Weaving a tale that interests
others is as good a way to get a point across as one might find. The importance
of making an interesting point and backing it up with factual references always
worked for me throughout my career. I had the great opportunity to have worked
with, for and alongside the quirkiest of characters that anyone could imagine.
They always lived up to the challenge of providing me with cannon fodder to use
as teaching and motivational points later in my career.
"They say I tell a great many stories; I reckon I do, but I have
found in the course of a long experience that common people -- common people -- take them as they
run, are more easily influenced and informed through the medium of a broad
illustration than in any other way, and what the hypercritical few may think, I
don't care."
The above quote comes from a
conversation between Abraham
Lincoln as told to the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, President of the New York Central
Railroad. The excerpt is originally from “Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln by
distinguished men of his time”, written by Allen Thorndike Rice and published
by North American Publishing Company, 1886 - 668 pages, Chapter XXIV, pgs: 427 –
428. It’s one of my favorites, so much so that I included it in my recently
published book: “There’s a Moose in the Guard Shack”, Oct 2015, Infinity
Publishing.
I had (and took) many opportunities to tell stories from my
past when specifically challenged by a situation that made them extremely
relevant. This always seemed to be the case. When appropriate, I would say:
“Guys, let me tell you a story.” After doing so, I would open up the conversation
of the salient points, often directing them toward the like points in the
trouble or problem currently tying up our situation. The managers and
supervisors (and sometimes my peers and top management) would find solutions
that had up-to-that-point escaped them.
Excerpt from “There’s a Moose
in the Guard Shack”:
“Didja ever
hear ‘bout…, or ya ain’t gonna believe this s*#t, but…
I searched for years
for guidance that represented a better approach to solving the day-to-day
problems consuming a leader’s time. Eventually, I realized I possessed the
answer.
During a staff
meeting the light came on; I had experienced situations like the one being
discussed—plus many we had previously encountered. I began to use my experience
to solve new, but similar problems. Throughout my career in the military and
manufacturing, when presented with a troublesome situation, I gathered my staff
and direct reports and said: “Guys let me tell you a story.” I would then
relate the facts, details and circumstances from one of my experiences. Then
we, as a group, would discuss it and our approach to solving our problem.
“There’s a Moose” is
exactly that—stuff happens and stuff gets solved—a common sense approach from
my experiences over a career in leadership.
The adventures inside
are all true. I know because I was there when they took place and often was the
one to whom they took place.
These are just some
of those stories, what I learned and what I took away from them.”
The next appropriate opportunity that
presents itself, give Storytelling a try. It just might be the answer you’ve
been looking for also.
Here’s another source on this subject
from John Baldoni @JohnBaldoni. Give it a look also.
“Effective storytelling can serve
anyone in leadership who seeks to persuade others to his or her point of view…
a careful blending of rhetoric and facts, woven into the right story, can
change minds.”
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