Storytelling and Leadership
I recently read a good article that relates storytelling to leading change. It is called “The Four Truths of the Storyteller” by Peter Guber in the Harvard Business School (12/07). The cool thing is that Guber is a film producer of such movies as Rain Man, Batman and The Color Purple, so the article interweaves the world of filmmaking and leadership. What I like the best about the article is that Guber gives very specific and behavioral info about how to tell a story that people will get wrapped up in like a movie. He connects storytelling to the shamans’ and griots’ of pre-history who helped groups, tribes and civilizations to pass on their beliefs, values and rules in their tales of great heroes, triumphs and tragedies.
This connects directly to my thoughts that leaders who want to consciously manage culture change need to be good storytellers, because there is power in stories – we, as humans are biologically wired to like listening to stories – to be entertained and to learn at the same time. And the end goal for leaders who aspire to manage culture change is - to get people to act the way you want them to in a natural and self-sustaining way. So read this article to get the basics of how to tell a good story.
