Review
"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, co-author Made to Stick and Switch"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"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 of Saatchi & Saatchi-X and Mercury11"I got your book late yesterday and started reading it after supper. I finished it this morning at 8:15. I couldn't put it down all night! This book is everything I had hoped it would be...and more." --
Jim Bangel, former Corporate Storyteller, Procter & Gamble"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 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
“…provid[es] the literary tools to create great stories that can teach, motivate and lead." --
Wharton Magazine "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
"...touts the value of story telling as a communication tool for business people." --800-CEO-Read
“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
“…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
"...thoughtful, meaty, comprehensive and seriously useful... profoundly straightforward and helpful..." --Authentic Organizations
“…anyone could pick up the book, understand the actionable advice, and begin telling their own stories right away.”—SalesEngine.com
“Take your leadership skills to a higher level by crafting business stories that captivate, convince, and inspire!" --Management is a Journey
“Buy this book and let it help you find your story. Let Paul Smith show you how to tell that story."--PCB007
"...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
Winner of ExecRank Distinction Award for Best Business Book 2012
Book Description
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.
From the Inside Flap
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.
From the Back Cover
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.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction
“Long before the first formal business was established . . . the six most powerful words in any language were Let me tell you a story.”1
—MATHEWS & WACKER, What’s Your Story
WHEN JAYSON ZOLLER WAS A COLLEGE STUDENT, one of his favorite professors told the class a story so compelling Jayson is still retelling it two decades later. Apparently the professor’s students from a previous class had an unusual project working for a local district judge. The assignment: Investigate the jury deliberation process and determine how to improve it. As young, idealistic college students, his young team was excited to tackle such a noble mission.
The students interviewed dozens of judges, attorneys, former jurors, and other court officials around the district. They asked all the questions you would think a smart group of would-be consultants should ask. How many men were in the jury versus women? What was the mix of ethnic backgrounds? How many older jurors were there versus younger ones? Were there differences in the instructions given the jurors, or what kind of information they were allowed to have in the jury room? Did the trials last days, weeks, or months? They even asked how late the jurors were made to work into the evening and what kind of food they were fed.
To their surprise, none of those things seemed to matter much. What did matter, it turned out, was the shape of the table in the jury room! In courtrooms where there was a rectangular table, the juror sitting at the head of the table (even if that person wasn’t the jury foreman) tended to dominate the conversation. This kept some jurors from sharing their points of view as openly. But in jury rooms that had a round or oval table, the jurors tended to be more egalitarian and their debate of the facts was more thorough and robust. The team concluded it was those juries with round tables that came to the most accurate and just verdicts.
The students were excited about this finding for two reasons. First, they felt like they had really nailed the key to improving the jury deliberation process. And second, it was such an easy thing to change. Imagine, instead, if their conclusion had been that the jury needed to be seated with more intelligent, open-minded, better-educated jurists. That’s much harder to do.
They were proud of their success as they presented the results to the chief judge. He was just as excited as they were, and for exactly the same two reasons. The judge immediately issued a decree to all the courthouses in his jurisdiction. Effective immediately, “All jury rooms that have round and oval tables are to have the tables removed. Replace them with rectangular tables.”
Read those last two sentences again. That wasn’t a typo. In direct contradiction to their recommendation, the judge removed all the round and oval tables and put in rectangular tables. Why? Because the judge’s objective in improving the jury deliberation process wasn’t to make it more robust, fair, or even accurate. It was to make it faster. He wanted to reduce the backlog of cases clogging up his court docket.
The students were mortified. They thought they were single-handedly fixing the sometimes-brutal consequences of an imperfect judicial system. Instead, they were unwittingly responsible for making it, in their eyes, a little bit less perfect. They may have finished the year with an A on their report card, but they felt completely defeated.
Twenty years later, Jayson is now a professional market researcher. He tells this story to new researchers to teach them the importance of being clear on objectives before they embark on a research project. Instead, he could simply tell them, “Experience suggests it is very important to be clear on your objectives before you start your research project.” But that wouldn’t be nearly as effective, would it? By telling a story, Jayson lets his audience learn a lesson almost firsthand and experience what it would feel like to not be clear on objectives up front—and suffer the consequences.
Experience is the best teacher. A compelling story is a close second.
