Leadership, Storytelling, Action!

May 11, 2009 ↓ 4 Comments

Inspired by a discussion on Twitter, I wrote this post weeks ago while jet-lagged and on vacation at the New Jersey shore. I stayed up all night polishing it off in a web-based content management system. As I was publishing it the whole thing accidentally got erased. Hours of work vanished in less than a second. Poof! All of my points and links to pertinent information—gone. Deleted. Period. What did I do? I did what any defeated writer would do; I let it go and went to bed.

Would I make a good leader?

There’s an armchair politician in every local bar who has plenty of great stories to tell—but he’s got as much of a chance of getting in office as the loudmouth at a sporting event has at getting into the game. Still, some people want you to believe that storytelling is the secret language of leadership. It’s not. Being able to spin a good tale doesn’t make someone a great leader. I once argued (on Twitter) that a person’s storytelling ability has nothing to do with their ability to lead. When I said so I got a reply saying, “Watch this 5 minute Obama video and tell me storytelling has nothing to do with leadership.”

Obama used some key storytelling techniques in his telling. Setting: Greenwood, SC—the middle of nowhere. It’s raining. He spoke to the senses—he was tired and grumpy (feeling). There were no tall buildings; the woman was short (sight). She yelled (sound). And in the end he felt fired up (emotion). However, his story lacks a poignant crux and he makes a big mistake at the end when he tells us how we should feel rather than making us feel it. (Still, he did it better than the competition!)

Yes, storytelling is a great tool for persuasion. It makes sense that campaigns use stories. Storytelling can influence a person to take a particular action. Obama’s communication skills certainly helped him get into the presidency. Many people voted for him based on the imagined future he was painting. However, a big part of many people’s choice was having seen the real past that the other candidates had created through their actions, or lack thereof. In the midst of a crisis Hillary Clinton appeared to do nothing—she did not take action. McCain’s political choices could arguably be blamed for America’s state of affairs during the campaign. But let’s not get sidetracked by politics.

It doesn’t matter which candidate you liked. Now that Obama’s got the job, his actions will be the deciding factor in determining whether or not he’s a good leader. Imagine if, after 100 days, Obama’s biggest accomplishment was having perfected his storytelling skills! For the rest of his term, the question on everyone’s mind will be, “What has Obama done?” His actions will become our (hi)story and his legacy.

Action: the secret language of leadership. And really, it’s not such a secret.

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(4) Comments: Leadership, Storytelling, Action!

Eva Snijders
May 11, 2009

Hi Vanadia,

I liked this part:

“There’s an armchair politician in every local bar who has plenty of great stories to tell—but he’s got as much of a chance of getting in office as the loudmouth at a sporting event has at getting into the game.”

And regarding Obama, would llike to add:

What we believe causes us to act in this world. So if you want to know what a person believes (as in “stands for”), observe what he DOES, not in what he SAYS he believes.

Always a pleasure reading you.

Big hug from Spain,
Eva

Rocci Hildum
May 17, 2009

I agree that a storyteller is not necessarily a great leader. However, I would say that all great leaders are at least competent and most likely great storytellers.

Abraham Lincoln is universally remembered as someone who could tell a story well. More importantly, he told the right story, at the right time, in the right setting. The story was not simply entertainment. The story was relevant to the situation and served his ends, inspiration, encouragement, admonishment ...

Storytelling is all about communicating, but not just ideas. The value of the story over the speech or lecture is that the well chosen and well told story has the ability to communicate feelings in a way that is powerful without being so strident that the message gets lost. People may not remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

DavidVanadia
May 24, 2009

Abraham Lincoln is known first and foremost for the action he took. Ask Americans what Abe is known for and they’ll say he freed the slaves. They won’t say he was a good storyteller. Had he not freed the slaves I don’t think we’d be wondering about him to this day. Was Zachary Taylor a good storyteller?  Moreover, was he a good president? Who knows…

Rocci Hildum
Jun 09, 2009

I agree that Abraham Lincoln is remembered for what he accomplished, in particular abolishing slavery. However, that does not preclude him from having been a great storyteller. In Mr. Lincoln’s case, his storytelling was the communication of ideas in ways that were accessible, non threatening, and memorable. There are numerous examples of Lincoln aswering critics or making difficult points with a well told and well chosen story.

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