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Manage by Storying Around

Celebrate desired values

by Dave Gardner
Creative Director, Visions West

In their best-selling book titled "Encouraging the Heart" James Kouzes and Barry Posner counsel that in order to keep their workforce engaged, committed and contributing to organizational success, leaders would do well to focus on continuous and sincere positive reinforcement. Kouzes and Posner have identified 7 best practices of leaders around the world that inspire worker commitment and high performance. The authors state there are two things that encouraging the heart is about:

  • recognizing individuals for their contributions to success of the enterprise

  • celebrating together as a group

Storytelling happens to be one corporate communication tool that answers both these calls. According to management guru Tom Peters, "Storytelling's power is timeless. But it's timely, too, very timely. The marketplace is demanding that we burn the policy manuals and knock off the incessant memo writing; there's just no time. It also demands we empower everyone to constantly take initiatives. It turns out stories are a - if not the - leadership answer to both issues." In "Leader as Storyteller," Warren Bennis agrees, "Effective leaders put words to the formless longings and deeply felt needs of others. They create communities out of words. They tell stories that capture minds and win hearts."

For David Armstrong, COO of Armstrong International and author of "Managing by Storying Around", the realization hit when he was observing his church congregation one Sunday during the sermon. Their reverend was an exceptional storyteller and once he began telling the week's story, everyone began to pay attention. People who had been nodding off were suddenly wide awake, focused intently on the sermon. Why? People like to hear stories. According to David Armstrong, "Thar's gold in them thar stories."

The art of storytelling has been integral to communication throughout civilization, from The Bible to Grimm's Fairy Tales; from Nancy Drew to Harry Potter. For more than 40,000 years the Aborigines of Australia have been handing down their legends and customs from generation to generation as an oral tradition. There is no written form of communication in their culture - they use the art of story telling. David Armstrong decided to apply the same to his company. He developed stories that explained Armstrong International's values, goals, victories, and vision of the future. He has found storytelling to be a very effective form of communication. Rules, values and goals, in policy manuals or posted, can be dry and inhibiting. Morals in stories, however, are inviting, inspirational and memorable. People can know very clearly what the company believes in and what needs to be done.

This means corporate storytelling packs a one-two-three punch - communicating memorably, but at the same time accomplishing Kouzes and Posner's principles of recognition and celebration. Over the years we at Visions West have produced a number of "corporate documentaries" or short subjects profiling employees or teams whose accomplishments exemplify their companies' values. We've discovered how the simple fact the company sent a film or video crew to capture their story provides very meaningful reward and recognition for these workers. And telling their stories to the rest of the employee (and often stockholder and/or client) audience is a celebration of their exemplary behavior. Other employees "get it." They don't have to be hit over the head. They figure out that the behavior which is celebrated in these videos is the kind of behavior top management would like to see more of.

Of course, storytelling doesn't have to be limited to film and video. Leaders can and should tell stories in their presentations to employee groups. Corporate intranets and print communication can include stories, too. But we do believe that storytelling is a great way to take advantage of the emotional power inherent in the video/film medium.

If you'd like to see some examples of some of the finest corporate video storytelling, call us or e-mail Dave at Visions West

*In the following paragraphs we've excerpted a useful summary of the value of MBSA (Managing by Storying Around) from Armstrong's book (used by permission)

MANAGING BY STORYING AROUND

There are many reasons to consider management by storytelling.

  • Simple. Telling stories is appropriate for all occupations, from professors and lawyers to welders and mechanics. You don't need an MBA, college degree, or even a high school diploma to tell, or understand stories.

  • Timeless. Storytelling is "fad proof". Many other management tools have come and gone - Management by Objective, Quality Circles, etc., raising the general employee cynicism level when another great idea is rolled out. Storytelling however, has proven to be ageless.

  • Demographic-proof. Everyone - regardless of their race, religion, or sex - likes to listen to stories. As the makeup of your work force changes over time, you will always be able to use stories to communicate with them.

  • Good Form of Training. Stories are used at Armstrong to tell people what will get them promoted, and conversely, what will get them fired. They implicitly tell the employees how to behave.

  • Empowers People. The stories lay out the guidelines and leave it to the employees to get the job done. Once they understand what the expectations are, people will manage themselves.

  • Recognition. Storytelling is a wonderful way to provide recognition for people. Everyone loves to hear and read about people they know, especially themselves. At Armstrong, whenever an employee is mentioned in a story, he/she receives a framed copy of the original and a personal note from David Armstrong. I believe this to be one of the strongest arguments for "Managing by Storytelling" - it is a positive motivational tool.

  • Memorable. A good story will stay with us a long, long time.

From "Managing By Storying Around" by David Armstrong


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