It’s amazing to see even more ways that leaders can use the power of story in Scott Belsky’s brilliant and accessible The Messy Middle. This book is full of reasons why leaders must tell stories to their teams.
Here’s Scott on using story to create a company culture:
“Don’t underestimate the value of a story…Every team has a few “culture carriers” that are especially good at capturing great stories and retelling them. Culture carriers embody the themes that these stories represent and their unique abilities to reinforce team culture need to be encouraged and celebrated. As the founder of a project or team, take stories seriously and inject yourself into them—even if it means breaking a twenty-year streak as a vegetarian. Stories are what you make of them, so take some poetic justice and mine every experience for the little gems characteristic of your team, the moments that made an impact. Culture is a naturally occurring phenomenon and simply needs to be nourished, inclusive, and celebrated. The stories in the early days lay the foundation for your culture forever.”
Here’s Scott on why your product/creation/idea needs a narrative:
“The narrative is the story of what you’re building in the context of why it matters. What inspired the idea? Why does it need to exist? What makes it relevant? How does it make the future better? The narrative is how early team members and investors make sense of what you’re building. The narrative helps you and your team take risks. The problem is, many founders don’t think about the narrative until they’re ready to announce or sell their product. It is considered marketing…The narrative is not a description of what your product is or does, it is the story of how and why it must exist.”
Stories can powerfully create cultures and shape products because stories are things that people remember. Stories are things people follow. In a very real sense, stories are drugs. When a person hears a story told according to the proper formula, their brains secrete hormones that command their attention.
Do you want a great company culture? Do you want a team that all knows why they are doing what they are doing? Be the Chief Storyteller. Be the Chief Story Curator. Be a leader.
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