Effective storytellers often make great leaders. Here are the six stories you need to know as a leader.
Great leaders have great stories to tell. They know how to tell stories that resonate with people and have meaning. There are stories about founding, vision, strategy, sales, and other topics in business. Continue reading to learn six of the stories that great leaders tell.
"When you tell a story, it helps hold people’s attention and they understand how to use the strategy effectively to bring about desired results."
1. The Story of Founding
One story that great leaders tell is that of founding a company. You can apply your own experience and come up with a meaningful story that can serve to inspire and motivate people. Stories are a great way to share your goals because they resonate with the people listening, and they will want to remember them and share them with others. They transcend gender, race, and other demographics, and they help people understand what it took to start the company.
2. The Story of Vision
The story of vision shares your vision for the company. This lets people walk away with a good understanding of why you started the company and what you hope to accomplish. This leads others to join you in reaching for your goals, and they feel more a part of the process. Your story will be more memorable than a set of facts and numbers.
3. The Story of Strategy
The story of strategy takes your strategy and tells a story to make people understand how it works. You can report what your strategy is and how you want it achieved, but people walk away with a set of tasks. When you tell a story, it helps hold people’s attention and they understand how to use the strategy effectively to bring about desired results.
4. The Story of Sales
A sales story is great to help people understand an example of how they can become more effective. You can tell the story by using opposing sales methods, or you can tell a story of one success. Either way, it should help clarify a sales method that works.
5. The Story of a Customer
This is another great story. Every leader has a customer that stands out. It could be someone who was particularly hard to convert, or it could be a chance encounter. Either way, you can use this story to show people how to convert people to paying customers and how to make them feel valued and become loyal to the company.
6. The Story of Marketing
In this story, you can tell how marketing works. Use a specific story to show how one person went through the marketing process to improve their sales. This story helps to clarify the how and the why behind marketing strategies.