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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Learn the science and master the art of telling a great story Stories for Work walks you through the science of storytelling, revealing the secrets behind great storytellers and showing you how to master the art of storytelling in business. Stories hold a unique place in our psyche, and the right story at the right time can be a game-changer in business; whether tragedy, triumph, tension or transition, a good story can captivate the listener and help you achieve your goals. In this book, author Gabrielle Dolan draws from a decade of training business leaders in storytelling to show you what works, why it works, when it works best and what never works. You'll learn how to create your own stories -- authentically yours, crafted to attain your goal -- and develop an instinct for sharing when the time is right. In-depth case studies feature real-world people in real-world businesses, showing how storytelling has changed the way they work, motivate and lead -- providing clear examples of the power of this enormously effective skill. Storytelling gives you an edge. Whether you're after a promotion, a difficult client, a big sale or leading through transition, a great story can help you smooth the road and seal the deal. This book is your personal coach for masterful storytelling, with expert guidance and lessons learned from real-world business leaders. * Learn why storytelling grabs attention and helps your message get through * Master the four types of stories used in business settings * Infuse your stories with the personal to highlight your vision and values * Craft a selection of stories to pull out at pivotal business moments The oral tradition has ancient roots that unite all humans, and despite our myriad modern distractions, we still respond to a well-told story. Stories for Work helps you put this dynamic to work for you in any business scenario.
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Seitenzahl: 244
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
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Storytelling in business offers a powerful way to stimulate emotional connection, where real conversations can inspire and motivate effective employee engagement. With informed analysis, recommendations and case studies, Stories for Work is a comprehensive and practical ‘how-to’ framework for business professionals looking to maximise the impact of storytelling to achieve desired results.
Michael Ebeid, CEO & Managing Director, SBS
I work in companies and communities all over the globe. The capacity to translate strategy and business imperatives into authentic narratives that massively accelerate authentic execution is critical. Gabrielle’s ability to unleash everyone’s capacity to be influential through their own stories is extraordinary. Stories for Work is an essential and accessible guide to storytelling in business.
Colin Pidd, Global Partner and Managing Director Asia Pacific, Conversant
The power of storytelling to connect, inspire and create change can never be understated. Gabrielle’s latest book provides wonderful insights and practical examples of how you can use this important skill in both your personal and professional life. We all have stories to share and Gabrielle has given us the tools to really bring this to life.
Christine Corbett, Chief Customer Officer, Australia Post
One of the biggest gaps in leadership today is storytelling. As businesses are continually required to move faster, leaders need to do a better job in helping to point the way and bringing people along with them. It requires a more sophisticated leadership approach; it requires storytelling. Gabrielle Dolan’s Stories for Work will help you unlock the art of storytelling in business.
Joe McCollum, Group Human Resource Director, Spark New Zealand
If you think storytelling in the workplace is simply about ‘once upon a time’ then you couldn’t be more wrong! Gabrielle Dolan successfully and very quickly teaches us something much more powerful … presenting is auditioning for leadership and using personal stories for business purpose is demonstrating authentic leadership.
Jac Phillips, Head of Brand and Marketing, Bank of Melbourne
Gabrielle Dolan is the bomb. She explodes into your world like a force majeure, real, grounded and inspirational. Clearly she is Australia’s leading corporate storytelling expert and her latest book, Stories for Work, is brilliant. The story wheel alone is an idea that opens your mind to the possibility of storytelling to influence and inspire greatness in your people. Gabrielle Dolan is a true thought leader.
Matt Church, Founder of Thought Leaders Global, Author of Amplifiers
If you care about meaningful progress (beyond the default), you need to harness the power of storytelling. This book is a perfect place to start.
Dr Jason Fox, best-selling Author of How to Lead a Quest, Keynote Speaker of the Year and Advisor, pioneering strategy, leadership & culture
Gabrielle’s book highlights the different ways you can use stories to drive and achieve business goals. We have used storytelling to bring Bupa’s purpose and values to life through our leaders sharing personal stories, to demonstrate what our purpose and values mean to them. This approach was hugely impactful for Bupa, with people quickly living our values, and I’m sure this approach would work equally well in other organisations too. Read, absorb, and start telling stories!
Dean Holden, Managing Director, Bupa Australia and New Zealand
Gabrielle Dolan is a master storyteller. In Stories for Work Gabrielle shares her in-depth knowledge, giving you the inspiration and know-how for you to start successfully using stories in business. It truly is the essential guide to business storytelling and a must-read for anyone in business.
Janine Garner, Founder and CEO, LBD Group,Author of From Me to We and It’s Who You Know
In Stories for Work Australia’s leading expert in business storytelling pulls back the curtain on the art of sharing great stories. Gabrielle Dolan reveals the science behind what makes stories the most effective tool in a leader’s communication kit and the step-by-step process for crafting the different types of stories you’ll need. She’s also included dozens of real life business stories that will not only illustrate what she’s talking about, but will make you laugh out loud, and possibly tear up a little too. Compulsory reading for any leader wanting to get their message across more effectively.
Peter Cook, CEO of Thought Leaders Global, Author of Implement
Gabrielle Dolan is more than just a story-teller, she’s a story-doer. Watching Gabrielle deliver her business storytelling expertise is an adventure worthy of a rollicking page turner — and this is it!!!
Dan Gregory, CEO, The Impossible Institute and Co-author of Selfish, Scared and Stupid
Stories for Work
the essential guide to business storytelling
Gabrielle Dolan
First published in 2017 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064 Office also in Melbourne
© Gabrielle Dolan Consulting 2017
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Creator:
Dolan, Gabrielle, author.
Title:
Stories for Work: the essential guide to business storytelling / Gabrielle Dolan.
ISBN:
9780730343295 (pbk.) 9780730343271 (ebook)
Notes:
Includes index.
Subjects:
Business communication — Technique. Oral communication. Storytelling — Technique.
Dewey Number:
658.452
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.
Cover design by Wiley
Author Photo: Timothy Arch
Disclaimer
The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.
CONTENTS
About the author
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: Shaping your stories
Chapter 1: The science of storytelling
The brain behind the story
Attention, please!
Make your stories work
Chapter 2: Four types of stories you need in business
Outlining the four story types
Stories that work
Make your stories work
Chapter 3: How to find stories for work
Two ways of finding stories
What story, when?
Make your stories work
Chapter 4: How to construct and share your stories
The beginning
The middle
The end
Practice makes perfect
Where to share your stories
Make your stories work
Part II: Sharing your stories
Chapter 5: Stories that work for presentations
Start well …
… And don’t stop there
Make your stories work
Chapter 6: Stories that work for change
Storytelling for organisational change
Make your stories work
Chapter 7: Stories that work for sales
Three ways to identify stories for sales
Make your stories work
Chapter 8: Stories that work for values and vision
Where’s the value?
Heard it through the …
Make your stories work
Chapter 9: Stories that work for your personal brand
SEA your brand
It takes three
Make your stories work
Chapter 10: Stories that work for coaching
Make your stories work
Chapter 11: Stories that work for job interviews
Moving with the times
How stories help
Make your stories work
Chapter 12: Stories that work for newsletters and blogs
Make your stories work
Part III: Storytelling case studies
Chapter 13: Australia Post Case Study
The challenge
The opportunity
The process
The outcome
Make your stories work
Chapter 14: Bupa Case Study
The challenge
The opportunity
The process
The outcome
Make your stories work
Chapter 15: Spark case study
The challenge
The opportunity
The process
The outcome
Make your stories work
Conclusion
Secrets to make your stories work
Next steps
Index
Connect and share
EULA
Guide
Cover
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About the author
Gabrielle Dolan is a global thought leader on authentic leadership and business storytelling.
She’s worked with thousands of high-profile leaders from around the world, helping them to become better leaders and communicators using the art of business storytelling. Gabrielle is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, and works with some of Australia’s top 50 ASX companies, including National Australia Bank, Australia Post, Telstra and ANZ, and multinationals such as Accenture, Bupa, Ericsson and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In the past, Gabrielle has held various senior leadership roles at National Australia Bank in change management and organisational change. She also co-founded One Thousand & One, one of Australia’s leading storytelling companies, before launching her own practice in 2013.
In 2015 Gabrielle became an Australian and New Zealand partner of Thought Leaders Global, where she works with organisations to help them gain a competitive edge through thought leadership. In the same year, she was also nominated for Telstra’s Business Woman of the Year award, one of the most prestigious business awards in the Asia–Pacific region.
She is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Education in both the Art and Practice of Leadership Development and Women and Power: Leadership in a New World. Her other academic qualifications include a master’s degree in management and leadership from Swinburne University and an associate diploma in education and training from the University of Melbourne.
Gabrielle is also the best-selling author of Ignite: Real Leadership, Real Talk, Real Results, which was published in 2015 and reached the top five of Australia’s bestselling business books. Her other published books include Storytelling for Job Interviews, published in 2016, and Hooked: How Leaders Connect, Engage and Inspire with Storytelling, published in 2013.
She is passionate about changing the way we communicate in business and is the founder of the Jargon Free Fridays global revolution #jargonfreefridays (jargonfreefridays.com).
When she is not writing or working, she can be found wandering in her vegetable garden at her 25-acre rural property on the southern coast of New South Wales. She believes the world would be a better place if there were more manure in gardens and less in business.
Acknowledgements
This book was written in a short time frame but I feel like it is bringing together my work and passion from the last decade. Without the support of many people this book would never have been possible.
I would firstly like to thank Lucy Raymond from Wiley who approached me with the initial idea for the book. Lucy, thank you so much for your ongoing support and guidance. You are a legend as is your little boy, Frankie. Plus a huge thanks also to the wider team at Wiley, including Ingrid Bond, Theo Vassili, Peter Walmsley, Charlotte Duff, Clare Dowdell, Dylan Senthilan and Genevieve Kanowski.
A very special thumbs up to Kelly Irving, who is an extraordinary editor. Not only did she edit this book on the tightest deadline possible but, as always, helped with the overall structure and flow of the book.
One of the best aspects of my job, besides doing what I love, is working with people who I really like and admire. I want to specially thank Heather Polglase, Lizzy Geremia and Lauren Trethowan, who have all trusted me to partner with them on some major organisational work at Spark New Zealand, Bupa and Australia Post respectively. Together, I know we are making a difference.
Other clients I get to work with and am also proud to now call my friends deserve a special mention because they have supported not only this book but also me for a long time. These people include Jac Phillips, Monika Lancucki and Natalie Mina. I love working with you all and truly appreciate the ongoing support and mentoring you have provided.
I particularly need to thank all the people who contributed their stories for this book. It goes without saying that the book would not be a reality without you being so willing to share your stories. Thank you!
Doing the work I do, I get to hang out with some great mates such as Matt Church and Pete Cook, who run the coolest tribe you would ever want to be a part of. Thank you both for your inspiration, love and care, and for creating the commercially successful and creative space that is Thought Leaders Business School.
Another cool mate I get to hang with is my ‘chief of stuff’, Elise Turner. Massive love and gratitude to you for everything you do for me, including the support of this book. From doing the initial edits to managing the whole marketing campaign and all the time spent keeping everything else ticking along. I could not have done it without you.
And talking about hanging with people I love, a final huge acknowledgement goes to my husband, Steve, and my very cool daughters, Alex and Jess (who have made me promise to include our dog, Digger, in here). They continue to support me, give me the time to write and also let me write about them. Love you.
Introduction
I once had the pleasure of working with a wonderful woman, Merrin Butler, who confessed to sleeping or reading through the safety instructions on her regular Sunday night flight from Dublin to Glasgow.
She told me that catching the same flight every week for work made her, understandably, very blasé. So she’d either fall asleep or read the paper as the crew pulled on oxygen masks and pointed out the exits.
One night on her regular flight, after giving her usual lack of attention to the pre-flight demonstration, they hit some rough weather and the pilot had to abort the landing as they were coming into Glasgow. The plane circled around and tried again, but the rain and wind were getting worse and so the pilot abandoned the landing for the second time. Before making the third attempt, the captain announced, ‘We’ll make one final attempt to land but before we do, the crew will go through our safety instructions again.’
All the passengers sat bolt upright in their seats, their undivided attention on the crew. People asked questions about the oxygen masks, checked for their life jackets under their seats and physically counted out the rows to their nearest exit.
Thankfully, Merrin lived to tell the frightening tale, as did everyone else on the plane.
When she shared this story with me, long after the incident, I was helping her to implement a major organisational change at National Australia Bank. It was going to be a two-year process that would affect all the Human Resources professionals across the company.
I asked Merrin what was the one message she wanted to get across to her team when we announced the change. She said they’d all be thinking, Here we go again … another change or restructure. But Merrin felt that it was more than that — although the change would be a long, intensive project, everyone would receive lots of information about it and, while at the time they might think it was boring or irrelevant, they needed to pay close attention because it was going to personally affect each and every one of them at some point.
As the Communications and Change Manager for the project, I suggested she share her story about flying into Glasgow. Her initial reaction was, ‘What has that got to do with anything?’ I convinced Merrin to share the story, however, knowing it matched her message — often we think information we’re receiving may not be relevant, but it does have an important purpose. I was confident the story would work ... well, maybe not confident but optimistic.
The next day, Merrin shared her flight story with her team of HR professionals. I watched and waited for the response in the room (I’ll admit, by this stage the optimism had turned to hope). I should have been confident, because this became the first time I really noticed the positive impact of a personal story when delivered as a business message. Not only did her team immediately react with smiles and understanding, but they also continued to refer to the story months later.
I wasn’t aware of it at the time but that was a sliding-door moment for me. I realised the power of storytelling and this knowledge completely changed my career — and my life. From that point on, I noticed that all the leaders I found inspiring and engaging used stories to explain their actions and choices in some way.
I left my corporate career on a mission — a mission to change the boring and bland way we communicated in the business world with inspiring and engaging stories that hit the hearts and minds of leaders and their teams.
Over the last decade, this work has taken me all over the world — from Australia to Malaysia, Europe and the US — but no matter where I am, I’m always faced with questions and comments like the following:
‘Does storytelling really work in business? I mean,
really
?’
‘What stories do I need and how many do I use?’
‘How do you find stories?’
‘I don’t have any stories. I just lead a pretty average and normal life.’
‘Where and when do you share stories in business?’
‘I’ve never thought of using a personal story to communicate a business message. Are we allowed to do that?’
Hearing these kinds of questions and remarks from so many different leaders, managers and executives at all levels, in all industries and corporations, all over the world was the catalyst behind this book.
My aim is to show you the science behind why storytelling really works — because it does work, as the many examples in this book will show. This book also clarifies what types of stories are appropriate to use, how to find them and how to share them.
What I love most about this book is that it gives you a collection of tried and tested stories from people who have successfully used them in their business lives. I know from my own experience that hearing other people’s stories helps to ignite story ideas of your own.
My intention is to help you generate your own stories, show you where and when to use them and, most importantly, give you the courage to share your own stories to get great results.
So put down your paper and pay close attention — you’re about to fly into the wonderful world of storytelling.
Part IShaping your stories
Storytelling has been around since the dawn of time and humans have always communicated using stories. Evidence of this is seen from the paintings left behind by our cave-dwelling ancestors to the Aboriginal culture and Dreamtime storytelling, which continues to be passed down generation to generation.
It's only recently, however, that modern business has started to realise the power and potential of this ancient art.
In a world of information overload and short attention spans, business people are looking for a more effective way to get their messages across and to help them stand out from all the ‘noise'. Combine this with an appreciation of being more authentic in the way we lead, and it is no surprise that storytelling has emerged as a powerful tool.
In this part, I take you through exactly why storytelling is so powerful in business, drilling down into the science behind it. I also cover the four main types of stories you will need, and how to find, construct and share your stories.
While the art of storytelling is an ancient form, the applications of storytelling in business are just being discovered.
Chapter 1The science of storytelling
Sure, you might already be aware that telling a story makes good sense, but it is more than that. It is actually based on good science. In this chapter I take you through this science, explaining how stories build trust and heighten emotions.
The brain behind the story
Our brain has different parts, and each part has a different job. The left side of our brain, for example, helps us think logically and organise our thoughts, while the right side helps us experience emotions and recall personal memories. We also have a ‘reptile brain’ that makes us act instinctively and a ‘mammal brain’ that helps us connect in relationships. And our brains have a neocortex, which is connected to a complex series of nerves and networks called the ‘limbic system’. This is responsible for the development of the bond we feel between ourselves and another (like the mother–child bond).
In his international best-selling book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman explains that our evolved neocortex is the reason our emotions are so powerful. He says,
“As the root from which the newer brain grew, the emotional areas are intertwined via myriad connecting circuits to all parts of the neocortex. This gives the emotional centres immense power to influence the functioning of the rest of the brain.
When we tell stories all the different parts and areas of our brain are stimulated and start to work together, combining words and logic and emotions and sensory images, so we see the whole picture and communicate our experience. Essentially, with all this activity going on, our emotions go into overdrive.
This means that stories provoke our emotions. Good stories make us feel something as we listen to them — excitement, anger, sadness, empathy or enthusiasm. Consequently, feeling these emotions means we feel something towards the person telling the story, which helps create connection — the bond like the ones our neocortex helps develop.
We love a good story
In the 2014 Harvard Business Review article ‘Why your brain loves good storytelling’, neuroeconomist Paul Zak revealed the powerful impact the love hormone oxytocin has on the brain when we tell stories.
Oxytocin is also often referred to as the ‘trust hormone’. Our bodies release it when we are with people we love and trust, when we hug, or even when we shake hands in a business meeting. And it’s released when we listen to stories. Oxytocin being released signals to the brain that everything is okay and it is safe to approach others — essentially, that we won’t be attacked or eaten, as would have been the risk back in the day.
So not only does a good story make us feel different emotions and a connection to the storyteller but, at the same time, the love hormone oxytocin is also signalling that we can be trusted, which in turn helps build our credibility.
Stories build trust and credibility
Neuroscientist Uri Hasson opened his 2016 TED talk with the following:
“Imagine if we invented a device that could record my memories, my dreams, my ideas and transmit them to your brain. That would be a game-changing technology, right? But, in fact, we already possess this device and it’s called the human communication system and effective storytelling.
Hasson’s research shows that even across different languages, our brains show similar activity when we hear a story, becoming what he calls ‘aligned’ or ‘synchronised’.
In one study, listeners lay in the dark waiting to hear a story spoken out loud. The moment the story started, the auditory cortex of the listeners’ brains, the area that processes sound, became active and aligned. Hassan calls this ‘neural entrainment’.
It was only when the listeners heard the story in a coherent way that alignment started to happen. This did not happen if the story was played backwards, or the words or sentences were scrambled. But the story was still understood in a similar way when it was told in Russian to a group of Russian listeners as it was when told in English to a group of English listeners.
The participants were also shown a clip from the BBC TV series Sherlock. Months later, one participant was asked to tell another about the scene they watched. The results showed that the brain of the person telling the story aligned with the same activity their brain showed when they watched the show some months earlier. Furthermore, the brain of the participant who was listening to the story also aligned in a similar way.
So what does all this prove? Listening to a story being told is effectively like reliving that story as if it were yours. What better way to create common ground and a shared understanding with someone? And this is especially the case if you’re making a presentation to an audience of 1000 strangers or even facilitating a one-on-one coaching session.
Emotions drive our decisions
Just some of the questions running through the minds of our audience when we are talking to them include the following:
Do I buy from you?
Do I get behind this change?
Do I accept the role with you?
Do I believe you?
Do I take your advice?
Do I follow you?
Do I respect you?
Our audience will be forming these types of questions whether we’re trying to get them to buy-in to an organisational change or motivating them towards next year’s goals.
Usually, we try to influence them with a PowerPoint presentation of facts and figures or an outline of the pros and cons of whatever it is we want them to feel excited about. These strategies are all based on logic. Yet, science says that we make up our minds to the types of questions I listed based on our emotions and how we feel about something.
Research by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio shows emotion plays a significant role in our ability to make decisions. While many of us believe logic drives our choices, the reality is that we have already made an emotional decision and we then use logic to justify the choice — to ourselves and to others.
Damasio’s research involved examining people with damage to their frontal lobe, which is the area of the brain where emotions are generated and that helps to regulate personality. Except for their inability to feel or express emotions, the participants had normal intellectual capacity in terms of working memory, attention, language comprehension and expression. However, they were unable to make decisions.
The vast majority of participants could describe in logical terms what they thought they should be doing, but they found it difficult to actually make a decision, including making a simple choice like deciding what to eat. This indecision came from them going over the pros and cons for each option again and again. Presented with a choice to make, we struggle to make a decision without some form of emotion influencing it.
Influence and impact
Damasio’s research does not stand alone. According to Christine Comaford, neuroscience expert and author of the New York Times bestseller Smart Tribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together, 90 per cent of human behaviour and decision-making is driven by our emotions.
