Synopses & Reviews
Stories move us. They engage us. They inspire us. Stories give us examples of how to act . . . and how not to act. The best ones stay with us forever.
So why are you still trying to get your ideas across using PowerPoint slides?
Storytelling may be an age-old tradition, but in today’s corporate world, it’s also been embraced as a uniquely powerful business practice. Top organizations utilize it as a means to communicate vision. Forward-thinking business schools now include storytelling courses in their management curriculum. As a leader or a manager, if you’re not using storytelling as a method to rally your troops and convince others of your ideas, you’re missing out on one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal.
Packed with over 100 ready-to-use narratives organized by different business challenges, Lead with a Story helps you get started . . . even if you think you don’t know the first thing about telling a story. The book shows you how to connect with bosses, employees, customers, and others on a deep and immediate level using the power of story. It includes examples from more than 50 organizations in 30 industries and from 15 countries around the world, including companies like Kellogg’s, Merrill Lynch, Procter & Gamble, Verizon, Dun & Bradstreet, Saatchi & Saatchi, and more.
In Lead with a Story, corporate storytelling expert Paul Smith helps you choose a story tailor-made for your own particular need, adapt the ready-made stories, and even craft your own. You’ll learn how to use emotionally driven narrative to:
• Establish a vision for the future
• Set goals and build commitment
• Lead change
• Make recommendations that stick
• Define customer service success and failure
• Mold your organization’s culture and values
• Encourage collaboration and build relationships
• Move people to value diversity and inclusion
• Set policy without rules
• Energize, inspire, and motivate your team
• Help others find passion for their work
• Teach important lessons
• Provide coaching and feedback
• Demonstrate problem solving
• Empower others
• Delegate authority and give permission
• Encourage innovation and creativity
• Earn respect from day one
• And much more
Stories do much more than entertain—they actually engage your audience’s brains, creating an experience in which they learn a lesson, share a belief, and envision results as if they were there. This enormously practical and inspiring book lets you in on one of the most important leadership techniques that exists, and shows you how to use it naturally and effortlessly in every area of your work
PAUL SMITH is director of Consumer & Communications Research at The Procter & Gamble Company and a highly rated keynote speaker and trainer on leadership and communication. He lectures regularly for the MBA programs at Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati. Paul lives can be found online at www.leadwithastory.com.
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"By taking Smith’s instructions to heart and becoming master storytellers, we may all avoid fidgeting, glassy-eyed audiences in the future." --ABA Banking Journal
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"Storytelling has been a part of business for millennia, but in recent times, technology has turned business communication into a technical, dry affair. But not for savvy companies, who have relearned the art of storytelling over the past decades to manage their brand and inspire their employees. The author shows how stories can help business leaders through 21 of their most difficult challenges, while also providing the literary tools to create great stories that can teach, motivate and lead." - Wharton Magazine
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“…provid[es] the literary tools to create great stories that can teach, motivate and lead." --Wharton Magazine
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"If you are a speaker, a teacher, a friend, a pastor, a worker, a leader...you will learn from this book! PICK IT UP!” --I'd Rather Be Craving blog
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"...touts the value of story telling as a communication tool for business people." --800-CEO-Read
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“Paul Smith is the consummate storyteller, but he is also a generous, sharing teacher who imparts a great deal of wisdom in his book.” --ForeWord Reviews
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“…outlines a comprehensive, yet very practical guide to telling stories in business...a must read for anyone who engages with customers, stakeholders and employees.” --CMSWire.com
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"...thoughtful, meaty, comprehensive and seriously useful... profoundly straightforward and helpful..." --Authentic Organizations
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“…anyone could pick up the book, understand the actionable advice, and begin telling their own stories right away.” --SalesEngine.com
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“Take your leadership skills to a higher level by crafting business stories that captivate, convince, and inspire!"
--Management is a Journey
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“Buy this book and let it help you find your story. Let Paul Smith show you how to tell that story." --PCB007
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"...shows readers how to tell stories that build bridges into their future. If you want to go far, combine your competence with storytelling.” --Leadership Freak
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ExecRank Distinction Awards for Business Books 2012
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“getAbstract recommends that managers, salespeople and presenters read this charming compilation, from its useful instructions all the way to its happily ever after.” --getAbstract
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ExecRank Distinction Awards for Business Books for 2012
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“The book is chock full of great stories and clear, simple techniques you can use to be a better storyteller.” --thoughtLeaders
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The 2012 Influential Marketing Book Award Winners --Rohit Bhargava Blog
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“…brilliant…filled with rare insights and ‘you had to be there’ style stories, this book lives up to its promise of using storytelling to deliver powerful lessons.” --Rohit Bhargava blog
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“Packed with a wide variety of stories and scores of key lessons on leadership, Lead with a Story is an engaging and informative resource for any leader.” --Soundview blog
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”Get a jump start on developing your own bank of leadership stories and check out Lead with a Story today.” --Seven Story Learning
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The Influential Marketing Book Award 2012
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"...this practical resource gives readers the guidance they need to deliver stories to stunning effect.” --Abduzeedo Design Inspiration
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27 Gen: Generational Learning Works Both Ways 12 Best Books 2012
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NOOP (Exploring the Networked Economy) 40 Best Influence & Persuasion Books 2013
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“…offers interesting, engaging and practical advice for effectively crafting your own stories to better accomplish your personal and organizational goals.” --The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
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"If you brief people, make speeches, or give presentations to your board or other groups, the book is worth your time.” --Musings from the CU Suite
Synopsis
LEADERSHIP STARTS WITH STORYTELLING
With clarity around your message, you will energize those you lead and create a vision they can buy into. But first, you must first write the story that will get them excited and ready to execute.
Clarity is key for any successful leader, so much so that top corporations, such as Micorsoft. Nike, Proctor and Gamble, Kimberly Clark, and many more, have incorporated storytelling into their leadership training programs. These companies know that before you can become a strong leader, you must first master the art of storytelling so you can communicate your vision to your team and inspire them to execute on objectives.
The power of storytelling will allow you to:
- Envision Success- lead change by identifying goals in your story and building team commitment.
- Create an Environment for Winning- create a team culture and identify values that encourage collaboration and value diversity.
- Energize Your Team- use your story to help others find passion for their work by building courage, inspiration, and motivation.
- Inspire and Educate- teach your employees key lessons and provide coaching and actionable feedback.
- Empower Others- use storytelling to delegate authority and encourage targeted innovation that supports your vision.
If you want to be a leader others want to follow, you must master storytelling and use that skill to communicate a vision that your team can support.
Synopsis
Storytelling has come of age in the business world. Today, many of the most successful companies use storytelling as a leadership tool. At Nike, all senior executives are designated “corporate storytellers.” 3M banned bullet points years ago and replaced them with a process of writing “strategic narratives.” Procter & Gamble hired Hollywood directors to teach its executives storytelling techniques. Some forward-thinking business schools have even added storytelling courses to their management curriculum.
The reason for this is simple: Stories have the ability to engage an audience the way logic and bullet points alone never could. Whether you are trying to communicate a vision, sell an idea, or inspire commitment, storytelling is a powerful business tool that can mean the difference between mediocre results and phenomenal success.
Lead with a Story contains both ready-to-use stories and how-to guidance for readers looking to craft their own. Designed for a wide variety of business challenges, the book shows how narrative can help:
• Define culture and values
• Engender creativity and innovation
• Foster collaboration and build relationships
• Provide coaching and feedback
• Lead change
• And more
Whether in a speech or a memo, communicated to one person or a thousand, storytelling is an essential skill for success. Complete with examples from companies like Kellogg's, Merrill-Lynch, Procter & Gamble, National Car Rental, Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut, and more, this practical resource gives readers the guidance they need to deliver stories to stunning effect.
Synopsis
In the world of business, storytelling has emerged as a vital skill for every leader and manager, with major companies encouraging its use as a means to sell ideas, communicate a vision for the future, and inspire commitment. Whether it’s in a speech or a memo, communicated to one person or a thousand, using stories to convey your ideas allows you to engage others emotionally and to effortlessly make them remember and “experience” your ideas on a tremendously powerful, personal level.
In Lead with a Story, you’ll find over 100 ready-made stories, organized by 21 tough leadership challenges, that will help you:
• Define culture and values
• Engender creativity and innovation
• Foster collaboration and build relationships
• Provide coaching and feedback
• Lead change
• And much more
Packed with exercises to help you leverage the stories and practical advice on crafting your own, the book introduces you to the six key elements you’ll need to turn a good story into a great one: metaphors, emotion, realism, surprise, style, and, most important, putting your audience into your story to have the most impact.
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR LEAD WITH A STORY:
“Stories are flight simulators for our brains, and in this book Paul Smith brings you a story for every important challenge you and your team will face at work. If you master these stories, you’ll master your challenges.”
— Chip Heath, coauthor of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
“A compelling book that will help bring alive the power of storytelling to make a meaningful difference in your business or your life.”
— Sara Mathew, Chairman and CEO, Dun & Bradstreet
“As a marketing consultant, I’m constantly looking for great stories that bring clarity to new ideas. Lead with a Story is now my go-to source for stories that inspire change across a broad range of business challenges. This is a must-read book for any leader who wants to up their game by leading through inspiration.”
— Andy Murray, Founder, Saatchi & Saatchi-X and Mercury11
“This book offers the most storytelling success stories I’ve seen between two covers. It is invaluable for any leader who wants to inspire, motivate, or persuade.”
— Annette Simmons, bestselling author of The Story Factor and Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins
“Over a hundred stories—ancient and modern, funny and poignant—and all of them thought-provoking. A great resource for any businessperson looking for new and innovative ways to tackle leadership challenges.”
— Margaret Parkin, UK-based training coach, speaker, and bestselling author of Tales for Trainers
About the Author
PAUL SMITH is director of Consumer & Communications Research at The Procter & Gamble Company and a highly rated leadership and communications trainer for P&G’s management training colleges.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 Why Tell Stories? 8
ENVISION Success
2 Set a Vision for the Future 14
3 Set Goals and Build Commitment 20
4 Lead Change 27
5 Make Recommendations Stick 36
6 Define Customer Service Success and Failure 45
[HOW-TO] 7 Structure of a Story 54
Create an ENVIRONMENT for Winning
8 Define the Culture 66
9 Establish Values 74
10 Encourage Collaboration and Build Relationships 82
11 Value Diversity and Inclusion 91
12 Set Policy Without Rules 100
[HOW-TO] 13 Keep It Real 108
[HOW-TO] 14 Stylistic Elements 118
ENERGIZE the Team
15 Inspire and Motivate 131
16 Build Courage 140
17 Help Others Find Passion for Their Work 148
[HOW-TO] 18 Appeal to Emotion 154
[HOW-TO] 19 The Element of Surprise 167
EDUCATE People
20 Teach Important Lessons 176
21 Provide Coaching and Feedback 187
22 Demonstrate Problem Solving 196
23 Help Everyone Understand the Customer 204
[HOW-TO] 24 Metaphors and Analogies 210
EMPOWER Others
25 Delegate Authority and Give Permission 217
26 Encourage Innovation and Creativity 224
27 Sales Is Everyone’s Job 230
28 Earn Respect on Day One 237
[HOW-TO] 29 Recast Your Audience into the Story 243
30 Getting Started 251
Appendix 268
Index 276