Posts tagged 'Inspiration'

Good leaders ask, “How do I tell better stories?” Great leaders ask, “What stories do I need to tell?”

Will you be a more effective leader if your stories are well-crafted and delivered? Of course. But the truth is, the story you tell is more important than how you deliver it. You're probably not an actor or a public speaker. You're a leader. Your audience doesn't expect perfection. They expect you to be decisive and helpful.

If you tell a story that helps them do their job better, but you forget the opening line, stutter a little, or even butcher the surprise ending, your audience will still learn from it. But if you tell them an irrelevant or unhelpful story even though you deliver it in a way that would make a Shakespearean actor proud, your audience will never forgive you for wasting their time.

So, what stories do you need to tell?

After conducting over 300 one-on-one interviews with CEOs, leaders, and executives in 25 countries around the world about their use of storytelling in business, here’s my list of the most important ten stories any leader needs to be able to tell at a moment’s notice.

1. Where we came from (our founding story) – Nobody ever quit their job and started a company for a boring reason. Find that reason for your company’s founder and tell that story. It will infect everyone with the same sense of purpose and passion.

2. Why we can’t stay here (a case-for-change story) – Human beings are creatures of habit. Change is an unwelcome visitor. This story provides the rationale for why change is needed and a real human reason to care.

3. Where we’re going (a vision story) – A vision is a picture of the future so compelling, people want to go there with you. And the best way to paint that picture is with a story about what that future will look like when you achieve it.

4. How we’re going to get there (a strategy story) – Strategy is how you’ll get from where you are now to where you want to be. In other words, strategy is a journey. And what better way to describe a journey than a story?

5. What we believe (a corporate-values story) – Values are only words on a piece of paper until they’re tested. This is a story of one of those awkward or uncomfortable moments one of your company values was put to the test.

6. Who we serve (a customer story) – There’s no substitute for getting out of the office and meeting your customer face-to-face. And for the majority of your organization that will never do that, this is a story you tell about one of your customer interactions so they’ll know that customer as well as you do.

7. What we do for our customers (a sales story) – A story about what you did for one of your customers that’s so impressive other people will want to buy what you’re selling as well.

8. How we’re different from our competitors (a marketing story) – You probably have a list of reasons why your product or service is better than your competition. Well, guess what? Nobody remembers your list. But they will remember the story you tell them that shows them those differences as they play out in a real situation.

9. Why I lead the way I do (a leadership-philosophy story) – No series of buzzwords on a piece of paper could ever articulate the subtle, human, and complex nature of your personal leadership philosophy. If you want people to understand how to expect you to lead, you need to tell them a story about what shaped the leader you’ve become.

10. Why you should want to work here (a recruiting story) – Every company claims they offer competitive pay and benefits, challenging work, and great advancement opportunities. If you really want to attract the best talent, you need real stories about why it’s so awesome to work there.

If you want to see an example of each of these stories, plus a few tips on how to come up with your own, you'll find them in the new book, The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell.

Good luck with your stories.

-Guest post from Paul Smith, author of The 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell.

Unconventional companies turn traditional business practice on its head by using the element of surprise, questioning the status quo, and recognizing that both employees and customers want meaning. The Unconventionals gives you a peak at some of the simple practices shared by these rebel companies that have allowed them to change markets, hearts and minds. Here are four of them to help you get started:

1. Within any market, there are opportunities to shift or reinvent the market because there are areas that need disruption. Action: Think about your market - are there ruts where everyone unquestioningly follows what has always been done?
2. The change that you're trying to create has to benefit both you and your customers, and it should favor what your company does best. Action: Think about the role you want your brand to play in the market and ask yourself: What do you stand for (i.e. what do you give to the world that is unique to your company)? What are you taking on (i.e. what is the problem you're trying to solve for your buyers that creates bigger change)?
3. Within every market there is a segment of influential people who believe in changing the status quo. These are known as "crazies" - people who aren't fanatics about your products, but rather who care deeply about other things that can overlap with your company's purpose. Action: Think about your company's purpose - which group of passionate potential customers could you be helping out?
4. What makes companies unconventional is that they're willing to challenge how things have always been done. Are you ready to do the same? Action: Take out a pen and paper or dry erase board and start doubting what everyone holds as true. Imagine the possibilities and challenge the things that have made others successful. Think for yourself. Be unconventional.

Learn more ways you can think like The Unconvetionals>>

As Earth Day approaches, it’s time to get honest with ourselves; it’s time to HUG OUR MOTHERS — Earth and Nature, that is. We know enough and we know better, so the fact that we are still not doing enough is no longer a problem of pollution but a more personal problem. Our planet doesn’t pollute itself. That’s on us. And it’s time for us to choose kindness. Hugging Mother Earth and Mother Nature matters. So now it’s time to take action.

Action 1 – Participate in or organize a community cleanup day. Find ways to get local companies, schools, churches, friends, and family members to join in. Make it fun and a day for everyone to show kindness to our mothers.

Action 2 – Reduce! Of all the R’s—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle—reduce is the best option. Take shorter showers, print on both sides, carpool, change your sprinkler timers, etc. You know these ideas already. Now you just have to do them.

Action 3 – Be kind to animals.Take time to research how humans are impacting the different species from around the world—from dolphins to elephants to orang­utans to factory farm animals. Brace yourself. You won’t see a ton of kindness in your searches, but this is the very reason to get involved.

Matthew Emerzian

For more ways to live a life that matters, check out Every Monday Matters>>

What are the top qualities that come to your mind when asked about traits of a woman you admire? Do you think kind, caring, and compassionate? How about tough, brave, and courageous? What about overall badass? Women encompass all these qualities and more. As March marks the month to honor women in history, it is also a great time to reflect on the women in our life. Whether she be a sibling, relative, co-worker, friend, boss, or mentor, there are women around us who help pave the path to our personal and professional success.

While women haven’t always been celebrated, significant strides have been made in the struggle for equality. Historical figures have worked tirelessly in industries like science, aerospace, mathematics, healthcare, and more to push open an otherwise closed door for generations to follow. Celebrate historical icons like Marie Curie, who was the only woman to receive two Nobel Prizes in her lifetime for both physics and chemistry and Loretta Lynch, who was the first African-American woman to hold the position of U.S. Attorney General. They and many other women have helped shape our world.

Get inspired by leaders, revolutionary icons, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, and activists whose lives are worth remembering. Read their words for a daily surge of motivation or share their inspirational power with a loved one.

Kavita Wright, Sourcebooks employee

Discover Great Quotes from Great Women>>