Telling Your Leadership Story Stephen Dennin g ' X rhen Kenneth Freeman was appointed CEO of Quest Diagnostics, he encountered what many leaders discover today when they first assume their positiona great wave of skepticism. Writing in the Winter 2004 issue of strat- egy+hnsiness, Randall Rothenberg quotes Freeman as saying, One thing Ifaced going in the door was people in the company saying, \"Who is this 'giass gny'from Corning, coming to us with no iah experience? He has no health-care expe- rience to speak of He's not a 'lahoratorian.\"'At the time, we had 14,000 employees. I reached to the bottom to reach tip, to establish my credihiiityrst with the rank and le of the company. Whether you are a manager who has been appointed to take charge of a group, an aspiring leader who is asking others to follow you, a job applicant going for an interview, or Fnr hull: I't'hl'in nf this arlirlr' DIE'QRI' call 3017499771 merely someone about to give a talk to a new audience, you need to be alert to the possibility, even probability, that you will face cau tion, skepticism, or even mistrust. Before people can trust you, they need to know what makes you tick, what gets you excited, what drives you, what values you espouse, and what goals you have in life. How will you act in a crisis? Will you level with people? Will you save yourselfwhile stabbing others in the back? Are you someone who goes whichever way the wind blows? Or are you someone of character who stands up for what is good and true and right? In short, they need to know who you are. Reveal Who You Are Implicitly How do ou communicate who Y you are? If you try to lay these thing out with direct assertionsfor in stance, giving the facts of your re- sum, saying, \"In my career so far I've played the following manage- rial roles\" and \"I am honest and believe in doing the right thing\" and \"I am someone who can be trusted\"these generalities may not be enough to deect skepticism. They may even increase it. By contrast, if your audience can understand the critical experiences that have formed you as an individ- ual, they can begin not only to un- derstand the unique individual you have become but also to infer how you may act in the future. Giving them a story of one or more turn- ing points in your existence can en- able listeners to get inside your life, to share your life, to go through what you have been through so they can themselves experience what sort of person you are. So rather than talking about yourselfas an object, you tell your story and let the listeners live your story as par- ticipants and so come to their own conclusions as to what sort of per- son you are. In my interactions with executives in scores of large organizations, I have seen how easily and quickly people can connect by using their natural storytelling capacity. Story- tellingis infact at the core ofthe sig- nicant activities of every modern corporation, as well as at the center of everything we do in public and private life. The ability to tell the right story at the right time is emerging as an essential leadership skill for coping with and getting business results in the turbulent world of the 21st century. And one of the most important kinds of sto ries tells people who you are, your identity. Take for instance the following ex perience that Nlichael Dell, founder and chairman of the $30 billion Dell Computer Corporation, relates in Direct om Dell about something he did when he was twelve years old: Thexther of my best friend was a pretty avid stamp collector, so naturally my The ability to tell the right story at the right time is an essential leadership skill. Exploit the Nature of Identity Stories Your character is generated not from a single incident but from a whole lifetiJne of experiences. Even an uneventful lifetime might take many volumes to describe super cially, let alone in depth. So how could an account of a single inci dent possibly convey the richness of experience that has forged your character? The answer lies in the nature of identity stories.]ust as the tiniest sample from your living body blood, esh, bone, salivacan reveal the DNA of your whole biological person, so a brief, wellchosen story can shed light on your entire life history. iend and I wanted to get into stamp collecting, too. '1'?) fund my interest in stamps, I got a job as a water boy in a Chinese restaurant two blocles'om my house. I started reading stamp journals just ar Jim, and soon began noticing that prices were rising. Beare long, my inter- est in stamps began to shy'tom the joy of collecting to the idea that there was something here that my mother; a stock- broleer; would have termed "a commercial opportunity. \" . . . I was about to embark upon one of my veryrst business ventures. First, I got a bunch of people in the neighborhood to consign their stamps to me. Then I advertised \"Dell's Stamps\" in Linn's Stamp Journal, the trade journal of the day. And then I typed, with one nger, a twelve-page catalog . . . and mailed it out. Much to my surprise, I made $2,000. And I learned an early, poweyrul lesson about the rewards of eliminating the middleman. I also learned that ifyou've got a good idea, it pays to do something about it. From this incident you can deduce a great deal about Michael Dell, the person. He is entrepreneurial, bold, aggressive, and directsome- one who sees life as a business op- portunity. Thus, you don't have to commu- nicate the entire lifetime of expe- riences that have made you what you are to communicate identity. Your audience can easily deter- mine who you are from a small sample of stories, even a single ex- ample. Here are some guidelines to follow in telling your story Be Authentic An effective leader's life story is au- thenticsomething that comes from inner conviction. It's not the entire story of your existence but rather a representative selection from your authentic life story. Find a story that communicates key choices you've made in life. Don't concoct a story for the occasion only, since that will quickly be ex- posed for what it isa mere ve- neer over a different reality. As your actions become known, an unrepresentative selection will re- sult in a backlash against you as an untruthful storyteller. Instead, your story should reect your authentic selfthe choices you have made in life as a person, reecting where you have come from, where you are now, and where you are going. In a leader, people look for some one with a self-image that is largely consistent. It is therefore important for you as a leader to have a clear view of a personal lifestory that is aligned with the facts of your life. One of the strengths of a reputa tion is its consistency: Can you be counted on to deliver what you say you'll do? Let Your Story Reveal Something Inside A fruitful source of stories about who you are is points in your life that had deep meaning for you often these points were moments of disruption, when your world as it appeared on the surface was dis turbed by some incidentand how these experiences affected you. Take for instance this anecdote re lated by Anita Roddick, chairman of the Body Shop. She was born in 1942 and raised in the southeast of England, near Brighton. Her Ital ian immigrant mother and Amer ican father ran a cafe where early on she was instilled with an intense work ethic. As she tells it in her book, Business as Unusual: Although I went to a Catholic school, my mother hated the local priest. l/Vhen my lther died, I remember sitting on the stairs in our house while my mother was furiously scrubbing the linoleum in the hallway. There was a knock on the ont door and the priest was there to tell her that she was very lucky that my ther was going to be given a Catholic funeral. Motherjust picked up the bucleet of dirty water and threw it over him. I'll never forget that. Acts like that push you onto the edge of bravery. It is no wonder; having a mother and an upbringing like that, that I learned to challenge every- thing I was toldat school, at church, and in every other institution. Roddick turned a strong work ethic, interest in social justice, re spect for the environment, and a willingness to speak out into a thriving global business. Telling a story apparently about her mother, Typically, the story of who you are is about a moment when the pre- dictable, routine aspects of life are momentarily disturbed. Often it will be one of difculty, of adver- sity, even disappointment.Your story reveals how you dealt with the challenge. Use Humor to Brighten Your Story The moment of disruption may also be a moment of comedy, when some unusual incongruity occurred, when nothing serious was at stake but your action and reaction in response to it reveal what sort of person you are. Thus the telling of an experience of pain and difficulty can be lightened by a touch of humor. By referring to difcult issues in a humorous way, as in this tale recounted by Mark Kalz in the January/ February 2004 issue An g'ctive life story comes from inner conviction. she also communicates what sort of person she is. Rather than a direct discussion of her deeper feelings, she alludes to these regions by iinplica tion. If the listeners follow and un derstand the story, they get a good sense of Roddick herself. of Washington Monthly you demon- strate that you have mastered the experience, rather than that the ex- perience has crushed you. For instance, in 1960,]ohn Kennedy made fun of two apparent drawbacks to his candidacy as presidenthis in- herited wealth and his Catholic reli- gionas a way of admitting his political liabilities and making light ofthem. Thus on one occasion in the 1960 cam- paign, Kennedy held up what he said was a telegram from his "generous daddy\" and read it aloud: 'jack, don't spend one dime more than is necessary. I'll be damned fl am going to pay for a landslide.\" Understanding the Audience's Story The counterpart to being clear on the story of who you are is grasp ing the story of who the audience is.]ust as you gure out your own life story, so also you invest effort in understanding the audience's in terests, authority, and roles. Thus relevance is contextual. The more you know about the stories of your audiencewhat matters to them, what drives them, what they expect, what they fear, what makes them tick, what ticks them 0& the more likely you are to be able to choose and tell a story that is relevant to their needs. To be relevant, you need to think in reverse.You have to move out of your own world and into the world of your audience. You have to continue eHorts to understand them, grasp the issues they are fac ing, and show how you are rele vant to resolving those issues. It is the audience that decides whether or not you are relevant to them. It's easier for people to see you as someone who will be helpful in handling the challenges the orga nization will face and who will Comeback Kid, the Man from Hope, he was implicitly telling a story of hope about the US. in the midst ofa deep recession. The stories about the candi- date and the country were aligned, by design. Clinton successfully made the case that a votefor him would make the country come out stronger. Know your audience what matters to them, what makes them tick, what ticks them o.' move the organization forward to a better future if they can connect with you as a person and see your experiences as relevant to theirs. To assist in accomplishing this re- sult, choose a part of your life story that links to the broader story of your audience.Your personal story can thus become a metaphor for the contribution the audience will see you bringing to their future, as in this example from \"Waiting for the Story,\" an article by Eric Liu in the September 10, 2004, issue of the Washington Post: In 1992, Bill Clinton presented him- selfas the embodiment ofresilience, someone who could bounce back from apparent disaster. As the self-styled In 2000, George WBush played the role of the prodigal son. He had gone astray in earlier years, but through per- sonal resolve andfaith he had re- established moral clarity. Implicitly he was telling the same story to the coun- try: after moral delinquencies ofthe Clinton presidency, Bush persuaded voters that a uotefor him was a vote for bedrock beliefs and integrity. Thus, presenting an analogy of how you would deal with the current concerns of your audience can make your story relevant to your audience. For example, if your organization is going through a major change ini- tiative, you could tell a story about how you found strength to deal with a major change in your life. If your business is struggling to meet a new competitive threat, your story could focus on how you survived a difcult period in your life. Such stories om your past can help show implicitly how you would resolve the problems of today. The Bottom Line: Trust The bottom line of this particular type of narrative is whether the story builds trust in your audience. Even if your story is expertly told and makes the audience laugh or cry, the story of who you are is a failure unless it succeeds in building trust in you. By communicating how you came to be the person you are, as well as your comfort with The story of who you are is a failure unless it succeeds in building trust in you. being that person and your con dence in coping with what lies ahead, your goal is to elicit similar comfort and condence in the au dienceYour story is successful when it elicits a new story in the audi ence's mind: \"This is someone we can count on to take us forward into the future.\" Stephen Denning is author or coauthor cf several books, including \"The Springboard: How Storytelling ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organiza- tions\" and "Storytelling in Organizations: Why Story- telling ls Transrrning 21st Century Organizations and Management.\" From 1996 to 2000, he was program director qflenowledge man- agement at the World Bank. He now works with orga- nizations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia on knowledge management and organiza- tional storytelling. For this article, he drew on his book, \"The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline quusi- ness Narrative,\" which has just been published