2000.
